I often get the question, “How did you come up with the name Team Red Dog?”

I was always attracted to those scrappy little Australian cattle dogs. And so, when the time was right, I found the most precious puppy at a breeder. Unfortunately while driving him home, I realized that I was terribly allergic to him. I was heartbroken to have to return the puppy. A year passed and I decided that allergies or not, I simply wasn’t giving up. When the local animal shelter called me to tell me that they had a litter of red heeler-mix puppies, it was my moment! My first “Red Dog”, Mickey, joined the family.

Sometime later, I was in Monument Valley, Utah and fate intervened to match me with another cattle dog. She was hungry, sleeping in a dirt parking lot, mooching French fries from tourists. A local family reassured me that she was no-one’s dog so I canceled my flight home, rented a pick-up, and the newly named Najonni (means “beautiful” in Navajo) and I headed back home for the Pacific Northwest.