Church Dog

Dear Sophie,
Chalk up another new experience ... your first day at church. I was so nervous inside but I couldn't let you know that. We sat in the back near an inconspicuous door to defuse any potential problems but, even when everyone stood up for hymns and welcoming, and even when you saw people you knew and wished for all the world you could get up and play with them, you stayed down and never made a sound, and you only moved to get more comfy. Sure can't blame you for that. No one seemed to have any problem with you being there, and you were very welcome. This is just one more step in a long line of places I need you to be with me, but I think this one was the most important and the most sensitive of any of them. I'm so proud of you. You just get better and better every day.

Vegas Ventures, Take Two

Dear Sophie,
All in all, this trip to Vegas wasn't nearly as bad as the first one, probably because you're now a little older and a more seasoned service dog, but there was no question you weren't an especially happy dog. On our little venture out to Fremont Street, wouldn't you know it ... they played the same show that freaked you out so badly a few months ago. I dared hope you wouldn't remember it and could get through it but no such luck. You knew exactly what was coming and we had to duck out of there in a hurry. Even when the dive-bombing airplanes went away and the pretty birds came out, you still wanted nothing to do with it. The second night, after we visited with Tom and Carol and the little eight-pound Puddle who delighted in bossing you around in her house, we went for a little walk down the Strip. You loved the fountain in front of Paris
so I figured you'd go crazy over the water show at the Bellaggio. Well, Sophie, you're just full of surprises ... you didn't much care for that one with its booms and blasts. All the neon flashy lights and noise and crowds just didn't impress you so, about the time your tail stopped wagging, I figured it was best to hop a bus and go on back to the hotel. We pulled one little side trip to Walgreens and got you a stick of string cheese ... that was one thing you did like!! You were so tired after all that, not even a string of firecrackers could've stirred you and you slept through the rest of the night. I guess the best time you had was at the airport on our way home where I dropped my drivers license. I dared to ask you to "get it" even though I knew there was no way you would ... but you did!! You got all kinds of cheers and "good girls" from all the folks sitting around our gate, because you did something you never had done before. You sure did make an impression but no one was as impressed as Mama! Finally up in the air and headed for home, I discovered I unwittingly created a monster by letting you look out the window just once. If you'd have had your way, you'd have had your nose at the glass the whole trip. Did you understand what you were seeing? Gosh, but I wish I could read your mind. We made it home safe and sound, so take a couple of days off now, Soph ... you earned them!