So here's the short of it, 
Nice surprise tonight. 

And here's the long.

Liga worked an early shift and got off by 7 tonight so she stopped by to have some of our leftover dinner.  She got a quick dinner that she didn't have to fix and I got a chance for a nice visit.  So I think that was a win-win! And a lovely surprise.

Sophie and I spent a bit of time this evening working on her fetch the ball trick. She loves to play catch... but when she brings the ball back to me, she doesn't want to let it go to have me throw it for her again. She wants to gnaw on it while I'm holding onto it in her mouth. I want her to learn how to bring it to me and then drop it on the ground so I can pick it up!  Well, this evening, I accidently dropped a piece of the turkey bacon we had for dinner so I tore it into little pieces and took it outside to use as a training treat for dropping the ball.  Sophie could not focus on the task at hand.  She knew I had that bacon, and she did not want to do anything for it but sit and look pretty.  Well, she was really ready to go through the "sit", "shake", "high-five", "lay down", "speak", or even the "wait" tricks that she already knows, but she and I had to have a real conversation before she understood that she was going to have to fetch the ball and bring it back to me and then drop it before she would get the bacon. She was even running around behind me when I put my hand behind my back.  Oh what fun it is to have this wonderful dog!