Ella learns to sit and stay

Ella and I have had a wonderful week so far. I had Monday off, so the week feels like it's flying by! Ella and I had our first obedience class together on Tuesday, and she's already a star pupil. She has mastered sit and stay, and we're working on "with me" so she doesn't pull on her leash. I'm thrilled with her progress. I think she's also enjoying the influx of treats that accompany obedience lessons each day. In literary news, a friend sent me this poem, which I think perfectly portrays the essence of Ella (and most other dogs). Enjoy!

Golden Retrievals
By Mark Doty

Fetch? Balls and sticks capture my attention

seconds at a time. Catch? I don’t think so.

Bunny, tumbling leaf, a squirrel who’s—oh

joy—actually scared. Sniff the wind, then

I’m off again: muck, pond, ditch, residue

of any thrillingly dead thing. And you?

Either you’re sunk in the past, half our walk,

thinking of what you never can bring back,

or else you’re off in some fog concerning

—tomorrow, is that what you call it? My work:

to unsnare time’s warp (and woof!), retrieving,

my haze-headed friend, you. This shining bark,

a Zen master’s bronzy gong, calls you here,

entirely, now: bow-wow, bow-wow, bow-wow.