WMKV 89.3 FM ON AIR

AND WMKVFM.ORG ON THE INTERNET

 “LIFE AFTER 50” COL FOR

MARCH 8, 2010 ON AIR

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         IF YOU PERPETUATE THAT OLD PHRASE, OLD DOGS CAN’T LEARN NEW TRICKS, YOU HAVE NOT MET SOPHIE.

WHILE I DON’T CONSIDER SOPHIE AN OLD DOG, SHE IS 5, SHE’S HAD A LIFE COMPARABLE TO THAT OF THE LEAD CHARACTER IN THE MOVIE JUST OUT ON DVD, “PRECIOUS.”

THAT YOUNG TEEN IN THIS MOVIE SUFFERED ABUSE BEYOND BELIEF.  BUT SHE FOUND A WAY OUT THROUGH EDUCATION.

I HOPE TO DO THE SAME FOR MY NEWLY ADOPTED LHASA APSO NAMED SOPHIE, A FIVE YEAR OLD ABUSED DOG WHO STARTED LIVE OUT IN A PUPPY MILL, THEN THROUGH INTERVENTION OF SAVIOR-INSPIRED DOG LOVERS CALLED ROSA'S ANIMAL RESCUE CENTER IN ALEXANDRIA, KY, , WENT INTO A SERIES OF FOSTER HOMES.

I WAS WARNED. SOPHIE HAD UNDERGONE AN EVALUATION BY A DOG READER OR PSYCHIC WHO SAID SOPHIE FEARED MOST OF ALL HANDS, THOSE OF HUMANS, OF COURSE. SHE’D NEVER HAD A REAL HOME.

THERE’S NO COMPARING SOPHIE TO MY LATE WONDER DOG, BRANDY, WHO YOU HEARED EVERY WEEK HERE ON WMKV AND WHO I HAD TO PUT DOWN AT AGE 11 YEARS. THEY DIDN’T COME ANY SMARTER THAN SHE.

         SOPHIE’S ABILITIES REMAIN A MYSTERY AND I DO LOVE MYSTERIES. I’M INTO MY THIRD WEEK OF ADOPTION AND FOR A DOG WHO NEVER HAD A PERMANENT FRIEND, SHE’S REMARKABLE. SHE REFUTES THE NOTION THAT OLD DOGS CAN’T LEARN NEW TRICKS.

NOW I TELL SOPHIE’S TALE TO AELRT OTHER SENIORS THROUGH THIS COLUMN ON AIR AND ON MY BLOG, TO THE LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES OF ADOPTING NOT A PUPPY, BUT A MATURE DOG.

I DON’T SAY YOU HAVE TO AS I DID RESCUE AN ABUSED ONE, BUT CONSIDER ALL THE ADVANTGES OF AN OLDER DOG FROM A SHELTER SINCE YOU, YOURSELF, ARE OLDER.

MY SOPHIE IS HOUSEBROKEN, DOESN’T SHED, HAS NO DOG ODOR. OF COURSE, SHE’S A LHASA APSO. SHE DOES, HOWEVER, HAVE NIGHTMARES.

YES, JUST LIKE HUMANS. SHE WAS HURT BY HUMANS, AND REMEMBERS. TRULY IT IS PTD, OR POST-TRAUMA DISTRESS. IN HER SLEEP SHE OFTEN RELIVES THOSE TRAUMAS. AT NIGHT IN HER CRATE NEXT TO MY BED I TALK TO HER, SOOTHE HER, TELL HER TO RETURN TO SLEEP. LATELY SHE DOES.

WALKING WAS A CHORE FOR SEVRAL DAYS. I AM A WALKER, DOING 2 TO 5 MILES DAILY. MY BRANDY WALKED EVERY STEP WITH ME.

 SOPHIE BALKED.

SOPHIE WAS NEVER WALKED ON A LEASH SO HOW COULD SHE KNOW WHAT TO DO? BUT WITHIN 3 DAYS SHE STOPPED FIGHTING THE LEASH AND WALKED BESIDE ME.

SO TODAY I ENCOURAGE ALL YOU MATURE ADULTS OUT THERE WHO ARE CONSIDERING ADOPTING A DOG, GO TO A SHELTER AND PICK ONE WHO, LIKE YOU, IS MATURE. YOU’LL BE WELL REWARDED. AND REMEMBER, MANY SHLETERS ALLOWS SENIORS TO ADOPT THEIR DOGS FEE FREE OR AT LEAST VERY REDUCED PRICES. AND THEY ALREADY ARE SPADED OR NEUTERED AND UP TO DATE ON ALL SHOTS.

 IT’S A WIN-WIN SITUATION FOR HUMAN AND BEAST.

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