Birthday Dog

Sonia's birthday was Tuesday, and Fiorella missed it, for which she profoundly apologizes.  After all, it was a very important BD for doggie, her third, which means she is now twenty-one years old in dog years--old enough to vote, to drink, and to make her own living.

Sonia may not be holding down a job yet, but she has matured.  She isn't as interested in rawhide sticks as she used to be, and she doesn't chew on anything else at all.  And yesterday, Fiorella was able to persuade her to ignore four deer in the woods within fifteen yards of her, even when they bolted.  Also, whenever Sonia breaks leash now, she heads straight for the front door and waits on the porch to be let in.

She knows where she belongs.

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Sonia Grows Up

Fio walked Sonia Dog twice around the driveway with four deer grazing in the middle of it.  All it took was a stick and a half of PupPeroni and Fiorella's hand under doggie's collar.  Somewhere along the way, Sonia realized that the treat was guaranteed, but she'd never yet caught a deer.

Maybe it's adult maturity setting in,  After all, Sonia will turn twenty-one in dog years next month so she'll be putting all that teen-age nonsense behind her.  She isn't as interested in rawhide bones as she used to be, and she gets querulous if we stay up past her bedtime.

But she's still our sweet baby Sonia.

Twice-given Bone

Sonia Dog likes to play a little game with Mommy.

As soon as Mommy presents Doggie with her daily rawhide retriever bone, Sonia makes a great show of hiding it, then approaches Mommy and whines piteously.  Mommy responds by searching out the usual  places--between the couch cushions, under a pillow or the bathroom rug, behind the waste basket-- finds the bone, holds it aloft and and exclaims dramatically  "Look what I found!"

A grateful Sonia trots forward and retrieves her retriever bone, then settles down in the center of the den to chew it to shreds.  Such is life in La Casa Fiorella.

Sonia's Cigar

Sonia is a real dog.  She buries bones behind the waste paper basket, under pillows, between couch cushions, under Fio's leg, or any other strange and wonderful place into which she can nose a piece of saliva-soggy rawhide.

Doggie gets a new bone every day which she promptly hides, then appeals to Fio to find for her.  Mommy makes a big fuss over locating the bone, re-gifting it it with all due ceremony, and Sonia walks off happy, bone hanging from her mouth like a good cigar.

Ah, if only Fiorella's life could be so good.