honest scrap award

My blogging friend, Sherri, has presented me with my very first blog award! I am thrilled!! The award involves the following:

The honorees are to:

A) first list 10 honest things about yourself - and make it interesting, even if you have to dig deep!

B) pass the award on to 7 bloggers that you feel embody the spirit of the Honest Scrap.

I will do my best to honour the award by participating. In keeping with the "loose" theme of my blog, here are my ten truths about life with Sophie:



1. We named Sophie for Jack Aubrey's first ship in Patrick O'Brian's Master & Commander book series.

2. There were instances in our early training days that I achieved a level of frustration I never thought possible. Learning to communicate with a dog was hard, hard work.

3. When Sophie was going through her 7 month old “testing boundaries” phase and snapped at me the first time, my feelings were hurt so much that I burst into tears and hid in the bathroom for twenty minutes. (The totally wrong thing to do, I know). I’m happy to say that those days are far behind us….no more snapping, no more tears.

4. There are times when I am green with envy over Sophie’s love of Jones (my significant other). He is her fun loving playmate, her best bud….her first choice. But I know she loves me, too…and if she’s hurt or scared the only place she wants to be is with me.

5. When Sophie was diagnosed with hip dysplasia (a genetic disease) at the age of one, part of me still thinks I had a role to play in it….that I fed her the wrong food or exercised her too much when she was a puppy. It is burden I still carry with me today.



6. I feel guilty sometimes that Elora does not get the attention she used to before Sophie’s arrival in our household.

7. In all of my life, if I sum up all of my accomplishments in school, sports, work, etc….nothing has ever made me feel as proud as I do when someone comments on how well Sophie and I work together, on what a great dog she is. When she ran her first complete agility course, my heart nearly burst out of my chest with pride. It was a moment I will never forget.

8. I wonder sometimes if I rely on her too much….seeking comfort, companionship and joy in a dog when I maybe I should be finding more of those things in people.

9. As great of a dog that Sophie is, there are areas that I failed her….she cannot walk on a leash very well; she can be aggressive with dogs if a toy is involved; she gets overexcited and will jump up on people. Most of the time I love her just the way she is, but sometimes I feel disappointment with those failures because as hard as we have worked we cannot seem to conquer them.

10. I often worry about life down the road. Because right now I cannot imagine a world without her…yet I know it’s inevitable at some point. I worry that when the time comes I won’t have the strength to make the right decision, to say good-bye and to survive it as I have done with pets in the past. But Sophie is different….she is my heart and soul, whether that’s right or wrong….and how do you survive saying good-bye to that?



Now as for passing the award on, I know not everyone likes to be "tapped" but I do have a couple of fellow bloggers that I feel embody the spirit of Honest Scrap (please don't feel obligated to participate):

b&g girl: because if i could hand out this award in real life it would go her....a great friend whose authenticity and honesty has never ceased to amaze me.

jan: you always seem to tell it like it is with a humor and poignancy that really speaks to me

laurie: because the integrity and soul in your honest writing about life always inspires me.

Thanks again for the award, Sherri....and huge thanks to all of you who have started following mine and Sophie's journey. We love reading your comments, visiting your blogs and sharing in your lives a little bit.