Since winter is now upon us I thought I would share with you some of my favorite images from winter on the farm. Read More

Celebrating her love of animals and displaying a vivid imagination through photography and creative storytelling, Barbara introduces the first of several original photo essays starring some of her favorite barnyard talent. Read More

Making movies is a little bit like making magic. It may look real on film but, of course, it is all an illusion. I was reminded of this a few weeks back when a good part of the country including western Wisconsin, where I live, was in the grips of a dangerous heat wave. Temperatures soared and heat indexes were at 115º F plus. As I sat working in my home office, sweat dripping off my brow in spite of the two fans positioned on either side of me, I was reminded of when I was working on a feature film called Here on Earth. Read More

Early in my career as a trainer of animal actors I had the chance to work with a wolf on a TV commercial. A hot shot director flew in from Chicago. I located a wolf owner through another animal trainer, and Steve, a man with many years of experience in handling wildlife for film, brought two beautiful wolves. The set was an abandoned farmhouse out in the middle of a recently vacated cow pasture. We did the filming at night. The wolf’s job was to run up to the door and scratch at it as if trying to get in. My job was to entice the wolf. Read More

Dogs know more than we think. Kylie is a good dog. She is a tri-colored Australian Shepherd and is owned by my good friend Kathy. Kylie is an obedience and breed champion with a room full of ribbons and trophies to show for it. This is a dog that would never dream of being naughty and not doing what is asked of her. Read More

Sometimes we get lucky in life and end up right where we belong. Read More

I had seven (count them, seven!) jobs in one year before I started my own business, the Animal Connection. Read More