The more they are the same, the more they are different.

We have been fostering Seeing Eye® puppies for almost 15 years. Almost all have been Labrador retrievers, with the exception of two, who were Lab/Golden crosses. The eleven dogs (which may sound like a lot of work, but it’s easier than, say, having octuplets) were all as different as they were similar.

Two were diametrically opposite. Pauline, dog number five, was a yellow Labrador retriever whom we nicknamed Paulinidini, since she was so much like Houdini. She could get out of anything, a triple-locked crate, a house . . . . Just ask the local police about her. One summer night she walked out the back door while my husband and I were walking our two other dogs. Someone who shall remain nameless did not notice her absence. Apparently she was following us when a kind soul picked her up and brought her to the police station. They looked at her tags and called Seeing Eye, who called and asked if we knew where our puppy was. We looked under the desk where we thought she was sleeping. No puppy. It was mighty embarrassing to have to bail Pauline out after her vanishing act.

On the other hand, Wilda Scisssorlips, our current, black Labrador retriever puppy, has managed to lock herself into rooms, notably the powder room in our house. Because she sometimes wears her leash around the house, and it is knotted in several places, if Wilda walks into the bathroom, which has a door that opens out, the knot will catch under the door and as she goes in will pull the door shut behind her. Then she has to wait until someone sees the leash sticking out from under the door. The few moments of panic at finding her missing (talk about a locked-door mystery) have not involved the police, so far.

They do have a few things is common. They are the kind of puppies who keep people busy, just trying to keep them out of trouble, and they are the most comical, which somehow makes up for a lot of their antics.

Vengeance Runs Cold--Coming Soon

Not only am I excited about my forthcoming book, Vengeance Runs Cold, the fifth in my Wally Morris mystery series, but my husband is as well as my books are bound with paperboard covers made by his employer, The Newark Group. This is the same company that has made coverstock for the Harry Potter books. The coverstock is "green" as it is made from 100% recycled paper.

Wild and Wonderful Wilda

So much has happened since I last blogged. First, there was the Seeing Eye Puppy Halloween party, which Wilda attended dressed as a princess. Then there were all those holidays. During that time Wilda acquired several new personality traits. She perfected her sharklike behavior, cruising under the table and surfacing only to snatch something and drag it under. She has unstuffed all the toys in the house and is currently working on the dog bed which somehow got too close to her crate. She has shredded it as well as the towel inside the crate, ripping it as neatly as if she had started the tear with scissors. For that reason I have taken to calling her Wilda Scissorlips. She would be great in a disaster, as she could make bandage strips out of any fabric. She also regards herself as some sort of rock star, refusing to go anywhere without her entourage. If she needs to go out, she’ll round up the other dogs to accompany her. She is also perfecting her skills as a pickpocket. Most recently she developed her latest trick--walking upstairs backwards. In short, she keeps me very busy. And on top of that, I'm getting ready for the launch of my new book, Vengeance Runs Cold, which is coming out February 24th.