Today in the Office

Does this ever happen to you? Everyone's working quietly (or sleeping) and suddenly spontaneous play breaks out. No? Watch the video. You need to work with us at Sit Stay Read.

New Office Pups & Their People

New staff in the office means new pups as well. We're missing Jenn, Elizabeth, and Allison but are so happy to welcome Michele Brignoni, our new volunteer manager, and Kelsey Jones, communications coordinator, plus their pups.

Michele's girl, Prairie (on the left), is a doll and looks forward to her office visits. We can't wait for her to become a SSR dog!

Kelsey's Jack is a little sweetheart. A chihuahua Pomeranian mix who just turned a year old, I think he looks like a Mini Me of my Bandit. Click here for more photos and see if you don't agree.

Revi Stops to Smell the Flowers

That's Shandy's friend Revi taking time to stop and smell the flowers.

Though her mom, Betsy, thinks there may have been a bagel in there, I'm going to be more like Revi and take time to smell the flowers (or bagels)!

Our Little Sit Stay Spa Helper

SSR Dog Team, Andrea Marino and chihuahua, Charley, joined us in the office yesterday to help assemble the goodie bags for Sit Stay Spa. That's SSR staffer Jenn Dohm looking shocked to see her littlest helper sitting down on the job.

Many thanks to Andrea, Charley, Fiona, and Laurel for lending a hand!

Littlest Doggie Reader

The adorable chihuahua in the box is Comisky and SSR program teacher, Nora Garcia, is his lucky owner.

Comisky was a big hit when he joined us for the teacher feedback meeting. Shandy was happy to welcome him to the office but it took some time for him to make friends. Treats were the secret to getting them together (BTW, he's much smaller than he appears in this photo--must be the angle).

Laverne Pays a Visit

Laverne was tuckered out the day she visited the office. She'd been cross country skiing down at the lake front in the morning and was in need of a nap.

The second photo shows her on a perkier day. She's giving Bears player Joshua Beekman a kiss hello before they head into a Sit Stay Read program at Lowell School last fall.

First Puppy Visit!

We had our first office visit from a puppy today--what fun!

That adorable bundle of black fur is nine-week-old Raven. As you can tell, Shandy wasn't thrilled to have all that energy bounding around--took all the focus off her getting treats.

Raven's a Chow/shepherd mix and her mom, SSR volunteer Tisa Morris, says she doesn't stop moving until she falls over and goes to sleep. Raven and her big sister Amber, a mix of Chow and Golden Retriever, make quite a handsome pair. Next time I'll try to get a photo of them together.

Dog Meetings

As I may have mentioned before, one of the best things about having our own Sit Stay Read office is that folks coming for meetings can bring their dogs.

To ensure no one's time is wasted, the rule is that dogs must be able to calm down shortly after arrival so that work can get done. However, sometimes the dogs are just so darn cute and, after all, we're all dog lovers here, that we make some extra time for our canine partners--like Italian Spinoni Lucy Shomaker, shown here demonstrating her latest trick--"shake". Then she and Shandy teamed up to give us their most sincere "we really need a treat" faces. Of course they succeeded in convincing us. I love my job.

Brady the Cow Dog

Brady stopped by the office yesterday with his mom, SSR volunteer, Nancy Hollander. As you can see, he was wearing his fancy holiday collar. The red really sets off his cow-like coloring, don't you think?

Brady seems to like his collar but Shandy was unimpressed (even though it has bells!) I think she was just happy that I didn't have her try it on--she acts like she's being tortured if she has to wear anything other than her SSR bandana.

Miss Alice

Shandy and I visited Wheaten Terrier, Alice Bea, at her house yesterday but I forgot to take a photo.

Luckily, Alice often accompanies her mom, SSR board president MK Czerwiec, to the office so I happened to have this great picture. Such a happy face--and that blue really makes a great background for her. No doubt about it, she's a glamor girl.

Lab Day at the Office

Baguette and Maggie stopped by the office today with board member, Rick Johnson. You may have seen Maggie in school programs with Lauren or Baguette with Rick in community programs.

Baguette's trying to use sheer willpower to get those treats to fall off the stool while Maggie's convinced a good down stay will do the trick (she was right).

These two bring smiles wherever they go.

Dog Visitors

As promised, here are Shandy's visitors from yesterday.

That's Guy Franklin's adorable terrier mix, Pierre, with SSR Board Prez, MK Czerwiec (aka Comic Nurse) and Pat's Lhasa's, Rudy and Ted.