Wilda Walks with Wisdom

It’s amazing. The trainers at the Seeing Eye have turned another bouncy, flouncy puppy, one which we spent months working to civilize and socialize, into a model dog guide. Wilda is now prepared to steer visually impaired people around life’s obstacles.

We were so excited to see her walk with her trainer around the streets of Morristown, NJ, on a frigid, sunny day in early January. Walking quickly so we wouldn’t fall behind her and her trainer, we kept the obligatory following distance and watched every move they made. Wilda confidently navigated around trees and signs in the sidewalk and negotiated her way past a construction site. She even thwarted her trainer’s attempt to walk into the path of a moving car.

Her trainer thinks she’s great and is hopeful that she will be matched with someone in the next few months. We are so proud that she learned her lessons well.

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.