Random Thots

I for one am thankful no one called at 5am this morning trying to give me their dog. I am thankful Sophie was quiet all night or I'd be calling someone to take this dog.

Sophie's been with us since last January. I don't think I need to send a memo to her about what our "normal" sleeping hours are, but since we got back from Maui she has decided she likes being up at 2am. For the record, I don't.

Personally I think Sophie sleeps all but two hours a day. She gets both her allotted amount of sleep and mine. Nice to know she's sleeping vicariously for me. It did occur to me with the onset of cold weather she is not getting her daily "look at me run like a crazy girl" time in the yard. If we can't challenge her physically, we need to do so mentally.

We (Reno - not to name names) had been lax in working on confidence training with her in the evenings. So last night he got his little bowl of dog cookies, and a some mini marshmallows out and worked with her. There is something so endearing about seeing a grown man laying on the floor with a mini marshmallow on his nose for a shy dog to snarf up. Thankfully, she also has a very soft mouth. It is almost like a moth taking the treat from Reno's face. Making her think about getting those treats, and work up her courage to do so, is the equivalent of the zoomies in the yard for her.

Of late she's been a pill about going into her crate at bedtime too. Must be payback for us being gone for a few days. Helloo Sophie - we've been crating you at night forever. Or since January, which ever comes first. I don't for a moment believe you have forgotten this. Such a stubborn girl sometimes. Oh wait, perhaps if I said such a girl - the stubborn part would have been obvious. Either way, you get crated at night Little Missy. You can go on your own, or with assistance.... Assistance it is.

Assistance, the thought of it is sometimes hard to embrace. And yet, that is what we are here to do. To help others get through their fears, their worries, their walls. On a small scale it's helping a dog into her crate at night, on a large scale it's reaching out to those in need. If we are loving people, it's what we do.