Kimberly J Egan
Bio
Welcome to LoupGarou/Conri Terriers and Not 1040 Farm! I try to write about what I know best: my dogs and my homestead. I'm currently working on a series of articles introducing my readers to some of my animals, as well as to my daily life!
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Stories (110)
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Buddy Visits Lowe's!
I've said it before: Buddy was not a dog that I needed to have. As a breeder, I have had as many as a couple of dozen dogs at a time, including the eight who currently live in the house with me. As I stated in the previous article about Buddy, I'm the "keeper of the males" when it comes to the Toy Fox Terriers. Adding another intact male dog upsets the balance for quite some time, which is not a task that I always want to undertake. It was predictable, then, that when I brought Buddy home with me internal turmoil existed for quite some time.
By Kimberly J Egan5 days ago in Petlife
Badger did "Big Hup" Today!
Badger has had a year off since losing his eye to adjust to being a dog again. Since that time, he's lounged around the house or the kennel, taking brief walks on a leash, adjusting to walking in a straight line. Walking in a straight line has actually taken a lot of effort on his part, as his instinct was to drift in the direction that he could see or away from things by which he felt threatened. Heeling was a thing of the past. He either lagged behind me so that he could see me or ended up nearly to the end of his leash, several feet from my left leg because he brushed against me unexpectedly.
By Kimberly J Egan23 days ago in Petlife
The Dust Bunnies are Revolting!. Runner-Up in Mismatch Challenge.
Seeing the loose way people use the word “hate” these days, I guess can say that I hate a lot of things. I hate soggy spinach. I hate dark rooms. I hate visiting relatives I don’t like, just because they’re sick. But nothing, nothing matches the hate I have for dust bunnies. They are vile, evil little things. I will do everything I can to wipe them out.
By Kimberly J Egan24 days ago in Fiction
In the Midst of Life
It was one of those rare late March days in the Deep South, which came on with a surprising vengeance. Already the roads, houses, and cars were covered with the fine pinkish dust more typical of June or July, after temperatures had climbed into the nineties for the ten days past. A bead of sweat rolled down Caitlyn’s nose as she slowed her car. She stopped at the intersection. A strand of limp gold hair had escaped from her scrunchie. She pushed the strands behind her ear, barely sparing a thought for the motion.
By Kimberly J Egan26 days ago in Fiction
Cleo's First Puppy Show. Top Story - January 2026.
"How would you feel about doing the Corsicana show in November?" Kathleen asked me last September. Dog exhibitors speak in shorthand that way. It's easier to say "the Corsicana show" than it is to say the "North East Texas American Eskimo Dog Association Show." And yes, "North East." I guess "Northeast" shortened the name too much for some people's taste . . . But I digress. In response, I asked two of the three important questions that every exhibitor thinks, first thing.
By Kimberly J Egan2 months ago in Petlife
What Does it Mean to be a "Preservation Breeder?"
When I first started "in dogs" back in late 1999, I had a goal. I was looking into "good" Toy Fox Terrier breeders, who at least talked a good game about health testing (which involved hearing, eye, and patella exams!) and who had show dogs in the first three generations of their puppies' pedigrees. I had a specific dog in my mind's eye: a white and tan male with a solid-colored head. That was it. I had no other criteria. I just wanted a dog that bore no resemblance to my little Oma, who had been poisoned--while in my own yard--by a neighbor earlier in the year. I knew that Oma had seeded the love for the breed so deeply that I wanted to help the breed continue into a prosperous future. I wanted to breed and to show and to compete with Toy Fox Terriers.
By Kimberly J Egan2 months ago in Petlife
The Blessings of the Season
I was sick when I started this story last year and never had the strength to finish it when it was relevant. Pip had also died during that time, so writing was very difficult for me. I'm finishing it now--because it's time. Merry Christmas and Happy Hannukah to everyone who celebrates them--and may the blessings of the Season be upon you all, no matter who or where you are.
By Kimberly J Egan2 months ago in Petlife
In Memory: Aspen's Great Expectations of LoupGarou
This story has been an entire year in the making. Pip passed away precisely one year ago today, December 17, 2024. I've tried writing it several times, but I've never been able to get past the first paragraph. Losing Pip has been an experience wrapped up in loss, in guilt, in the pain of promises unable to be kept. Every time I post about him, I cry over the knowledge that I will never have another picture of Pip, that the loving little dog that I knew so well had his life end tragically, so needlessly, that I have a hard time celebrating the lives of the puppies that he left behind. He had so much potential, so much promise. I had told myself that the spring of 2025 would be the time for working on agility, on weight pull, on all of the fun things that he loved to do. For Pip, spring of 2025 never arrived.
By Kimberly J Egan2 months ago in Petlife
Introducing: LoupGarou Cleopatra Addams!
Honorable Precedents! LoupGarou Cleopatra Addams, aka "Cleo," has been a dream five long years in the making. Her first name, "Cleopatra," comes from a dog once owned by Dan's daughter, many years ago. While I don't know the breed of the original Cleopatra canine, Dan's daughter said that her face was marked very similarly to the puppy I was unromantically calling "Blue Tux Girl." Given that I don't like giving human names to dogs, especially those of historical figures, I took it one step farther: she is named for Morticia Addams' plant, Cleopatra, giving Cleo her surname. My thanks to Dan's daughter for helping me name this lovely puppy!
By Kimberly J Egan3 months ago in Petlife
Cassidy's Walkabout. Top Story - November 2025.
This is, fortunately, a better post than I have a right to make today. Some of you know about my Australian Shepherd, Cassidy. He's generally out at night, keeping foxes and the occasional coyote away. He's a working-bred Aussie, but he thinks that he's a pack of Great Pyrenees. On occasion, Cassidy used to wander, finding or creating a hole in the fence and taking off to parts unknown. He has been very good in the past few months, no longer even barking at the school bus as it goes by. This morning, he was as quiet as could be when the high school bus and then the middle school bus passed the homestead.
By Kimberly J Egan4 months ago in Petlife
Reaching One Hundred!
One hundred. Wow. Let me say that again. One hundred. It's a round number, not a huge number, but somehow, I find myself impressed by myself. Oh, sure, when I was a student at university, I cranked out dozens, if not hundreds of papers as an English/psych undergrad and a "professional writing" grad. And I generated close to 700 articles when I worked for an SEO company, using their titles and topics. One hundred stories is a drop in the bucket compared to that number, right? Wellll, yes. Sort of. These stories, as few as they are, are a modicum of ME, of my essence being distilled and put forth for other's consumption. Every time I hit the "publish" button, there's a scarycreepyhappy feeling that makes me want to rush and hit "DELETE, DELETE, DELETE!"
By Kimberly J Egan5 months ago in Petlife
Taking a Moment for Peace. Top Story - September 2025.
Things have been wild in the world lately. Good news, bad news, news of riots, of shootings, of war, and of other forms of seemingly unending violence. As a person who has chronic depression paired with anxiety, sometimes it all gets to be too much. When these things get overwhelming, I feel myself shutting down, pulling away from the world--which is why I have my dogs and my garden and my goats and all of the little things that get me away from the hustle and bustle of society. The "peace" I give myself in my sheltered patch of ground has nothing to do with the antonym "war." Rather, it has to do with the inner peace that comes from a quiet mind. The peace that allows me to find contentment with "the little things" that make up the bulk of my daily life.
By Kimberly J Egan5 months ago in Psyche
