About Jo and Sundog Ranch

 

Hello, allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Jo, short for Johanna.  I am happy to be living the life I live up on a beautiful piece of land I’ve decided to call Sun Dog Ranch.  I have sunrises and sunsets to die for here on Sun Dog.   If you are ever going to see a real sundog (a atmospherical phenomenon) your chances of seeing it in my backyard are excellent.  Sun Dog is forty two acres of red dirt and Tuscan basalt on a ridge in Northern California.  The actual house and barn of the ranch sit on about five acres a top the ridge land with breathtaking  views over the cliffs of Rock Creek Canyon and almost all of Northern California beyond.   The additional 37 acres tumble-down to one of the branches of meandering Rock Creek.  It takes at least an hour to hike down a trail to Rock Creek.
The other Sun Dogs who reside on the land are of the furry, moving kind.   Three to five (at any given time) Golden Retrievers who taught me all I need to know about taking photographs of moving objects.  I also have two horses, a Appaloosa gelding named GQ who I think taught me everything I need to know about horsemanship!  And Chiron my 10 yr old  gelding quarter horse who never ceases to amaze me with his antics.  And that is not all!  I have 5 goats (to clear the land) and a wild guard donkey named Rosie.  Rosie keeps the mountain lions away. True story.
I am blessed to be where I am after over twenty years as a pediatric nurse caring for children with cancer and healthy newborns too.  I am still an active RN but I am taking time off from nursing.  I am in the process of reinventing myself you could say so I can pursue my real passions in life.  Photography, writing and raising Golden Retrievers to name a few.  I am also working on developing Sun Dog Ranch to become a venue.  My challenge is maintaining enough focus to pursue so many passions!

As you can imagine everyday on  Sun Dog there is a story to tell. It all keeps me happy in the end.

UPDATE: Tough times at Sun Dog in late 2014 and 2015.  On December 12, 2015  I lost the love my life “Rockin’ Roy”to brain cancer.  Roy’s blood, sweat and tears grace the ranch in all the beautiful and useful projects he completed.   He is sorely missed.   Since I was devoting much of my time to caring for Roy in 2015 I  blogged infrequently.  Could not muster up the lighthearted feeling I needed to write.  My last post on Roy was “Heart Wide Open”

I hope you follow me on this blog while I rebuild my life and get back into that “Sun Dog feeling.”

Adios Amigos!

Jo 8 copy

43 thoughts on “About Jo and Sundog Ranch”

  1. Oh my gosh . . . how could my human mommy not have found your blog before now? You have five Golden Retrievers (that’s just not fair) and you like gin martinis! Thank you so much for visiting me today. Now I must try to tear my mommy away from your beautiful blog.

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  2. What a wonderful place! Both of my two children would like to live in contact with their friends horses… Congratulations also for the beautiful photographs (of dogs, horses, donkeys and goats…) In short, I can say that the nature of northern California has remained that I had met in the early ’80s…
    See you around :-)claudine

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    • Thank you Claudine for visiting and following “The Sundog Drift” all the way from Italy. One of my favorite countries. I visited the Northern Italy 1991. I hope me and my animals can keep you entertained all the way from Northern California:)

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      • Dear Jo, actually I live in the south of Switzerland, where they speak Italian. It will be a pleasure to follow you on your adventures on horseback with your wonderful dogs. Was lovely to meet you “virtually”… the ranch, bring me back very old memories, since in the 80’s I had a long home-stay in Wyoming with a lovely american family! See you soon 🙂 claudine

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  5. Oh my goodness your blog is simply lovely!! I have a goldie myself and they are just the best kind of friend anyone could have. I look forward to reading your posts!

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  6. Hello, I would like to nominate this blog for the Versatile Blogger Award.

    Please understand that there is absolutely NO obligation to accept, repost or follow any of the VBA rules (which can be quite tedious). And should you prefer me to take down the link to your site from our VBA post, I will. Just let me know. We nominated you because we enjoyed your blog but we do not want to inconvenience you in anyway.

    You can see our VBA post where we have linked to you at – http://weliveinaflat.wordpress.com/2013/06/17/mugshots-are-ugly/

    The VBA is a “chain-letter” award. More about it on – http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com/

    Have a good day!

