Sophie baby.
How could I resist?

This is a free-time, dogitical,
public service message
on behalf of Sophie Brador

This free-time dogitical message has been
brought to you by
Sophie Brador
at the vast expense of taxpayers around the world
because, as you surely know,
she rules it.

When Cha Cha is not busy being a dog,
she makes a perfect end table
complete with a coaster for your martini glass.

Je vous présentez Cha Cha

Cha Cha is Sophie's best friend.

When they first met, Cha Cha was a mere pup,
and Sophie was so mature and sophisticated
that she just could not stand to be in her company.

But Cha Cha eventually grew up and blossomed
into a lovely young mutt.

In fact, she's emerged on the scene as an accomplished singer with

Incredible "precision, articulation, and timing"
- TIME OUT NEW YORK

Whose vocal stylings are "graceful, unaffected,
and deeply felt."
- NEW YORK Magazine

and

Who "persuades the listener to hang onto her every syllable"
- CHICAGO TRIBUNE



She often treats Sophie to a quick little tune,
when she's in the mood.
Sophie listens intently to her pitch, tone,
note intervals, and chord progressions .........
(she has a well-trained ear and highly developed hearing)

........ but she takes that bit about
hanging onto every syllable a bit too far.

Do dogs procrastinate?

________

The question of the day. I procrastinate. This blog is clearly evidence of that. But as I watch Sophie, stretched out in the entry, staring at the park across the street, I have to wonder, do dogs procrastinate? And if so, what is it they should be doing that they aren't?

SOPHIE HAS SOME ISSUES

I know it's hard to imagine,
what with her being perfect and all,
that there is a crack in the veneer.

The dog in this photo could be Sophie, but it's not,
and therein lies the crack.

My dog hates guide dogs.
Not just a particular guide dog.
ALL guide dogs.
Labrador retriever guide dogs, poodle guide dogs,
Bernese mountain guide dogs ....
it matters not a lick to Sophie.
She hates them ALL.

So much so, in fact, that I can't let her off leash
in the park for fear that she will
try to kill a passing guide dog
(or a guide dog in passing).

I hate to show the scratches on the surface of
Sophina (la) Brador.

It could be bigotry. It could be jealousy.
It could be that Sophie's perfection has become so great
that even she needs to muddy her paws a little bit.

Whatever the case, guide dogs everywhere,
please accept my apology
and ignore her taunts as you pass her by.
She knows not why she's cracked ... or even that she is.

The Explanation

Sophie slept like a puppy last night.
She was exhausted from having to
keep one eye open all weekend.


Why?

Because of the
THING!

_________

The THING, whose name is actually Thaïs,
arrived bright and early Saturday morning.

Upon first meeting,
Sophie was ready for action and wanting to play.
Unfortunately, Thaïs was having none of it.

She immediately found her perch,
from which she snapped and snarled at Sophie
for two whole days.

Imagine!!!!

_________

The only thing that could bring them together
was the possibilty of a treat.


The above photo could suffice on it's own
to illustrate the size difference ....

68 lbs.

9 lbs.

....but these two really drive the point home.

Note: These photos are not actual size and weight of rat is not currently available.

Sunday Evening Slumber

EDUCATING CHA CHA

This might look like play to the uninformed,
but in actuality, it is a highly codified
expression of political views.

We find ourselves surrounded by election campaigns:
one provincial (Quebec) and one federal (US).
Of course, these beast don't get to vote
(never mind that neither of them are American).
But they have opinions and sometimes the fur flies.

Sophie, being the older and wiser (ahem),
has been filling Cha Cha's head
with all sorts of political rhetoric.

But Cha Cha is no fool and is not easily persuaded.

Sophie dogs her (pardon the pun),
but as it happens,
Cha Cha has a mind of her own.

Sophie is frustrated and red with anger,
but Cha Cha remains undeterred.
She tries to change the subject to
her new, blue contact lens.
Sophie eventually relents and agrees they are nice.

Moments later, she grabbed Cha Cha's head
and wrestled her to the ground.

