I’ve been researching the life of the coyote for my novel, and it’s interesting how much like dogs they are. In fact, they are almost exactly like dogs except that they have to find their own food and we rarely like the way they do it. Coyotes mate for life, their pups are playful, and they are social, intelligent animals. In my novel, I am imagining a sort of coyote gathering and I’ve been talking to people who study coyotes and learning much about them.
  Coyotes are much reviled, and seen as sneaky and vicious, but this seems to be one of those human prejudices that fits into our own view of the world. I have coyotes all around the farm, and they have never bothered me, but I have dogs, donkeys and good fences. Coyotes, like dogs, are adaptable and savvy and they live all around us. I hear them howling and yipping at night, and Rose has confronted some when they come up to the top of the hill (Izzy and Lenore go the other way). I bet Frieda would give them a good run.
  I am thinking a lot about dog training these days, and am being reminded again of how much discipline it takes, how much patience and clarity, and how little of those qualities most of us, including me, have.