a dog’s life

Who am I?

Hello, my name is Sue French. By profession, I am a nurse. I live close to a small village in rural New Zealand, in an old house on a farmlet, where I keep horses and poultry. I share my life with my dog, Sky, an English Bull Terrier cross.

I grew up in a similar environment – small lifestyle block in a tiny farming community. When I look back, I see my childhood as idyllic, filled with ponies, cats, ducks and chickens, sheep and pigs, trees to climb and a stream filled with tadpoles.

And of course, there were always dogs. My mother ran a boarding kennels, as well as successfully breeding and showing poodles and dachsunds. The walls in our home were draped with ribbons; silver cups for Champion this or that graced every available surface and cabinet; there were more photos of prize-winning dogs than there were of us children!
Later, Mum bred and trained greyhounds, at which she was also very successful.

Besides the pedigree dogs that Mum bred, there were others that joined the family for various reasons (mainly because she could not turn away any creature that needed a home). They ranged in size from Trixie, a small mutt of unknown origin, to Boris, the stately Russian Wolf-hound.

The house was filled with books about horses, cats and dogs and I absorbed information about all of these creatures along with stories about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Where Babies Come From!

Some time ago, I changed Sky’s diet from commercial, processed food, to home made food, simply because she enjoyed it. An unexpected bonus was a dramatic improvement in her health. This blog was born as a result.