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what former chatelaine editor rona maynard learned from her rescue dog

the "formerly important person" talks about how a mutt changed her perspective on life.

by robin roberts

published apr 03, 2023

last updated apr 05, 2023

6 minute read

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6 minute read

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a dog is a bridge to nature, says rona maynard

"people thought that i was rude and full of myself because i didn’t stop to say hello, and the truth is, i was just in a world of my own. i now feel that i am a neighbour among neighbours," says former chatelaine editor rona maynard. getty

as editor for a decade of one of canada’s most enduring magazines, chatelaine, followed by a busy second act as freelance writer, author and speaker, rona maynard had precious little time to stop and smell the roses — proverbial or palpable. until she got a dog. her husband of 52 years, paul jones, former vp at rogers publishing, had always wanted a four-legged fur ball, and talked her into adopting casey, a rescue from rural ohio. the mixed mutt came into her life at a time when, at 65, maynard was pondering her place in the world. she had struggled with, and overcome, mental health issues; she was an in-demand speaker; her memoir, my mother’s daughter, was widely acclaimed; and she regularly travelled the globe. she worried a dog would cramp her style and tie her down. she wondered who would get stuck walking him. and she simply couldn’t abide fur on the furniture.

but when casey bounded through the door of their toronto home seven years ago, maynard saw the world — and herself — in surprising new ways. she shared the highlights with healthing, which she writes about in her latest book, starter dog: my path to joy, belonging and loving this world, due out april 18.

**great title, starter dog.**

it’s a play on words because a lot of things started when we got the dog. i had never had a dog before, and didn’t think i wanted one. when paul first proposed it, i said, ‘are you kidding?’ we had a rhythm and i didn’t want to shake it up. but my husband knew we needed some shaking up. we were kind of set in our ways, and i was looking for a change in my life. i didn’t know what it was. i thought it was going to be some big complicated project that was going to take brain power and smart colleagues to wrestle to the ground.

rona maynard’s book, starter dog: my path to joy, belonging and loving this world, is due out april 18. supplied

instead it was a book about a dog. how did it take shape?

it began as a series of vignettes about casey that i shared on facebook. i didn’t know i was writing a book; i just came home overflowing with enchantment that i wanted to share. and people began to say, ‘these should be a book.’ and once i started, it was very hard to stop because every day brought new experiences. i had some trouble finishing it because there was no obvious narrative arc. in a lot of dog books the ending is the death of the dog. i certainly didn’t want to end that way.

but i came to see that it was a book about the evolution in me, about how i grew in the company of the dog, what i discovered and how the problem of my life was solved with a dog. i don’t know why it took me so long to figure that out.

then the pandemic happened while i was working on the book, and the tenor of our walks changed quite profoundly. people stopped coming up to us to chat, they would swerve to avoid their neighbours on the sidewalk. some people with small dogs picked them up and scurried past. at that point i realized i was going to have to wrap it up.

how did casey change your perspective of your life?

i had written a book before and i didn’t have an idea for another one. i very much missed colleagues. i did not miss editing a magazine, but i missed making something happen every day with a team. with a dog i went out with a team of one. and i didn’t have to initiate things, i didn’t have to lead anything, things happened to me. i saw things and found things and marvelled at things. and i learned something that had escaped me until the advanced age of 65: that you create your mood with how you direct your attention.

i had never stopped scurrying so i could watch a bee at work inside a coreopsis flower. and by the way, i didn’t know what a coreopsis was because i wasn’t very interested in nature. when i went out with a dog, i learned about bee hotels and the habits of worms and frogs and i became, for the first time, a student of nature, because a dog is a bridge to the natural world. a dog lives in a world of his senses.

rona maynard writes in her book how she grew in the company of the dog, what she discovered and how the “problem of her life” was solved. supplied

also, a dog is always moseying, and that forces you to slow down. i was just not used to doing that. i was always the fastest person on the sidewalk. people thought that i was rude and full of myself because i didn’t stop to say hello, and the truth is, i was just in a world of my own. i now feel that i am a neighbour among neighbours and an animal among animals. this was not true before. i was very much wrapped up in my work, and in achievement, in reaching milestones, getting things done, meeting targets. then i was on my own without any yardsticks — how do i know if i’m ok? what is important? how do you measure it? is importance selling lots of copies on the newsstand, or is importance making somebody a little happier today? there are so many things that people can do to pour a little kindness on the world.

**you quit your job at chatelaine at the height of its — and your — success in 2004. why, and why then?**

when i [started], i said to my boss, ‘i’m going to give this 10 years.’ those were the days when an editor actually could expect to be in a job for 10 years; these days that’s a long time for an editor, and not many get to leave at the time of their choosing. but i knew what i set out to do and i did those things. i’d nothing left to contribute. the time was right for somebody else to take over. it was very sad because i had loved the job. it was like a character in my life; i loved my relationships with the most loyal readership in the country. but i knew i would just go stale if i stayed and i would be seen to have lost my touch and i did not want that to happen.

was it jarring to go from such a rarefied position in publishing to being a regular person on the street?

it was. emily dickinson has a famous poem, i’m nobody! who are you? i became — and this is not an uncommon term — a formerly important person, an fip. it did feel a little odd. there were wonderful things about it because i had time to see friends, go for walks with my pal diane. but i didn’t have a place in the world that was mine and i had not yet learned that you make yourself in the world. you make wherever you happen to be a special place. and you do that with the quality of your attention to where you are and what you see and who you meet. casey was very much a part of that because a dog is so much more than a canine animal. a dog is everywhere you go together and every creature you meet along the way, and the human you become with your canine.

to order her new book, visit rona maynard’s website by clicking here.

robin roberts is a vancouver-based writer.

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robin roberts

what former chatelaine editor rona maynard learned from her rescue dog

the "formerly important person" talks about how a mutt changed her perspective on life.

**great title, starter dog.**

if your dog is chewing on your chairs when you go out, they may have separation anxiety

hot dogs: leaving car windows open is not enough to keep your pet safe from the heat

instead it was a book about a dog. how did it take shape?

how did casey change your perspective of your life?

**you quit your job at chatelaine at the height of its — and your — success in 2004. why, and why then?**

was it jarring to go from such a rarefied position in publishing to being a regular person on the street?

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what former chatelaine editor rona maynard learned from her rescue dog

the "formerly important person" talks about how a mutt changed her perspective on life.

great title, starter dog.

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instead it was a book about a dog. how did it take shape?

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you quit your job at chatelaine at the height of its — and your — success in 2004. why, and why then?

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was it jarring to go from such a rarefied position in publishing to being a regular person on the street?

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**great title, starter dog.**

**you quit your job at chatelaine at the height of its — and your — success in 2004. why, and why then?**