Meet Dawn

 "Wonderfully written from your heart. You have clearly articulated something that we all need lessons in:
1) to learn HOW to listen to ourselves, and then
2) to learn TO listen to ourselves.
MAGGIE was a great story and a valuable lesson to impart. Thanks."
-- David Elm, Wardenburg Apothecary, Boulder, CO (August, 2010)

Author of MAGGIE the dog who changed my life: A Story of Love

I am a Family Nurse Practitioner turned writer and was published in nursing journals and American Fitness Magazine. I live in Boulder, Colorado, with my husband, Tom, and our dog, Maddie. Sadly, we lost our precious cat, Cinnamon, Maggie's best buddy in my book, in August, 2011.

Dawn's Animal Rescue Work

A lifelong animal lover, my passion for dogs led me to volunteer with several local animal rescue organizations, including the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, Front Range Labrador Rescue, and Freedom Service Dogs. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, my husband and I traveled to Mississippi to work with the Humane Society of the United States assisting the displaced Katrina dogs. Our dog, Maddie, is a rescue, as was Cinnamon, our cat.

Goal to Benefit Rescue Groups/Puppy Mill Victims

I have donated portions of the proceeds from Maggie The Dog Who Changed My Life and/or copies of my book to animal shelters and rescue organizations. For over 3 years, 10% of my paperback and hardback book royalties of Maggie The Dog Who Changed My Life benefited Mainline Animal Rescue (MLAR), an organization devoted to raising awareness of the deplorable conditions in puppy mills and rescuing their canine victims.

 



Dawn's Therapy Dog Work

My most recent volunteer work is with therapy dogs; first with Chloe, our adopted 11 year old Golden Retriever, and currently with Maddie, our adopted black lab. Chloe and I visited Sunrise Assisted Living in Boulder, CO on a weekly basis. Maddie and I recently joined the children's reading program at Columbine grade school after a few years of therapy dog visits to a juvenile facility in Boulder. We also visited AMI, an unlocked juvenile facility for boys in Los Fresnos, Texas. Both Chloe and Maddie were certified through Therapy Dogs Incorporated (TDI).

Here is the January 13, 2010 article written in The Broward County Examiner by Sue Scheff about Dawn and Maddie's work as a therapy dog team with high-risk teens:

Struggling Teens and Dogs: Meet Maddie and How She Helps At-Risk Teens

And the follow-up January 16, 2010 Broward County Examiner article is here:


Therapy Dogs and At-Risk Teens Part 2


Other Volunteer Work:

Humane Society of Boulder Valley: Since Cinnamon passed, Tom, Maddie, and I have become an intermittent foster home for HSBV cats/kittens.

In September, 2010 I helped distribute collected items for pet evacuees and their people of the of the Boulder Four Mile Canyon Fire.

Rocky Mountain Lab Rescue: Became a volunteer September, 2010.


Published Articles

As Featured On EzineArticles
"10 Steps to Deal With the Loss of Your Pet."Ezine.com, April 16, 2009. Also published in various dog organization newsletters.





"Don't Leave Me!" Real Travel Adventures International Online Magazine, December, 2008.

"Take a Closer Look at Your Pet Food." Boulder Daily Camera Editor Blog, May 15, 2007.

 

"Bioidentical Hormone Replacement." American Fitness, p. 52-54, May/June, 2002.

"Wellspring For Women:A Model of a Nurse Practitioner Owned and Operated Clinic."NP World News, p. 3-4, February, 2001.

"Taking Charge:Protect Yourself, Set Boundaries." RN Magazine, pp. 19-22, March 1992.

"Empowering Yourself." Nursing '92, p. 140, May, 1992