The Best Things

People often ask me, "Clementine, what is the best meal you've ever eaten?" When most ask me this, they are looking for a cut and dry answer. A steak bone served to me on my birthday. A stack of pitzels I stole off a table. An aged piece of cheddar that fell on my bed. But a good meal is about so much more than taste. It is about the experience, the company and the lessons learned.


At my last trip to West Bangor, I enjoyed a meal of simple kibble outside in the grass. There was no vegetable tian, no caviar, no salmon and no frills. My dining companions were the wind and the morning dew, the butterflies and the distant quarry. And I have never felt more full or satisfied.

Life is not about how many treats you earn, how many toys you stockpile or how many piles of filth you roll in. It's about taking in nature; her gentle breezes and fierce storms, her lady bugs and lions.

This is why I am a holistic foodie. I am a glutton for life, not a glutton for beef or sugar. American Eskimos have lust for life running through their veins. I simply will not tolerate anything but the best experience I can have. Hounds (other dogs too, but mostly hounds) are about just that: hounding. Begging, whining, gobbling. I have witnessed first hand what happens when you go through life just obsessing over the next treat. You end up on your belly, paws to nose and hiding behind someone's sneakers.

Don't let this happen to you.

A Plea

Friends, poodles, yorkies, great danes, and, to a lesser extent, beagles, I have an appeal. This time of year, many of us enjoy a quick romp in the snow. Nothing compares to taking a walk in the winter sand, the feeling of frost on your paw pads, rolling in the cold cotton and returning home to shake snow all over the living room. But the most important part of a walk in the snow (yes, even more important that curling up on the couch with a warm Whole Foods biscuit afterwards) is wiping your feet. The snow-melting salt sprinkled upon our favorite element can irritate your paws and needs to be wiped off with a damp cloth. Now, I know some of you out there dislike having your paws wiped. I have seen grown overweight beagle mixes actually whine as if they were at the vet at the mere sight of a moist paper towel. But for the sake of your paw pads, do not put up a fuss. And if you still feel that having your paws wiped is an injustice, go to the bathroom if the house, if you must, to even the score.