Where I’ve been, what I’m building, and why I still believe in dogs
Oh look, it's that Crazy Dog Lady again!
Hello again, dear reader.
It’s been… a while.
If you’re still here (or you just joined), thank you. I promise I haven’t ghosted you out of neglect or indifference. I’ve just been flat chat building a life that sometimes feels like one big, glorious, dog fur-covered experiment.
Here’s a little update on where I’ve been, what I’m up to, and what keeps me going (even on the days when the dogs are barking, the kids are screaming, and I’m wondering whether I should just become a hermit and live off-grid with a pack of rescue greyhounds).
🐾 Where I’ve been
Over the past year, I’ve been:
Travelling across the United States on a Churchill Fellowship researching animal-assisted therapy (AAT) for young people in foster care. My report on the experience will be published any day now!
Battling some pretty gnarly writer’s block as I work on my next romance novel. Cover reveal COMING SOON!
Preparing to launch Muddy Cuddles, a social enterprise that will provide free AAT programs to children and young people in foster care.
Pondering starting a new dog-focused business here in the Blue Mountains. Maybe a doggy daycare? Maybe a retail shop-slash-community space for people who love dogs and the dogs who love them? Stay tuned while my ADHD-addled brain tries to figure out what I’m doing with my life!
Training to become an interfaith and secular animal chaplain, which basically means helping people (and sometimes animals) navigate grief, loss, love, and all the big messy things. I’ll be ordained in June!
Becoming a certified reiki practitioner, with an additional certification in animal reiki.
Training for my next marathon in Sydney in August, while simultaneously wondering whether I’ve even got another marathon in this creaking perimenopausal bod?!
Parenting three small humans and dog-parenting three doofus dogs with one brain cell between them.
It’s been a mix of creative joy, full-on chaos, and soul-deep clarity. I’m trying to build a life — and hopefully a livelihood — that revolves around dogs, creativity, connection, and helping others.
It’s not always tidy. Or lucrative. Or glamorous. But somehow it feels right.
🐶 Why I still believe in dogs
Because dogs are everything we’re trying to remember how to be:
Present.
Loyal.
Honest about their needs.
Unashamed about naps.
Joyful over small things.
Experts at forgiveness.
Dogs show us how to live with our hearts on the outside of our bodies — and I think that’s the only way to live fully.
I’ve seen therapy dogs unlock a smile in a kid who hasn’t spoken in weeks. I’ve had my own dogs hold me in ways no human ever quite could.
I believe in their wisdom. Their weirdness. Their wagginess. I believe they are healers in fur coats, and I believe we need them now more than ever.
💌 What you’ll find here
This newsletter is coming back to life.
You can expect:
Real stories from the road, the writing desk, and the animal altar.
Musings on dogs, grief, creativity, business, motherhood, and midlife weirdness.
Possibly some spiritual rambling. Definitely some swearing.
I don’t have a set schedule, but I’ll write to you when I have something true to say. And I’d love to hear from you, too!
Thanks for being here. Thanks for buying and reading my books. Thanks for loving dogs.
Thanks for still opening emails from women who go quiet for a year and then come back with a lot of feelings and a sprinkle of dog hair.
The world is a bin fire, but there’s always dogs!
Laura.