Every Thanksgiving, or actually anytime you ask Sandis what she's thankful for, she will say dogs. The kid loves dogs. Basically since birth and the love has only grown with time.
Very young Sandis loving Nikki, her first dog. Yes, Nikki actually
DID like it and would go lie next to the baby to be mauled.
A bit older, not much wiser Sandis with another kid-loving Basset.
And she doesn't simply love our dogs. Oh no, all dogs are on her radar. Big dogs, small dogs, black dogs, brown dogs, cute dogs, ugly dogs...well, she'll say there are no ugly dogs. Not even these dogs that won the ugliest dog contests. She says it's their personality that matters. Who can argue with that?
And it's not just live dogs, though she does point out each one she sees, noting its breed. No siree. Dog art, dog books, stuffed toy dogs, dog figurines, dog cartoons, dog ??? they are all loved by Sandis. They are all squealingly cute. Brian claims she would even think dog poop is cute (which Sandis vehemently denies.)
Never without at least 1 stuffed dog wherever she
goes. (Blackmail too - look, she's wearing a dress!)
Here she is with a mountain of dogs, a couple of cats
and a reindeer
Sandis loves going to the vet, visiting the humane society, and doing community service projects for dogs. Not just because she's helping dogs but because sometime in the course of events she will get to see more dogs. I'm surprised she doesn't have a journal where she notes each and every dog she's ever seen.
Now this week we are babysitting 2 dogs in our home as well as another friend's dog at their house. While some may see this as a burden, an extra thing to do in an already busy week, to Sandis, it's a dream come true! What could be better than THREE extra dogs! (yes, 4, 5, 831 extra dogs would be better, but this is pretty damn good.)
Sandis has made the dogs' happiness her sole responsibility. For the ones at our house, she makes sure they each get equal numbers of pets, that she plays with them outside and in, they only eat their own food and more. For the one we visit, she goes outside with him to watch him play with sticks. She is sure he gets his treat when we're leaving. Lectures us on what he likes and doesn't, which stick is his favorite, explains to him why he can't bring his 4' long stick inside.
When she grows up, Sandis is planning to open a dog sanctuary, on the ocean, where she will adopt all the dogs that would otherwise be killed in shelters. She's going to do this after she travels to New York to visit Percy Jackson, of course :) She's chosen California over Florida for her ocean front canine villa because "there are too many mosquitoes in Florida." Good plan.
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