Hanni is my co-pilot. (Photo by Kaitlyn Cashman)
A story in the San Francisco Weekly last week described Tita, a Chihuahua service dog who works with a man suffering from bipolar disorder. A happy, feel-good story, except for one thing.
Tita bites people.
“She’s vicious,” Esler says with a smile, cradling the dog, which licks his face with abandon.
Once the story hit the newsstands, I was contacted by the blog moderator at The Bark. She wanted to know if I’d be willing to write a guest post about the service dog who bites.
What? You call yourself a dog lover, and you’ve never heard of The Bark?! Here’s a description of the four-color glossy magazine from their web site:
Taking the magazine’s slogan to heart—Dog Is My Co-Pilot—Bark became the first magazine to tap into the exploding phenomena of dog culture and lifestyle, focusing on the growing bond between individuals and their pet companions. Over the past ten years, Bark has chronicled the America’s love affair with dogs, the evolving status of canine pets and their role in society, as well as the incredible rise in services and products. Bark has become the recognized expert on the social/cultural world of dogs in America, and what they mean to us.
Bark’s impeccable pedigree includes publishing many of today’s most acclaimed authors including Ann Patchett, Augusten Burroughs, Rick Bass, Amy Hempel, and Pulitzer Prize winning poet Mary Oliver.
Hmm. Must be a proofreading error there. Somehow they left award-winning Children’s book author Beth Finke off that list. Because, of course, I’ve published a few articles in The Bark, too. It’s always a thrill to be contacted by their staff — it gives me the opportunity to brag that I write for the same magazine Ann Patchett writes for! You can read my guest blog at The Bark’s site and link to other Bark stories there, too—if you like dogs, trust me, you’ll like The Bark.
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