So the dogs have … issues. Foremost: their mommy doesn’t walk them (class-ad note: put in an ad for lawn person and dog walker, preferably with references).



Excess energy in two high-energy, young purebred hunting dogs means they stalk kiddie toys with intent to maul.



My back yard and living room look like some kind of horror movie, with heads, eyeballs, and limbs strewn about like Christmas tinsel, often on over-long grass.



It’s not festive, it’s icky, and it makes the wee one cry when she sees the super-duper important gift from her dad has no eyes-arms-legs-head (insert body part here).



So, since I am shopper, I shop. Next to Nature did not disappoint; there were dog toys and treats galore, holistic treatments up the wazzoo, helpful, friendly, and cool shopkeepers, and — my favorite — shop cats! One reminded me of my first “I’m out on my own for the first time and I don’t know how to name cats!” pet, Prissy (I cringe writing that, I assure you) and the other was aloof in the way most appropriate to cats.



In the end, pups got both bully sticks, a six pack, and bones.  The latter were fleecy, squeaky things that make Bill and Tank happy.



Are fairies safe? I don’t know, I found a single Kelly doll in five places, so apparently, I need to walk the beasts. — Jessica Corey-Butler



[Next To Nature, 1734 Pacific Ave., Tacoma, 253.779.8141]