Hi we are back from our holiday, which was great. There has been sad new while we were away, with the death of that wonderful dog Endal. I was so sad to hear of his passing, and so glad that we got to meet him. You can read more about Endal in Beverley Cuddy's blog - but be prepared to cry.

I recently interviewed Dawn Marcus, M.D., about her intriguing book Fit as Fido. Her interview, which is full of advice about the life and health lessons you can learn from you dog will be in an upcoming episode of DogCast Radio, but to whet your appetite check out her video on You Tube. I love what Dawn has to sat about what her dog has taught her, and she's absolutely right; if we lived a little more like our dogs we'd be a lot better off in many ways.

I know from the feedback we've had that some of you love Huskies, so I thought you'd appreciate these photos on the Boston Globe website. They show not only the beauty of the dogs, but also the power of them in action, and the closeness of the bond between them and their handlers. They show dogs participating in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, in which teams cover 1,868 km (1,161 mi), taking 8 to 12 days to do so. That's amazing isn't it?