DEAR SOPHIE

LETTERS TO MY SERVICE DOG ... The link to my personal blog, WENDY-LAND, is listed at right.

30 December 2006

Work & Play On Saturday

photo of me paying attention at the workshop
Dear Sophie,
We had quite a day today, didn't we? A whole classroom full of students and dogs gathered for a workshop on healthy body language from 'Teacher Nancy' and how to detect little problems before they become big problems. Lots of info and plenty of great friends.
Afterward, Meg and Kovu and CJ and Emma joined us for lunch at JB's. Now there was a sight ... three of us walking in with three Golden Retrievers! Funny how no one blinked an eye except maybe the customers. haha photo of Sophie and me and the whole bunch of us outside the restaurant after lunch Guess that's because that particular restaurant is a favorite of Happy Tails and they're used to it in there. We weren't seated two minutes when in came our two teachers and our pal June, with two more big dogs! It was a sight, it was! Two hours we visited with our friends, and then we went shopping! You were one tired pup (me too) by the time we got home, but wasn't it fun??!!

07 December 2006

Sophie Knows The Way To San Jose

Dear Sophie,
You've always been such a good flyer. What happened this time? Sit and down and sit and down and trembly and edgy all the way to San Jose. If you thought you could get away with it, you'd have gladly parachuted out of that airplane. I half-expected you to get out and kiss the ground when we landed. Once there, though, you were back to normal and all was well.
Travis and Kasey are such sweethearts! They welcomed you with open arms and made you feel right at home and, after you did your share of snooping and sniffing, you acted like you had lived there all your life. You sacked out long enough to let me visit and chat with them and then slept the night through only asking to be taken out once.photo of Amy, Vera, and Turtle
On Saturday when we visited my friend Amy, you got to mingle a bit for the first time with a guide dog. With Vera being nine years old and you being two, I worried that you'd give her a run for her money, but you ended up having to stay a step ahead of Turtle, their Mini Pinscher. And the instant you saw their Dutch bunny hopping around the back porch, that was it ... forget trying to get your attention after that. I had hoped some of Vera's virtues would rub off on you, mainly that she knows when not to act like a fruitcake, but I guess nothing is going to squelch the puppy inside of you until it wears out on its own. I did appreciate your restraining yourself with a nice nap so Amy and I could catch up on the past twenty years and get in a game of Scrabble.photo of Travis and Kasey with Sophie on the pier
Sunday was all brand new for you. You've never seen the ocean before, not that you saw much of it this time, your attention too focused on the barking sea lions and the flapping of seagull wings.photo of me, with Sophie's attention on the sea lions who were barking on the rocks below the pier
It was such fun to watch the awe and wonder in your eyes at the brand new sights and sounds and smells of the fishing pier at Santa Cruz. You were trying so hard to be good and stay focused but you couldn't resist gawking at the beckoning animals. Oh, how you'd have loved to play too. Maybe we can go back in the summer and you can actually go down to the beach and into the water. By then, maybe Trav and Kasey will have a puppy pal for you to play with. I'm already looking forward to going back there, and can just imagine you are too.