Meet Peggy Frezon, author of H&H’s Dieting with my dog.
A typical day for Peggy starts with a brisk morning walk with her husband, Mike, and dogs: Spaniel-mix Kelly, and Golden Retriever Ike. Kelly charges ahead at the end of the leash, while Ike strolls along, hoping for a whiff of squirrel or cat. After the walk, Peggy settles in at her great-great uncle’s oak rolltop desk, and taps away at her laptop for the rest of the day. The only breaks are when Ike nudges her knee and drops his tennis ball in her lap, or when Kelly (less subtle) jumps up and slaps her paw on the keyboard ... “Time for another walk!”
Peggy is grateful that she’s able to work from home and spend her days with the dogs, while writing about dogs. She’s a pet columnist, dog blogger, and author of two books about losing weight and getting fit with dogs – a memoir, Dieting with my Dog (Hubble and Hattie) and a how-to book The Dieting with my Dog Guide to Weight Loss and Maintenance (HS Brooks Press 2013). She is also the author of Heart to Heart, Hand in Paw (Guideposts Books, 2013), which is about a Vermont homesteader and the healing power of animals.
Peggy is also a full-time contributor to Guideposts; Angels on Earth; and Mysterious Ways magazines. Her stories appear regularly in Chicken Soup for the Soul books, and many other publications such as The Ultimate Dog Lover; Miracles and Animals; Animals and the Kids who Love Them, and many more.
Kelly and Ike are rescue dogs, and Peggy and Mike work with local rescue groups. Last year they adopted a 12-year-old Golden Retriever, Brooks, who had been abandoned and left to fend for himself.
He was weak and nothing but skin and bones when he came to live with them. Despite a hard life, Brooks had no behavioural issues or bad habits. He stuck by Peggy’s side, did what he was asked the first time, and was a perfect gentleman with the bossy Kelly. Sadly, Brooks died of cancer less than a year later.
“We’ve come to accept that he came to us to live out his last year in total love and comfort, and that was our role – albeit short – in his life,” says Peggy. She and Mike consider Brooks the 'gold standard' of dogs. Since then, they adopted seven-year-old Ike, who is also as sweet and gentlemanly as they come.
When she’s not writing or playing with dogs, Peggy likes to visit friends and family in her home state of Vermont, USA. She has fond memories of collecting maple syrup and making 'sugar on snow' – a treat where you boil real maple syrup and pour it over a bowl of snow, which turns the syrup into a sticky candy.
What’s next for Peggy? Well, she’s currently writing a book about the human animal bond, Greetings at the Front Door (Paraclete Press) with an expected release date of autumn 2015.
Keep up-to-date with all of Peggy's news and get in touch at her website, blog, facebook page and twitter feed, or sign up to receive her newsletter, Pawsitively Pets, here.
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