She walked through the door with her head low and tail wagging and that was it! We were in love. Penny is well-adjusted, but still not fond of stairs. We can persuade her to come up, but she'd rather not.

Penny is almost always the last one awake in the morning. She sleeps until 9 or 10 am most days. Frequently it is on her back, with legs in the air like a few other Pyrs we've heard about. She is not a big lover of food, but when she smells chocolate... watch out! (Yes, we know it is prohibited and dangerous.)

Wherever we go, she is admired and desired! (I think we've caused a few car near-accidents. She is not overly fond of traffic and is shy when confronted by a puppy or active dog. Our neighborhood and elementary school down the block all know her. The children say, "It's Pennnny!" when they see her coming.

Her fur has really come in since these pictures, and as soon as I can figure out how to load my new digital pictures, I will send them along. Thanks again to Duff and Nell for fostering our best friend and new family member. We only wish we had room for more!

Our sweet Sandy has been adopted by a Pyr Alumni Family, but not before making her debut at Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst:

Debut:

Dear Kathleen,

I guess her former owner wasn't aware of Sandy's talents, but now they are legendary here in Elmhurst! She is one talented pooch! She did two shows today as Annie's dog Sandy and she performed most admirably. (One more show to go — Saturday at 3:00 p.m.) Despite the distraction of a live audience, she came when called, and only slightly balked once at going where she was supposed to. (She totally showed up the other "Sandy" — who ran the opposite direction when being called! ) She didn't care for the whistling that people in the audience did during her curtain call and tried to make a run for it, but she certainly was a favorite. She did us proud as an ambassador for our breed! Plus, the director made a special announcement at each show about Great Pyrenees Rescue of Greater Chicago, directing people to the website! And boy, did she do lots of meeting and greeting after the show. Now, of course, she is one pooped-out Pyr!

Thanks for letting us show her off!

Love, Proud Foster Mom Stacey

Audition Update:

Regarding Sandy's audition for "Annie" — She was a trooper for the audition, going through the same scene (the one where Annie sings "Tomorrow") four times. She has to be off lead for the show, but the actors will hold her collar. Apparently, several of the auditioning dogs escaped temporarily from that situation anyway but, good ol' Sandy, she loved the attention and went along with everything. She also has to come when called, and she performed perfectly every time. It probably helps that her name is "Sandy," but my kids love to comment that she will come to anything, even "X," if she knows she will be petted!

There will actually be two dogs playing Sandy (the other is a golden retriever) — the director is concerned about one of the dogs getting performance anxiety and not doing well, so he wanted a possible back up. Barring that, Sandy will do two of the four shows, but we don't know which two yet. I'll let you know as soon as I know, and if I can, I'll send a picture of her rehearsing. The show is next weekend (11/20-22) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights at 7:00 p.m., and Saturday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. It's being performed at Sandburg Middle School in Elmhurst, which is RIGHT off of 294 on St. Charles Road (the West exit off the highway, and it's on your right almost immediately). My daughter Kenna will be an orphan in the show.

It is just a middle school production, but again, it truly shows how wonderful our favorite breed is — and how rescue dogs are terrific friends to us all, even while still in foster care!

I'll get back to you soon!