It’s 27* this morning and Suzi and Sammie were in their traditional spot as I showered. Where is that? In front of the heater, of course. As I stood there, a memory washed over me as though straight from the shower head. It fell on me softly and took me to a place I hadn’t thought of for quite a while.

I drifted back to the time when Suzi was in obedience class over six years ago. We were surrounded by various dogs and owners at the time and were reviewing the exercise that we’d just completed. Now, you and I both know that the verbal chit chat was for the benefit of the owners. Suzi knew it, too. She’s no dummy!

As I sat there, listening intently, she was leaning back on my chest with her belly up to the rest of the world. Since, in order to train dogs to allow us to trim their nails with no trouble, I’d heard that handling each paw was a good thing. So, as I listened, I gently stroked one of her front paws. It must have felt really good, too, for she seemed very relaxed.

The instructor stopped in mid sentence and said, “Is Suzi actually sleeping during class?! I can’t believe it!” Yup! That’s exactly what she was doing. In defense of Suz…naturally, rudeness wasn’t intentional but just happened in the natural scheme of things. After all, shugs were and still are, for that matter, very important to her.

So the class ended on a less instructional note than planned and Suzi was able to snag a little nap so that she’d be refreshed for her next adventure.