CATCH THE SQUIRREL

March, 2003

Hi, World! It’s me, Taffy! I know I haven’t written in a while. There are just so many things for a little puppy like me to explore and play with that I have been quite busy. I have been in my Forever Home for three months now and I love it more every day. I love my People more every day, too, especially my Mommy. She takes me for a walk when she gets home and we get to explore all sorts of wonderful smells.

Yesterday was what Mommy called “A really nice day.” She snapped on my leash when she got home and instead of just taking me for a walk around the park near our house we took a really LONG walk to a place called “The River.” My paws needed to walk really fast and in the end Mommy picked me up for a bit. When we got to The River, Mommy said dogs like me were not really allowed it, but she wanted me to see something called “Boats”, so she carried me in anyway. There weren’t many other people around, but there were a whole bunch of funny looking birds. Mommy said they are called “geese.” They honked and waddled and flapped their wings and just acted silly.

Anyway, Mommy took me right up to the edge of The River and pointed to some big things floating on the water. She said they are called Boats and they carry things and people to other places. I don’t know why anyone would want to go to other places, because here is just perfect.

We sat on a bench for a while and Mommy said it was time to go back. I was getting a little sleepy, so I was glad. I jumped off the bench and Mommy and I ran for a few minutes on our way back home. Then, I saw the funniest thing! It was a little animal, smaller than my cat cousins, and he had a long and bushy tail. He made funny little chippy sounds and Mommy said he was called a Squirrel. I thought it would be fun to play with him, so I chased after him, barking out “Do you want to play?”I guess Squirrels do not understand Dog. He looked sort of scared—which I was sorry about—and then he scampered up a tree as fast as he could. I ran right up to that tree and kept telling him that I only wanted to play. And although I do not understand Squirrel, I am pretty sure he said something rude.

Mommy laughed and bent down to cuddle me. “What were you going to do if you caught the squirrel?” she asked me. I did not have a good answer, but I thought about it on the way back to my Forever Home. I got really tired towards the end and Mommy had to carry me. When we got home, I took a great big drink of water and curled up for a nap.

When I woke up, I thought again about what Mommy had asked me. What would I do if I caught the squirrel? I guess I knew that he was faster than me and that I couldn’t climb the tree. So why do it? After I thought about it for a while, I came up with the answer and I want to share it with the World. I know that sometimes Humans try to do really hard things and they cannot always do them. Sometimes they even know they cannot do them. But  that is not what matters.

The fun is not in catching the Squirrel. The fun is in the chase!

More later on, Friends! Now that I’ve had my nap, I’m going to see if I can catch a cat!

Love,

Taffy

FIND YOUR FOREVER HOME

Taffy joined our family on Christmas Day, 2003. She left us for the Rainbow Bridge on January 1, 2017. Every day when I came home from school, Taffy would greet me at the door with "woo-woo-woo" and tell me stories about what she'd been up to. I accused her of making them up. But then I began to realize the words of wisdom she was imparting to me and that I best pay attention.

This blog is Taffy's, tales that she told me to encourage and love me while she was with us. I will always remember her love and I hope others will benefit from her gentle way of seeing the best of everyone.

Linda

December, 2003

Today I found my forever home! I was in a cage with my litter-mates since my birthday in October, but a man came in a couple days ago and said he wanted to buy me for his wife. ME! I felt so special that he picked me out of all the other dogs in the shop and so I jumped up and licked his face to show him how happy I was. He picked me up and cuddled me and I just knew he would make a really good daddy. 

So he brought me home and on Christmas Day I met my new Mommy. She is awesome and I already love her a lot. I have a bed to sleep in and toys to play with and my own bowls that I do not have to share with my brothers and sisters. I have two cats that are supposed to be my cousins. I want to play with them, but they don't want to play with me. Yet, anyway. I'll wag my tail and smile and we'll all be friends soon.

I am so happy I feel that I just could bust!  I have never wagged my tail so hard in my life! My Mommy took be for a walk and I got to sniff lots of interesting things. Then I had to take a nap because I  was so tired. I also have a new brother and a new sister. They are humans, not dogs like me, and a lot bigger than me. I think that's a good thing because they can help take care of me.

I want to tell you about my new forever home. It is not really big, but it is big enough for me. And the yard is pretty small, but that doesn't matter at all. There are still plenty of interesting things to sniff! 

I may be just a little dog, but I have big long ears. I heard what people said when they would come into the pet shop. Sometimes people would complain that they did not have a big house or a new car and other things that dogs do not think are important at all. Dogs know what is important. 

All  you really need in your forever home is people to love you, a warm place to sleep, yummy food to eat, and a few toys to play with. Did I say people to love you? That's the most important thing.

I'm going to go try to get the cats to play with me now. But I've decided I am going to keep writing because I'm a pretty smart dog and I think humans can learn something from me.

Gotta run!

Taffy