From grief to great adventure

Everyone handles loss their own way.  Lisa Cohn and her 5-year-old son, Michael, coped with losing their 6-year-old Golden, Lucy, by getting busy.  They started “Michael’s Dog Blog,” creating fun kid-and-dog how-to videos, authored a just-released children’s book, and more.

"What began as an attempt to overcome our grief has morphed into a mission to instill in kids a love of dogs and dog books," says Lisa Cohn. 

Their children's book, "Bash and Lucy Fetch Confidence," illustrated by Portland artist Heather Nichols, is about a wise but mischievous Golden Retriever who teaches a boys’ team about sportsmanship, and instills confidence in the players. 

Michael’s Dog Blog provides kids with fun dog facts, kids’ dog book reviews, and advice about raising dogs from a kid’s point of view.  Cohn says her son comes up with most of the ideas, including vlogs on subjects like “How to Identify a Dog Having a Bad Day,” and “What to Do when Your Dog Barks While You're Taking a Bath.”  Based in Portland, OR, some videos and vlogs feature local animal experts.  Michael’s reputation as a reviewer of dog books “has gotten attention,” says his mom, an award-winning author herself.  “Authors have been sending him books to review, and he has a big stack to go through!” 

Lisa and Michael plan to visit schools to talk to young kids about how and why they wrote their book and how much they've learned doing their blog.  See Michael’s Dog Blog at www.BashAndLucy.com/blog.  Contact Lisa Cohn at BashAndLucy@gmail.com. Check out Michael’s videos at BashAndLucy.com or Youtube.com/user/BashAndLucy.