Is there a doctor in the house?

Sasha with her “Puppy”

…Or maybe it’s a seamstress we need!

This week marked the second anniversary of Sasha joining our household. Freezing drizzle and a silly injury of mine has kept us housebound, so we’ve celebrated with toys. And that is A Big Deal.

Why? (Glad you asked!) When Sasha came to us, she didn’t know how to play. She was anxious, easily startled, and tended to shy away if one of us made sudden movements or raised a hand. When we tossed a soft Frisbee, she’d tremble or retreat from the action. Ditto with balls of all sizes and textures, although Buddy The Wonder Cat demonstrated the fine art of chasing after toys for her. The variety of toys we piled into a basket might have thrilled any other dog, but Sasha just walked on by.

Then, a few months later, she received a Sock Monkey, and suddenly it was game on!  (And thanks again to the sponsors of the Humane Society of the Ozarks who donated all those treats and toys.)

Fast-forward 18 months. We were wandering through the local pet supply store when Sasha discovered the toy aisle. She browsed through every shelf at nose level until she found the red stuffed squeaky toy pictured above and now known as “Puppy.” (Ask her to fetch Puppy and she’ll bring you this toy. Every time.) She nosed that toy out of the bin and examined it thoroughly, to include a few exploratory nibbles, before carrying her prize triumphantly to the checkout counter.  Since then, she’s learned the fun of “fetch” and “bring it” and enjoys a rousing game of tug. And she’s generalized that experience to her other toys, so we’re now treated to play time with Puppy, Sock Monkey, and Squeaky Duck.

Today, though, it was all Puppy.  I think we’d hit 15 rounds of “fetch” and “bring it” before she decided “tug” was the game of the day, followed by a tear-the-stuffing-out session. By that point I was laughing too hard to focus, which explains the slightly fuzzy photo above.

Time for a patch job!

A Tribute to Shadow

Taking Flight ©2015 Tom Hidley

If you’ve been following this site, you already know I’m a big fan of the Doodlebugged Mysteries and its award-winning author, Susan J. Kroupa. Doodlebugged is that rare sort of series that appeals to people of all ages and is truly a delight to read over and over.

What you may not know is that Doodle was inspired by Sue’s real-life dog, Shadow. Shadow passed away last month, and I wanted you all to know more about this wonderful dog. As Sue writes in her blog (and shared here with permission):

Shadow, with his keen intelligence, his independence, his often maniacal energy, and his always amiable spirit, was truly the most interesting dog I’ve ever had. Admittedly, sometimes he was interesting in the Chinese curse sort of way.

He was a study in contradictions. He liked everyone, but was not especially affectionate with us, at least not until the last couple of years. He was a dog who liked his space.  He loved treats, but often would not work for food, and would thoroughly sniff anything we offered him, because, hey, THIS time it just might be poison.  He was loyalty impaired—a go-where-the-action-is kind of dog—and not averse to abandoning me during a walk if it started to rain, and race to the shelter of the porch.

A true country dog, he was equally at home in the city, attending soccer games and events with my grandkids.

His antics taught me how little I knew about dogs and sent me in search of more knowledge. He learned early on to hold still if I was holding a camera. After all, as I used to joke, he had “his public”, the many people from neighbors and friends to field workers and service people that he befriended. More than once I had the occasion to meet someone for the first time only to discover they already knew Shadow. “He has more friends than we do,” I would complain to my husband. And it was true.

Shadow inspired a host of nicknames: Motormouth, the Barkster, Boing-Boing, The Ever-Ready Labradoodle, Jumping Jack, Bear-Bane, and Possum-Bane.  Oh, how he loved to catch possums! I often said finding them was his super power.

He inspired a book series. The Doodlebugged Mysteries came directly from observing Shadow, who would stare up at me, never breaking eye-contact, with an expression that clearly said, “Seriously?” He was his own dog, not a people-pleaser, even though he was always pleased to be around people. Doodle’s oft repeated mantra that “smart and obedient don’t go hand in hand” came straight from Shadow’s actions.

Seriously?
Fly away, home, Shadow. May you find woods to race through, logs to leap over, possums to catch, and bears to chase away, and may you live on, at least in part, in Doodle.

♥ ♥ ♥

You’ll find the complete post with more photos and links to previous posts at Fly Away Home. Shadow will live on in our hearts and in the Doodle stories, and I am grateful to Sue for allowing us to be part of Shadow’s public.

♥ ♥ ♥

Available in print and Kindle editions:

Bed-Bugged (Doodlebugged Mysteries Book 1)

Out-Sniffed (Doodlebugged Mysteries Book 2)

Dog-Nabbed (Doodlebugged Mysteries Book 3)

Bad-Mouthed (Doodlebugged Mysteries Book 4)

Ruff-Housed (Doodlebugged Mysteries Book 5)

Keep up with Sue at https://susankroupa.com/