DEAR SOPHIE

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

23 July 2007

Double Duty

Dear Sophie,trick photography of Sophie in her harness looking right with a duplicate image looking to the left
The last several weeks have been insane with my defective eyes getting progressivly sensitive to light. We kept waiting for it to go away but it has just gotten worse, to where I can't open my eyes in the light. So, as usual, you stepped up to the challenge. I admit it wasn't the smartest move on my part to depend on you as a guide for tasks you weren't trained for, but I didn't have much of a choice. I need you for balance whether I can see or not so, my sweet pup, you get counted on once again to do it all.
I will say, Sophie, that you've been amazing. It hasn't been easy. It involved a whole lot of research, some private advice from my friend with a guide dog, and some serious problem-solving by our trainers. Okay, I don't think you have what it takes to be a full-fledged guide dog; you're too distractable and you don't seem to want anything to do with walking one step ahead of me. But you have your own body movements and I'm slowly learning to read them and trust you. You've only walked me into a cement barrier in a parking space and later a wall, and that's pretty doggone good for the amount of training you haven't had.
With any luck, all this won't last long and we can get back to normal around here but, as long as you have to be a guide for now, it's nice to know you can do it. You did a great job today, big girl, and did you make out like a bandit ... Frosty Paws, cheese on your kibble, and a brand new peanut-butter-filled bone! Yeah, maybe I went overboard a little bit, but once in a while you need an extra-special payday.

11 July 2007

Longest Stay

Dear Sophie,
Wow, did you earn a cookie tonight! I'll go to my grave believing God never intended for anyone to actually live in this hot, ugly, nasty, filthy desert but, since we do, we're going to encounter some mighty ugly, nasty, filthy creatures, namely Palo Verde beetles. Palo Verde Beetle ... Every July it's the same old story ushering in the summer monsoons, and tonight we encountered two of the deadly beasties in the back yard (deadly only because they can scare you to death; not really poisonous). Of course when I found one, I freaked out and put you on a "stay" in the middle of the yard. With all the terror and panic going on for the several minutes it took to kill the bug, I was shocked when you held your stay like a champ. All the hard work we've done with your training just keeps paying off over and over and over and over ...