DENVER -- February 25, 2010

Ahhh, naptime. My favorite time of day. Dreaming of cookies and stuffed toys and playing with Meryl and bugging the kitties and treats and Nylabones and kibble and.....

"Hey, Mars," Marianne said, nudging me with her foot. "Wake up. You have an e-mail!"

I extracted myself from under her desk and looked up at the computer. "Ohhh, it's from my brother Micron," I said happily. I read to myself, occasionally saying "Hmmm," or "Woof!" Marianne sat nearby, drumming her fingers on the desk impatiently.

"Well?" she inquired. "What does he say? Where is he living? What's his life like?"

"My goodness, you're awfully nosy," I said. "Just whose computer is this?" she said, raising one eyebrow.

I hurriedly started to read. "Let's see, he says he's being raised southwestern Ohio, which he says is 'currently snow country.' His puppy raiser, Donna, works in a pet-friendly office so he goes to work with her every day to the cube farm." I paused, momentarily confused. "Wait, she works in an office on a farm?"

Marianne laughed. "No, cube farm is an expression for a workplace made up of cubicles instead of individual offices. Kind of like our newsroom, actually."

Human humor. I shrugged and kept reading. "Hey, this is cool! There is another CCI puppy in the office and a Change of Career (COC) dog as well. He says his day includes sleeping, going to meetings, greeting visitors to Donna's office, lunch time play sessions and more sleeping. Sounds just like my day, except for having other pups to play with."

"You have dogs to play with at home," Marianne reminded me. "Does Micron have dogs at home?"

"It's not the same," I sighed, "but yes, he has a friend named Jager, a rescued terrier mix." I sickered. "He’s Micron’s favorite squeaky toy."

"Jager must be a VERY patient dog," Marianne said. "Does he say anything else about work?"

I kept reading. "Um.....let's see. He says he has a comfy crate and soft bed in Donna's modestly-sized cube, but prefers to sleep near her chair with one ear touching the caster so that once she sits down, she's there for a while because she doesn't want to turn a one-eared service dog back to CCI."

"You and Micron are definitely related!" Marianne said. "It wasn't 20 minutes ago that I told you I was going to accidentally run over your ear if you didn't move."

"Well, I was comfy and I like having you nearby," I explained. "I know you won't run over my ear."

"Does he say anything else?" Marianne asked.

"His puppy raiser writes a blog about him." I clicked on the link and Marianne and I read the entries, chuckling frequently.

"Uh-oh Mars, I think his puppy raiser's blog may be even more amusing than yours," said Marianne.

I nodded. "Yeah, Donna would fit right into the Denver Puppy Raiser Village. She has that same weird sense of humor that you all do." I brightened. "Maybe she and Micron will come visit us some day! What do you think?"

Marianne nodded. "That would be great fun. When you write back to Micron you should invite them."

So I did.

Chow for now! Mars

Questions or comments for Mars? Send him an e-mail!

Would you like more information about Canine Companions for Independence or perhaps be a puppy raiser? Call 1-800-572-BARK or go to CCI for details.