Month: February 2020

He’s Pooped!

(c) 2020

This is Guinness the Therapy Dog after a walk.

He’s pooped!

Since we went to dog school, he’s a pleasure to walk through the neighborhood. I love how interested he is in everything around him. And I love that he doesn’t lunge and pull any longer!

When we first brought Guinness into our home, as a 95-pound almost-two-year-old, he would practically dislocate my shoulder when we walked together.

During dog school, he learned to walk nicely and not to pull toward other dogs and people. We walked through the boarding area and the instructor even brought other dogs into the training area.

He is so eager to please, that he learned very quickly. It used to be that I didn’t look forward to our daily walks because it was such a struggle. Now, I take him on at least one walk a day. We have a ball!

Go outside! Sonja

Holding Hands

(2020)

Guinness the Therapy Dog is a great dog–almost said he was a great person!!! He’s giant-sized, has a heart filled with love that he wants to give away, and has all the patience in the world. He’s a wonderful example of everything I strive for.

Take a look at the size of his paw! He’s 95 pounds of dog.

He can cruise the kitchen counters to see what’s up there without doing more than tilting his chin up. (But he wouldn’t because it would make me sad and that’s the worst thing to him: making someone sad.)

When he lays down he blocks the entire doorway.

He’s a gentle giant.

I hope you have someone/something in your life that is as loving as Guinness. Sonja

Instagram

(2020)

Have you started to follow Guinness the Therapy Dog on Instagram?

You can find him using @real_Guinness_the_Therapy_Dog

Photos and videos are posted every day. It’s the best way to have a glimpse into his large life.

On the weekend, I posted a video of Guinness trying the #eggchallenge. Have you heard of this?

Basically, there’s a theory that a dog innately knows that an egg is fragile and will carry it delicately in its mouth instead of breaking the shell.

Well, Guinness and his sister, Lucy, both failed in a big way. Guinness dropped his and then chomped down on it to get to the raw egg. Lucy just licked hers.

I would call that a hard fail.

Try it with your dog and let me know how it goes! Sonja

Groundhog Day!

Today is the day! We find out if Phil the groundhog from Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania sees his shadow. If he does, it means there will be six more weeks of winter.

Here in the desert Southwest, that’s not a problem since the weather is so pleasant. Unfortunately, for those of you who live in the winter weather and have braved all the snow and cold–six more weeks can seem like a very long time.

Groundhog Day was first celebrated on Gobbler’s Knob, PA on February 2, 1887.

The roots of the celebration are firmly plants in Candlemas, an ancient Christian tradition. During this time, the clergy would distribute candles they had blessed. The German community expanded on this idea by including a hedgehog as a predictor of winter’s length. When German settlers came to America, they changed the animal from a hedgehog to the groundhog. Hedgehogs were hard to find!

Groundhogs hibernate for the winter, climb trees, can swim, and whistle when they are frightened!

They live in burrows, which is where you can find Phil most of the time. He is most likely the most famous groundhog in the world and has a cushy life filled with vegetables and fruit. He works one day per year, but what a day! There’s even a ball in honor of his day.

I hope you get the weather prediction you hope for from Phil! Sonja

February Bucket List

Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

Here is a bucket list for this month:

Read at least two books

Find a new author that you love

Try a new genre

Draw a picture

Walk your dog as many days as possible

Remember all the birthdays this month

Find a new podcast

Improve your sleep by reducing screen time before bed

Cook or bake something using a new recipe

Hug your dog every day (No dog? Hug your neighbor’s dog!)

Enjoy this new month. Sonja