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[click "Play" for an amusing story about not-your-dog]


IMG_6976 Telluride Inside... and Out's dog expert, Ted Hoff of Cottonwood Ranch and Kennel, has been sharing the insights he has gained from working for about 20 years with our four-legged friends. This week, however, he decided to take a time out from training, simply review last week's lesson (training retriever pups) and share a story about one of his favorite dogs: Skadi.

Skadi is the name of a 12-year-old yellow lab, the Grand Dame of Ted's father's household. Skadi is a blue blood in the dog world: her daddy was a famous dog named "Lean Mac" who was Canadian and American national field trial champion.

01 August, 2009 /

July 30 to August 6, 2009

Visible Planets: Morning: Venus, Mars and Jupiter  Evening: Mercury and Saturn

Grandpa Bunny Bunny and Heaven, Rain and Rainbows
     

13959623 Lizard head When I was a little girl, my Mother used to load my brothers and sisters and me up in our red and white 1958 Chevy station wagon – I think it was on Fridays – and we’d make the exciting journey to the big, modern Safeway supermarket on South Colorado Boulevard in Denver. It was always a big event because the refrigerator would go from empty to full, and in summer we’d come home with bags of fresh peaches, watermelon, strawberries and bing cherries – yum!

But, perhaps even more exciting than the groceries, we were also allowed to pick out a new Golden Book from the children’s section of the store, and that meant opening new doors in the fascinating worlds of information and imagination. Those glistening golden bindings just shimmered with anticipation.

One of my favorites was entitled Grandpa Bunny Bunny. It was a sweet tale of a Grandpa rabbit who taught the little bunnies about the magic of nature and prepared them for life in Earth’s changing seasons. He was a supreme storyteller and magnificent artist. He showed them compassion and love, patience and grace. They came to depend on his direction and guidance, and when the day came that Grandpa Bunny Bunny was no longer in his hole, when he had passed on, the little bunnies were lost in their sadness and grief.

31 July, 2009 /
[click "Play" to hear Ted Hoff on retrievers]

DSC_0176 Telluride Inside and Out's expert dog trainer Ted Hoff is finally emerging from the nursery. To date in his series, Dog's Best Friend,Ted has talked exclusively about bringing up baby: How to train a pup. With this post, he begins to talk about specific breeds starting with the very popular Retrievers, Labs and Goldens.

Author James Michener wrote about the introduction of Labs to Maryland in his novel "Chesapeake":

"A moment later the stevedore appeared on deck leading by a leash one of the most handsome dogs ever seen in Maryland. He was jet-black, sturdy in his front quarters, sleek and powerful in his hind, with a face so intelligent that it seemed he might speak at any moment. His movements were quick, his dark eyes following every development nearby, yet his disposition appeared so equable he seemed always about to smile.

"'He's called a Labrador,' Lightfoot said. 'Finest huntin' dog ever developed.'"

25 July, 2009 /

July 23 to 30, 2009

Visible Planets: Morning: Venus, Mars and Jupiter  Evening: Mercury and Saturn

Honoring a Brother-In-Arms, Walking on the Moon and Feeling Our Cancer-ruled Emotions

Cynthia, Richard We humans are emotional creatures – the Buddhists use the term “sentient beings” – and we are subject to waves, and sometimes even oceans of emotion.

The Cancer zodiac month, and the three consecutive lunations that took place in Cancer recently - two of which were eclipses - illuminate and constellate the strong connection and partnership that emotions have with the human body, mind and spirit. Cancer is ruled by the Moon, and those born under the sign of Cancer are referred to as Moonchildren. Is it any wonder that man walking on the Moon and Michael Jackson’s moonwalk have been subjects of collective awareness lately?

 Synchronistically, both space age and pop icon moonwalkers bring up plenty of Cancer-fueled emotions. The first contrasts the security, familiarity and comfort of our home planet Earth with the austere, life-forbidding landscape of the Moon. The second reminds us of our primal urge for attention, recognition and praise. Both generate feelings of wonder and awe, shining light upon the personal desire for security and stability, comfort and belonging. We are awakened to our inherent fragility and dependency upon a safe, nurturing, life-sustaining environment in which we can develop, blossom and grow. And emotions play the primary role in determining our quotients of well-being.

1 Recently a very good friend – a member of our extended family - passed from this world on to the world of spirit. His 3D, physical-body earthwalk has ended. He is now walking in another realm, flying in a different dimension.

Mother Teresa and Princess Diana both passed on during the Virgo eclipse cycle of 1996. My own beautiful, sweet niece Lise passed on during the Scorpio eclipse cycle of 1994. Captain Jack Carey, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, Arturo Giatti and Walter Cronkite passed on during the recent eclipse cycle in Cancer.

24 July, 2009 /

[click "Play" to hear Ted Hoff's thoughts on neutering your dog] Men tend to identify with Lawrence of Arabia and cup their tender bits protectively when the subject comes up. As part of an ongoing series, this week, Telluride Inside...

18 July, 2009 /

July 16 to 23, 2009
Visible Planets: Morning: Venus, Mars, Jupiter  Evening: Saturn

Cosmic Cancer Eclipse Energy: Let Mother Nature Nurture

DSC01561 This week, on July 21st, we experience the celestial event of a New Moon total solar eclipse [it will not be visible in North America] at 29º 26’ Cancer. The recent June 22nd New Moon also took place in Cancer - at 01º 30’ - and the Full Moon lunar eclipse of July 7th came to fruition at 15º 24’ Cancer/Capricorn. That’s a lot of Cancer/Capricorn action and reaction, motion and emotion!

Two consecutive New Moons in the same sign is highly significant, and because these two lunations bracket a lunar eclipse and one of them is a New Moon total solar eclipse, it represents a mega-message for the collective regarding the themes and issues of the sign involved. It's as if the cosmos blasts energy and information via experiences, events and circumstance to the people here on Planet Earth.

17 July, 2009 /

July 9 to 16, 2009

Visible Planets: Morning: Venus, Mars and Jupiter    Evening: Saturn

DSC01512 I can’t stop thinking about Michael Jackson. I know it’s crazy, but it’s true. And even while I’m feeling crazy-busy about getting ready for a two week camping trip up in Idaho - paying bills, packing clothes, doing all the funny-nutty things we do before we leave – his story keeps tracking across my brain – and filling up my heart.

It seems to be all about home and family. Children and parents. Love and success. Working to get recognition for our talents. Feeling good when we do. What an incredibly gifted boy and man. And what a sad, sad end to the fairy tale life.

I watched the memorial service on and off while I was cleaning, organizing, packing, taking care of business and wrapping up loose ends. CNN covered the entire event, commercial-free. And then, on into the evening, we continued to have the boob-box tuned in to coverage of the day. All I can say is that I’m blown away, and I can’t stop thinking about Michael Jackson.

10 July, 2009 /