Bum (I mean, Ball) Action

We had the best snowstorm of the year!
Sophie is in heaven because she finally got
some proper ball action.
She's not allowed to chase the pink orb anymore,
but with 24 cm of the fluffy white stuff,
dive bombing for it is just as good.

I wish I had video of this, but if you scroll through them fast enough, it might just look like stop action.

Tigre

Sophie is actively considering all your suggestions,
with her head in a snow bank (photos to follow soon).

In the meantime, please visit one of her
oldest and dearest friends.
They have never been in the same room,
but I'm sure they wouldn't
completely hate each if they met face to face.

This is Tigre.

She has, of late, fallen off the blogdar and we miss her.
http://ifyoutry.blogspot.com/

*****

P.S. I love the idea of getting Sophie a chicken,
since that is her nickname.

A Sister for Sophie?

That's right. Ever since she got home, she's been
talking about getting a dog. I honestly don't know
where these ideas come from.

Maybe it was all those dogs at the spa.
I don't know.
I keep telling her, be patient. She has the next best
thing to her very own dog hanging around ever other
day, but she just won't stop harping on about it.

Sophie is pretty sure she knows exactly
what kind of dog she wants, but she has been known
to make decisions in haste.

She's learned nothing from her fortune cookie lesson!
So I thought I'd put it out there
and see what y'all think.

What kind of dog should Sophie get?

Sophie's Good Fortune

We had Chinese food tonight and as usual,
Sophie got her very own cookie and fortune.

Of course, she almost swallowed it in her haste
to get the cookie down the hatch.

Happy Blog Day!


It has been one full year of Sophie's blog. I meant to compile a montage, complete with soundtrack, of the highs and lows, the peaks and valleys, the tears and laughter, but alas, I did not. Sophie would shun such displays anyway. She tends to be a very in-the-moment kind of beast, giving not a moment's thought to the past nor a sniff for the future. In fact, I find her long term planning skills greatly lacking and she rarely seems to learn from her mistakes. (i.e.: She will roll in cat poo everytime, even though the final outcome is always a bath.)

In lieu of the celebratory montage, I will instead repost her very first blog photo. It is commonly referred to as her Olympic photo, taken as Sophie reclined on her red Olympic rug to watch Canada rack up the medals in speed skating.

_________



p.s. One more day to Sophie! Her spa vacation ends tomorrow, which means I can finally go home. New York has been great, Park Slope has been lovely, and the company terrific, but the next time Sophie decides she needs time to herself, she's taking me with her.

Boo Hoo
I miss Sophie.

On the other hand,
I just saw Grey Gardens on Broadway.
Fabulous!
da-da-da-da-dum

In lieu of Sophie,

here are but a few of the estimated
one million dogs in New York City

For the record, Sophie would disown me if I put her in this garb.

Woo Hoo
Sophie won Blog of the Day!

I only wish she hadn't gone on vacation,
so I could give her a big hug.

For the record, Sophie hates hugs.
Well, she doesn't really hate them
so much as tolerate them.
I think she really wants to like them,
but just doesn't know how.
Maybe if I dressed up like a giant tennis ball...

If only she understood that me hugging her is
not unlike when she tries to pick up Minette,
the neighbour cat, by the head.
She really doesn't mean to freak her out;
she just wants to see what she feels like ....
and of course say, congratulations kitty/doggie,
You won Blog of the Day!

On Vacation

Sophie needed a break. She's been working hard and thought she deserved a week at the spa. She's living the life of luxury at Possum Place, a wonderful retreat in the country where she is bunking with a lovely Portuguese Water Dog (possibly named Sasha). Having been abandoned by my beast, I went to NY.

Delusions of ... well ... not Grandeur, exactly.

Both of Sophie's dog beds are in the wash.

Sophie's Speedy Recovery from Surgery

Truthfully, it hasn't been that speedy,
and according to her trained medical professionals,

not speedy enough.

She had her x-rays this morning and
everything looks fine,
but she has not been healing as quickly
as they would like, and they do believe she
has probably been a bit too active.


It's not terrible and it's not even not great.
It's just not perfect.


SO ....
Sophie is still on a reduced activity load.
She still can't really run and jump and play,
and definitely NO TENNIS BALLS!

But she can roll in the snow so her mission continues.