Dogs of Our Lives

This is the story that Sarah LaRose shared with me about Pepper's abilities to think for herself when guiding. The story is incredible and the stress must've been tremendous, but Pepper got the job done. --- Sarah was at a convention for the blind and visually impaired and they were staying in the convention hotel. Many conference attendees were also staying there.  An afternoon break was scheduled during the conference, and a lot of people, including Sarah and Pepper, had returned to their rooms. Sarah settled in for a bit of a breather. Since Pepper was no longer working, she removed her harness and they both began to relax. Suddenly, a loud announcement boomed over a speaker. "All people in the building must evacuate immediately. We have a fire situation. All people in the building must evacuate immediately."  The fire alarms began blaring and the evacuation began.   Sarah later shared, "We were told at The Seeing Eye that, if there is a fire emergency and you...

A few days ago, I got a call from Sarah LaRose, the woman Pepper had guided prior to retiring and coming to live with us. That's not unusual; Sarah calls once in a while to say hello, ask about Pepper, and share what she has been doing. Like Kathy, Sarah is a very active woman. She has a doctorate in Divinity, is a minister, teaches university classes in Hebrew and Greek languages, translates those languages for others, does public speaking, and is an author.  When Pepper came into our life, it was an unexpected transition, both for Sarah and for Pepper. Pepper had collapsed one day while working. Realizing that the collapse meant something was seriously wrong, Sarah immediately raced her to a specialist.  In doing so, Sarah saved Pepper's life. She nearly died and was ill and in the vet hospital for several days. The diagnosis was a severe Addison's Disease crisis and Pepper had to be retired from guiding immediately. Thanks to a recommendation from Kathy who is also a fr...

 Hello, all! Today we have a very special guest, Poppy Mitchell! :: applause, especially loud from the Mitchell family:: So, Poppy, er, may I call you Poppy? Oh, of course, Grammy! I happen to love the name that my new family gave me. It's Poppy Rowen Mitchell, but you can call me Poppy or even Poppy Ro-Ro like they do. They really love me and Cambria and Titan worked very hard to convince their parents that I needed to come live with them. What a beautiful name, Poppy. Is there a story behind it? It's rather unusual. Oh, yes, and the story connects me even more to my new family. Well, those Mitchells LOVE to perform,  and Cambria was performing in a production of  The Wizard of Oz.  I'm named after the poppy field scene. You know, beautiful flowers and beautiful me! ::laughter from both Poppy and Grammy:: ::Grammy looks at her notes:: I hear you have a story to share. Something about a surprising walk with Uncle Kyle? And he said you'd like to have it posted on...

 (From September 20, 2025) Whoa! What the... Look at that! OH NO!! I know what  that  means!" Alert! AlertAlertAlertAlert! Everybody come quick! Important safety announcement! Oh, good grief, Nash. We are all already here. No kidding! I think he just wanted an excuse to howl. Yeah, he loves to exercise those pipes of his. And now my ears are ringing. Let's just go back inside. I'm sure it's not important. Listen UP, I say. Take a look at what I just found on the patio! Do you KNOW what that is? It's a Wooly Bear and its stripes tell us how bad winter is going to be. If I remember right, that big orange middle means lots of heavy snow, ice, blizzards, zero degree temperatures with wind chills at minus 300, and being stuck inside for months at a time! What?? Nooooo! That means I won't be able to play frisbee at the park! I'm shook!! SHOOK, I say! It's true! And remember that sparrow feather we found in the yard? That's another sign it will be a bad wi...

 (From June 21, 2025) "All right! Tammo's coming over to play today! Mama, stay back; Boompa's gonna open the door and I don't want you to get loose. It's not safe for you to  run  walk  shuffle free." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yq49MTAL_jU&t=1s "Nash! Mama! I'm so glad to be here! Nash, I have a new game to teach you! Let's go out the doggy door to the back yard, okay?"  "I learned it from Grammy. It's called 'Spin-to-Win' and she plays it with her friends online. It's a lot of fun although you might get a bit dizzy. Ready? Set? Go!" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVlo-psplBM&t=1s "Catch your breath, Nash. You did pretty good, er, for an older dog, that is." "I'm fine. Listen, Tammo. I want to share something with you alone so that Mama and Lisa don't learn about this and get scared. Be brave, son." (Whispering) "There are strange things going on out here in the back ya...

Hooh boy. I am so tired of winter. Even when there is a break in the weather and Lisa opens the door so I can  see out  continue my vigilant protection of the homestead,  that snow soon returns. We just can't catch a break. My toys are boring and I don't have enough of them to play with anyway. Molly just wants to sleep and won't play with me. Going to Grammy and Boompa's house for the day is a bright spot. But in the end, all Pepper and Tammo really want to do is snooze all day. Well, Tammo will play for a FEW minutes, but I need more exercise than that! Because of the cold and snowy winter, no one is out walking their dogs. Still, I remain on active duty. Constant vigilance!! Sigh.  Bored, bored, bored, bored, BORED. WAIT!! What is that?? Could it be??  Why, yes, I think it just might! https://youtu.be/DDmDxJYYWXk Alert! Alert! Alert! Alert! Everybody meet me in the living room! STAT! ::Yawn:: ::Grumble and mutter:: ::Shuffle, shuffle, shuffle:: This had bette...