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| Sassy snagged her ball from the air again yesterday, then headed inside, away from the heat and humidity. |
Sassy has the most hilarious ways of signaling what she wants.
When she shares medallions of cinnamon toast with me, the pieces that are off spec (too much crust) are left in the bedding.
I taught her to lick her lips when she wanted a snack. She does more than that - she looks at me, smiles broadly, and licks them. Last night I gave her two pieces and stopped. She repeated her signal and I shook my head no. She gave me an even bigger smile and kept beaming the love at me. I gave in, went to the kitchen, and got her one more.
On our walks - To go in a different direction, she plants her feet and does not follow me across the street. She acts deaf but turns toward her goal and looks at me smiling. "Do you want to go down there?" She says yes by heading that way - and I catch up.
The neighborhood children are intrigued by Sassy stopping to look into my face until I give her permission to cross the street. "Do you want to see your friends?" Her answer is to bolt across the cul-de-sac to greet all the children.
Sassy has a tendency to treat the street as a broader version of the sidewalk. The other day I had to remind her to listen to me. A couple of stern words had her making up to me at once. The drivers are especially careful of her, and it is seldom an issue, but I still do not want her Inner Puppy in charge.
I have to tell Mrs. Ichabod the latest Sassy stories when we come back from the walk. We are now a bunny hunt team. Rabbits have their favorite hang-outs, one every few yards. Some yards have broad expanses of grass and bushes for hiding. If a rabbit is motionless upon hearing our approach, I point and Sassy makes her run. She will never catch a rabbit, but she enjoys the brief chase.
At the garage sale on our block, Sassy checked in several times a day and visited each family member. She has baby Sophia on her radar now and always gives her a kiss. Sassy is family to them.
She is looking at me now, so I need to give her some time and some cinnamon medallions.
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| Sassy found Ronald McDonald a bit stiff on our trip, so she refused to sit on his lap. Instead, she posed with her staff when a local resident offered to take the photo. |