ANOTHER NEW PHASE BEGINS!

Saturday morning we were up early and off to Lacey to pick up the newest addition to our family. A tiny Yorkshire Terrier was advertised on Craig’s List and we were lucky enough to be the chosen couple to receive this adorable baby girl. She is actually about four years old and is a rescue from a puppy mill. Her current owner, a really nice young lady named Beth couldn’t keep this sweet little dog any longer and was looking for a good home for her. Although Phil had been stern about “NO more animals” for the past six years since he retired, one look at her darling face (in the picture Beth sent us) and he was hooked. She is our early Christmas present to each other and we love little Sophie to pieces already.

For her first day with a new family, Sophie was really busy. We took her to the local thrift store (Phil carried her inside his jacket) shopping for a carrier but we had no luck. From there we went to Wal-Mart and Phil carried her again. She attracted a lot of attention and received many ooohs and aaahs from fellow customers in the pet section. We found a nice travel carrier for her and bought her a sweater and a padded vest to wear outside as well. From there we drove to the cemetery and put her leash and harness on. She went for a walk in the sun on the lawn and went potty … we were so proud of her!

Next we took her to daughter, Bobbie’s house where she met “Big” Sophie. Phil introduced them and eventually, “Little” Sophie and “Big” Sophie were exploring Bobbie’s home together. Beth had told us she got along with other animals and she seemed totally comfortable with Bobbie’s dog. Next, we went downtown to Gloria and Les’s store, Rocks ‘n Rhinestones and met great granddaughter Carly and her little sister, Lily. It was Lily’s birthday and they had just come from McDonalds party room. Carly’s mom, Jenn left Carly with us and Phil and I took turns holding Sophie inside the store and standing outside in the cold with Carly to watch the parade for an hour. Believe this or not, Sophie had an accident and went big potty in the store on Phil’s watch and he happily cleaned it up. Now we knew he was totally in love! Fortunately, Les and Gloria are dog people so a little doggie mishap didn’t phase them … they have two little ones of their own.
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When the parade was over, we picked up granddaughter, Sara and headed for Olympia and sister, Dixie’s house for dinner and a surprise birthday party for her husband, Paul. There were over thirty friends and family members there for an extraordinary buffet dinner with desserts to die for including a huge birthday cake. Paul was totally surprised and swore to get even … :)

All through the evening, Sophie cuddled in Phil’s arms or mine and even agreed to being held by several other people without any trauma. She went outside to potty on her leash and received much attention from more people than she has ever been exposed to before and was perfectly okay with it except for being a bit standoffish. In other words, she was a perfect houseguest and very well behaved. Everyone loved her, even my sister who was worried about her carpet and floors until we assured her we would not let any accidents happen … and we didn’t.

Today is another big family get-together at Bobbie’s house so Sophie will be exposed to many more people and if she handles the commotion as well as she did last night, she will be well on her way to being a “social animal” for sure! We love her more every minute we have her and she has exclusively chosen Phil as her favorite (much to my dismay).

Sorry for the delay this morning and thanks so much for stopping by!