What's with the Two Names?
That's Goelzer (no hyphen) Lyons. When I married, we both took Goelzer as our middle name, following in the footsteps of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Mary Todd Lincoln, Sandra Day O'Connor, and many others. We prefer to have our middle name spelled out, and would dearly love for more database and form creators to stop insisting on a mere middle initial.
If you're doing a geneology search, I don't know much about my lineage yet. What little I do know is that my great-grandfather and his brother came over to New York from Germany, had a feud, and parted ways. One settled in the Long Island area, and the other went to the Syracuse area. I will post more details if I ever find them.
My beloved first Border Collie, Tavi, taught me how to live with enthusiasm and he will live in my heart forever.
Zak is the dog in the photo. He is our second Border Collie and our first rescue. A shy, soft dog, Zak has honed my skills as a trainer more than I could have imagined. His passions in life are catching flexible flying discs, herding a big, hard-plastic ball, and chasing the squirrels off our window feeders. More Zak photos
Want to know more about these sheepherding geniuses who often make very challenging pets? Need some advice on your own Border Collie? Ready to adopt a homeless Border Collie? Have a little money or some extra supplies you could donate? Visit the North American Border Collie Rescue Network or the U.S. Border Collie Club for some great general info. And if you need someone to help you with a dog, check out this list of people.
Although I'm called a dog trainer, what I really do is help children and adults understand how their dogs think and communicate. Left to our natural instincts, Homo sapiens and Canis familiaris would make some very different choices. Training is learning how to appreciate each other and live together harmoniously. Tompkins County 4-H has an excellent program for children, and the Finger Lakes Agility and Obedience Association and the Ithaca Dog Training Club offer classes for adults.
Like to walk your dog off-leash? See if you and your dog can pass my off-leash standard.
A Cornell freshman writing seminar, "In the Company of Animals," taught by lecturer Ann Boehm, introduced me to vegetarianism. Once I stripped off the blanket of culture that surrounds eating patterns in the U.S., it was hard not to be a vegetarian. Of course, it helped that Ithaca (New York) embraces, even worships, living outside the mainstream!
Courses such as T. Colin Campbell's revolutionary "Vegetarian Nutrition," first offered at Cornell in fall 1996, are making great strides in balancing this often emotionally charged topic with hard science. Be sure to check out Prof. Campbell's China-Cornell-Oxford Project on Nutrition, Health and Environment.
Address: http://www.people.cornell.edu/pages/bgl1/
Page last updated July 25, 2002. All material ©2002 Beth Goelzer Lyons.
