The Queen of Everything

Birch - A Poem

Birch

by Karen Shepard

You gonna eat that?

You gonna eat that?

You gonna eat that?

I'll eat that.

Man and Dog - A Poem

Man and Dog

by Siegfried Sassoon

Who's this - alone with stone and sky?

It's only my old dog and I -

It's only him; it's only me;

Alone with stone and grass and tree.

What share we most - we two together?

Smells, and awareness of the weather.

What is it makes us more than dust?

My trust in him; in me his trust.

Here's anyhow one decent thing

That life to man and dog can bring;

One decent thing, remultiplied

Till earth's last dog and man have died.


(Note: I was obviously more excited about the above photo than was Sophie.)

Sophie's Art Part 2

Another example of Sophie's art. The same methods were applied as described in the post from two days ago.

(Photo 2-21-11 by Joe, smudges on window by Sophie)

Black Labs - Basic Info

From Wikipedia:

"The Labrador Retriever (also Labrador, or Lab for short) is one of several kinds of retriever, a type of gun dog. A breed characteristic is webbed paws for swimming, useful for the breed's original purpose of retrieving fishing nets. This and their subsequent use a hunting companions, gave them the name retriever. The dogs of this breed are very loving, kind, loyal and compassionate to their master. The Labrador is the most popular breed of dog by registered ownership in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States (since 1991). Typically, Labradors are athletic and love to swim, play catch and retrieve games, and are good with young children."

Sophie's Art

Yes, Sophie is an artist. What you see here are actually her nose smudges on the back window. I photographed the smudges and then "antiqued" the picture on iPhoto. Clever, huh? I thought so..

(Photo 2-21-11 by Joe, smudges made by Sophie over quite a long period of time. I should really put some windex to that window..)

More Sophie in the Snow

Sophie after a nice long winter walk waits to get back into the great indoors.

(Photo 2-20-11)

Sophie in the Snow

Sophie likes the snow. Due to finding her in January, some of her very earliest days were spent navigating it. I heard this morning that we got 13 inches yesterday.

(Photo 2-20-11)

Sophie in the Summer

We've had something of a thaw recently. This past Wednesday's high made it to 52 degrees. It's getting cold again now and it's supposed to start snowing this morning. The current weather has me thinking of summer. Here's a picture of Soph from June of 2010. I had just picked her up from being boarded at Auntie Ruth's. The 'kerchief was a result of good behavior during her beauty treatment of a bath, brush, and nail clipping. On warmer days she usually takes to the floor to stay cool.

(Photo 6-24-10)

Man's Best Friend - Charlie Brown and Snoopy

I love the companionship of a dog. Charlie Brown had Snoopy. I have my Sophie.

(Photo 7-16-10)

Sophie's Routine - Bedtime

After Sophie's final walk of the day she usually hangs out by her chair or on the living room floor for a bit. She usually starts crying sometime between 9 and 9:30 and we often have to tell her "You can go to bed." Her ears perk up and we say it again and then she finally goes to hop on the bed. I think it's funny that she sometimes waits for permission. I usually take her out for a final pee around 10:00 p.m. and then she knows the day is complete.

(Photo 2-6-11)

Sophie's Routine - Final Walk of the Day

After our dinner and after Sophie's licked the pan, she's ready for her final walk of the evening.

(Photo 2-17-11)

Sophie's Routine - Our Dinner Part 2

Sophie now gets moved over to the side of the room as we make dinner. She loves being on a carpet.

(Photos 2-16-11)

Sophie's Routine - Our Dinner

After Sophie's had her own dinner and has been walked she's usually content for a while. Eventually she starts her crying which means she's ready for us to make dinner for ourselves. We head to the kitchen and start dinner prep while she lays down in a spot that is right in the middle of things (as shown in the picture here). As a puppy she was so restless and naughty a good chunk of the time that we were happy for any moment of peace she would give us. If it meant she plopped herself down in the middle of the kitchen floor as we were trying to make dinner and we felt we had to step around her so as not to disturb the quiet she was giving us, then so be it. Good parenting? No, but it gave us some peace and quiet. If we were doing it all over again would we allow this. No. When she does what she's doing in the picture we now move her to a rug we've placed in the corner and she's pretty good about staying there. I think it's funny that she still goes right to the middle of the action like she did for so many years. I guess it's her default mode and just goes to prove that it really is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. (photo 2-16-11)

Sophie and Her Daddy Part 2

She puts up with this guy.