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  7. Hi there,
    I would like to nominate your blog for The Versatile Blogger Award.
    Please understand that there is absolutely NO obligation to accept, repost or follow any of the VBA rules (which can be quite tedious). I nominated you because I really enjoy your blog but don’t want to inconvenience you in anyway.
    You can see my VBA post where I linked to you at http://rubytheblacklabrador.wordpress.com/2013/06/23/the-versatile-blogger-award
    The VBA is a “chain-letter” award. More about it at http://versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com

    Keep blogging!
    PS. Just saw you scored a nomination from weliveinaflat anyway – So please don’t do this twice!!! Love your photos and your blog. x

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  10. Hello Jo-

    I saw the picture of the Golden Retriever on your page, and knew I’d instantly be a fan. As a former Golden owner and a forever Golden lover, reading your blog is an absolute pleasure. Keep up the great work!

    -Andrew

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    • OMG thank you. Now I HAVE to do an award blog like yours. I have been nominated for others and have not reciprocated. You are awesome Julianne. I don’t know how you do all your blogs at once! And they are all so good. You’ll be hearing about all this award stuff!

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  14. Hi Jo, such a pleasure to meet you here. Your description of your life is stunning and inspiring. It was a gift to see life through your eyes… for a few precious moments. Thank you for visiting my blog. I will return here again soon. Blessings and happy horizons, Michele

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  16. I just found your blog, and I’ll be back. You really know your way around a camera! Also, your home, with horses, dogs, etc., sounds absolutely wonderful! I had horses and many dogs in my younger & healthier days, but now I’m happy with my hubby & our pugs. We live in a retirement community, largely because of health problems (mine).

    My name is Maija (pronounced My-uh), and you may be interested in checking out my blog as well. I’m posting a chapter per week of my book-in-progress, Funny Tails: Adventures and Misadventures in Living with Pugs, at http://maijaharrington.com. It’s a humorous look at life with our 3 pugs plus various foster pugs from Pug Rescue of North Carolina. So far, readers tell me it’s pretty funny. Stop by for some laughs if you have time.

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  17. Hi Jo I just wanted to stop by and say how wonderful your photograph, in Leanne Coles MM challenge this week, was. Truly magnificent, the wind, the hair just so… it looks like a young filly, too pretty to be a boy?? Just fantastic. 🙂

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    • Thank you for the compliment. That was a stallion! All he had to do was put his ears back and give that look and his band members would respect. It is a special shot. I spent hours getting close enough to the band to photograph up close. Thanks again.

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  18. I’m a friend of Michelle Campbell’s, I just sent you an email, as looking for a puppy and wondering if you have them all spoken for. She said she would be calling you in my behalf…we love Shilo and would really love one of his pups. Been readying your blog last few weeks, and Michelle talks so highly of you…

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  19. Wow so touching ouch is probably more like it. I have owned Golden’s for 38 yrs and our first lived to be 18 1/2 we lost her two days before my 50th birthday ever since I have been adopting and volunteering for Homeward Bound Rescue Golden’s this pandemic has been tough. We lost our last two within 9 weeks of each other and Simba was almost 15 now I am a empty nester in shock never been without a golden for last 16 years …so is it time to brave the water and think puppy? We have had 8 dogs all Golden’s Pretty much have helped find homes for rescues maybe it’s my turn to be rescued? I would love to see your ranch and just ponder, if you would email me I would be thrilled 🐾🐾🐾🐾🥰 thanks Emma Weissenborn

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  20. Hello Jo
    My family rented Sundog Ranch for my son Logan’s graduation from Chico State. we loved your home and all of your dogs !!
    We think of you often and are hoping the fires have not impacted you. I was looking up your home to rent again on AIrBnB but do not see it available. Do you still rent it out ? Would love to come again and enjoy your home.

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    • Thank you! Yes I do still rent but I am in Airbnb jail. I allowed some guests to host a beautiful small wedding. There was music and someone reported me. They put my listing on snooze. Keep checking back. Hopefully they will release me. Maybe if Airbnb hears from unhappy guests they will release me sooner. 😒 Take Care

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Comments and feedback are what keep me going!