Angus, Onyx & Ivy

Sadie is a Black Labrador Retriever.

She does not swim. She does not retrieve. She didn't know how to play, especially with other dogs.

Angus, Onyx & Ivy sounds like the beginning of classic children's poem but they are the names of Sadie's new canine friends at the Doggie Day Care aka school she attends twice a week. When Sadie first started school, she would not play with the other dogs - she was afraid. She would timidly sit by the humans, watching the other dogs, wondering why I had left her at such a place and if I would ever come back.

One day, as Sadie timidly sat by a human, or so I'm told, an excited Dalmation puppy named Ivy, came over and lay on her back. Ivy began to gently paw Sadie in the face. Sadie was not pleased with the puppy play. Every time Sadie went back to school, there was Ivy to renew this game. Sadie relented. Sadie and Ivy became friends.

We learned that Sadie now runs and bounds and dances in circles with Ivy. She looks around for Vegas (her Golden Retriever sister) for assurance and the runs off again. She will touch base with Vegas and then bound off with her posse - Ivy, Angus and Onyx.

Sadie is learning to have fun. She has a renewed faith.

So do I.