Working Dog Wednesday: Two Cavaliers (and a Cat!)

Well, after a bit of a hiatus I'm back to interviewing cool working dogs. And by "working," I mean any dog because, hey, don't we all work hard to teach our humans how to live successful, well-balanced lives?

This week my interviewees, Murphy and Alki, decided to bring along their entire entourage: Grace the Cat, and Robyn M Fritz (she's the talented, two-legged editor who helped turn my book into the chef d'oeuvre that it is). Together, they are the multi-species team behind the Seattle-based company Alchemy West Inc.

Bella: Welcome gang!
Robyn: Hi Bella, I'm glad you liked my help with your book. You have wonderful things to tell all of us about leading balanced lives and you were fabulous to work with. I can't wait to see what you write next.
Grace the Cat: What, a dog writing a book? How does that happen?
Murphy and Alki: Well, boxers are cool...especially Bella. She's talented, wise and funny! But we could write a book, too. Cavaliers are known for exceptional clarity of thought and devotion to duty (okay, cookies and fun times…we're toy dogs so it's our job to play and look cute!)

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Bella: Tell me about Alchemy West. What do you do?
Robyn: We're all about storytelling. Telling stories creates good will, good humor, and great communities, so I tell my stories and help visionary writers tell theirs..whether it's through individual book development services or group writing seminars. And because I'm also an intuitive communicator, I help people speak with the beings in their life. A healthy, balanced world starts with an intuitive, heart-based connection between humans and the beings they most treasure, from their writing projects to their animal companions, homes, businesses, and the land around them.

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Bella: I understand that the Dog Writers Association of America has nominated your latest book, Bridging Species, as a 2010 Best Book (Humor). It was also nominated for the 2010 Merial Human-Animal Bond Award. What does it feel like to be famous?!
Grace the Cat: We're famous?
Murphy and Alki: Well, we are! We get all the attention at book signings and public events because we're the cover dogs. People actually stop when they drive by and see us on the street (even when Robyn is outside in her pajamas).
Grace the Cat: I may not be famous, but I'm the only one here with fashion sense. Those are NOT pajamas. And the dogs—they wear raincoats outside! I prefer to go au naturel.
Murphy and Alki and Robyn: Ahem. We noticed.

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Bella: What other projects are in store for 2011?
Murphy and Alki and Grace the Cat: Robyn is busy writing Murphy's Tales. It tells how Murphy's chronic illness inspired our family's journey to wellness and sparked Robyn's intuitive abilities. And how Murphy taught Robyn street smarts—and saved them both from an earthquake before it happened!
Robyn: Yes, all things that made me wonder what was going on in animal minds, and how I could find out. This year I'm also doing a lot of writing coaching and teaching events, to help people focus and tell their stories efficiently and well and get them out into the world.
Murphy and Alki and Grace the Cat: We're also writing an online magazine, Bridging the Paradigms, full of stories about creating community with all life. And Robyn is doing intuitive work with our newest family member, a crystal, Fallon. It's intense, but we're never too busy to play, eat, and power nap!

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Bella: So, Robyn, it sounds like Murphy and Alki and Grace the Cat are your creative muses?
Robyn: In many ways, yes. They help me explore a new normal for a family: that multi-species families are families first, and species second, and what matters is that we've chosen to live our lives together. When I look at my family I see thinking, intelligent, resourceful, loving, intriguing souls who just happen to be in animal bodies. Their lives are worthwhile, and ours are together. They accept my limitations with far more diplomacy and patience than I do theirs.
Grace the Cat: Yes, dogs can be a trial. That's why I trained mine well.
Murphy and Alki: What?
Robyn: Grace, that's a secret of a working cat.… Seriously, my family makes me think about what the world can be like if we accept the diversity of all life. If we can create loving relationships within a multi-species family, how hard can it really be for humans to get along?

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Bella: I have to ask: What does a typical workday look like for your multi-species team?
Grace the Cat: Alki snoozes all day on his dog bed and Murphy holds down the recliner, so I clearly have to supervise them and watch for intruders from my windowsill perch. When I decide the work day is done, I sit by the keyboard, push all the pens off the desk, and, if that doesn't work, I climb on Robyn's shoulder and put my tail in her face.
Murphy and Alki: We taught Grace how to shut the laptop.
Robyn: That trick I could do without...
Murphy and Alki: Plus we take Robyn for walks, fetch sticks, lobby for cookie breaks, make people laugh at our cute grins, run errands, greet visiting writers, take Grace for car rides, and feed Robyn one-liners. We're on duty all day unless a sunspot shows up or we need to snoop on the neighborhood.

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Bella: Any last bit of advice for other working dogs (er, cats, too!)?
Murphy and Alki and Grace the Cat: We like being part of the new families people are creating with us. Teach your humans how to laugh, take breaks, and play and exercise with us, and keep imagining new ways for all of us to be together in one big community. Take your jobs as family members and office mates seriously.