(Photo 7-16-10)

Sophie and Her Daddy

Sophie loves her daddy.

(Photo 2-13-11)

Sophie and Valentine's Day 2011

Sophie celebrated Valentine's Day by getting a very special treat. She loves beef hide chews. What an angel.

(Photo 2-14-11)

Sophie and the Back Window

When Sophie senses something in the backyard she runs to her back window to check it out.

(Photos 2-9-11)

Sophie October 2010

Here Sophie is relaxing in the kitchen. She had recently been boarded at Auntie Ruth's in Minnetonka where she received a beauty treatment which included a bath, brush, and nails. For good behavior she got the special Halloween themed 'kerchief she's sporting here.

(Photo 10-30-10)

Sophie's Routine: Steamed Veggie's: Carrots

Steamed carrots. Mmmmm.

(Photo 2-17-11)

(Photo 2-6-11)

Sophie's Chair Part 3 - Sophie's Perch

When Sophie sits on top of the back rest, her chair becomes "Sophie's Perch." When she's facing right she's positioned as you see her pictured here. When facing left she puts her butt on the arm rest and her front legs on top of the back rest. I don't have a picture of her facing left. I'll have to work on that.

(Top two pictures taken 2-9-10. Bottom picture taken 7-25-08)

Sophie's Chair Part 2

After Sophie's original chair could stand no more use, we replaced it with a similar sized brown leather chair. We cover it with a sheet to protect it. Sophie loves it just as much.

(Photo taken 2-6-11)

Sophie's Chair Part 1

Sophie loves to sit on the living room chair that faces out the front window. She loves keeping an eye on what is going on outside and is something of a Gladys Kravitz from the 60s t.v. show Bewitched. The chair she is pictured in here has been replaced as it ended up looking quite beat up after years of use.

(Photo taken 7-25-08)

Sophie's Booties

Soph has a set of booties for when the weather turns exceptionally cold and/or when the sidewalks are particularly salty. She does pretty well with the cold but starts to have a harder time as it gets below zero and windy. We've also found that wearing the boots indoors calms her down which is nice when we have company over. It takes her a while to get her sea legs when she's wearing them inside although she moves just fine with them on outside.

(Photo taken April 2010)

Dog Tricks

Sophie knows a few tricks. Not many, but a few. She can sit, lay down, shake, and (less successfully) stay. In the photo at right she's just beginning to lift her paw to shake for a piece of string cheese.

(photo taken 1-31-11)

Sophie's Story Part 2

Initially we had no plans to keep Sophie. We called the local humane societies and reported her to animal control. We quickly realized what a challenge she was going to be. She constantly whined and looked for attention. She didn't know what to do with herself when she wasn't being tended to. She barked a lot. She gnawed things. She peed inside. She wouldn't go to sleep. She woke up early whining. For lack of a better term she was a total and complete spaz. The picture included here is not actually of Sophie. We didn't photograph her or even name her for that matter because, again, we had no intitial plans to keep her. We didn't want to get too attached. Our main concern was to get her back where she belonged or into some other safe environment. We decided to wait to see if anyone claimed her.

Black Labs - Hunting Dogs

We don't use Sophie as a hunting dog but she would have made a good one. In her younger days she was a fast and agile runner and loved to chase after moving things be they leaves, squirrels, rabbits, and even bugs. As an 11 year old she doesn't move as fast as she used to but her youthful spirit is the same as it ever was.

Sophie's Routine - Early Morning

Sophie usually sleeps in bed with us. When I woke up this morning she had moved to the couch. She's usually fed between 6 and 6:30 on weekdays and then is taken for a nice walk.

(photo taken 2-2-11)

Sophie's Routine - Steamed Veggies: Green Beans

Sophie also likes to eat green beans. She is constantly hungry in the winter so steamed veggies help keep her filled up but are healthy for her. (photo taken 1-31-11)