Sasha Loves to Read!

Sasha is so sweet and loves to cuddle. She adores creeks already, but is having trouble eating. The Purina One label that she's accustomed to eating is not tempting her one bit. The Science Diet brand, which all of our dogs have loved, is the only thing she'll touch, though she's never had it before. (!) New dog owners are supposed to provide initially the food the dog is accustomed to. We have tried so hard to do that. Hmmm... I don't want her to starve, so Science Diet it is, though I'm keeping her portions small to start with.

Sasha likes to walk outdoors and explore, and she loves to come in and lie by my side while I read on the couch. She really, really grooves on lying quietly by my side while I read! She also likes to sit on the couch between Ken and me while we watch tv in the evenings. Spoiled already!

I'm looking forward to the time when she's more settled and things don't spook her as much. She's in the final week of her season or "heat," which may be affecting her behavior. Decades ago, I had a beloved yellow labrador that I considered breeding. She was "nutso" during her three weeks of estrus, so I know it can affect behavior profoundly. Four months from now, when Sasha's uterus is smaller, harder, and is ready, we'll have her spayed.

Right now she's lying quietly beside me while I write this entry. She is a calm dog, which is a dogsend!!!


I'm gobbling up the memoir The Tennis Partner: A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss by Abraham Verghese.

I've also started a new mystery, My Soul to Take: A Novel of Iceland by Yrsa Sigurdardottir. I'm enjoying it, which is more than I can say for her first internationally acclaimed mystery, Last Rituals. I read about 50 pages of that title long ago, but it was so weird, so New Agey strange and downright gross to boot, that I couldn't abide it. I'm nearly to page 50 with My Soul to Take and I'm intrigued and eager to read more. A good sign!