Yesterday, I finished the first draft edit of “Frieda And Me: A Love Story,” out next fall from Random House. Editing the manuscript brought out all sorts of memories of my tumultuous time training Frieda. How she brought Maria and I together. How she was abandoned in the Adirondacks and lived there for years. How she saved a family from a fire. How she was mistreated as a junkyard dog. How she challenged every training notion about dogs that I ever had, and how she nearly destroyed the equanimity and safety that characterized the animals on the farm.

Frieda and I are tight these days, she is a sweetheart and a monumental pain in the butt. A great personality. This book is a love story on three tracks. Me and Maria. Frieda and Maria. All three of us coming together somehow. What a remarkable, brave and loving animal this is. I have avoided dogs like Frieda my whole life, and I am nothing but grateful our paths crossed and changed our lives together.