Little Miss Sunshine

My first assignment is a delightful senior lady named Sunshine. Adopted at nine she's proven to fabulous companion for her human.

Meet Little Miss Sunshine.

"Sunshine is a great walking buddy, a

loving friend and an all around good egg."

Then there’s Sunshine. People on the street stop to ask her name, and when I tell them, they say “Sunshine?” After all, she’s black (well…it would be generous to say that she’s salt and pepper) and, when meeting strangers, her disposition wouldn’t exactly be described as sunny. And she barks…barks with glee and barks with purpose. So to many, the name seems odd, but it is very fitting, really, because Ms. Sunshine is a bit odd, too - a chanteuse excentrique of the highest order.

Sunshine came home with me when she was almost 9 years old. She’ll soon be 11. Like many of our senior ladies, she had lived in the adoption kennel for a long time. In her case, it was a full year of being overlooked for younger and/or prettier girls in the kennel. I’ll never forget the warm summer day when some volunteer had deposited a small stuffed toy in Sunshine’s crate. She commenced tossing and playing with it even within the confines of her crate. It was very poignant to witness her enjoying herself with such abandon, even while being so restricted.

And then there was the time that I held Sunshine at an adoption event at a community street fair. I decided to enter her into the tail wagging contest, and even though she didn’t win (the fix must have been in!) she DID receive a certificate of merit, which hung on her crate door in the kennel for a few months afterward (I was surprised to find it included in her adoption packet).

Because she’s built like a daschund on stilts, Sunshine has had some issues with her lower back, but she sees a chiropractor (“Mary the Cracker”) for adjustments, and that seems to keep her rolling. She also has seasonal allergies. Some think perhaps she should also visit a therapist…but that’s another story entirely.

Despite listening to the beat of her own drummer, Sunshine is a great walking buddy, a loving friend and an all around good egg. I appreciate her quizzical take on life – even though I must admit that I cannot fully understand it.