Pets of the Week: Benny, Wally and Sadie Welcome You Back to the Office

Susan Douglass, President of the Scarsdale Forum, and her family create a holiday card every year featuring their dogs. The theme of this year’s card is "welcome back to the office." Last year's theme was supply chain delivery issues, and the prior year's theme was taking care of yourself during Covid. The cards usually feature a poem or text to bring out the nuances in the theme. Above is this year's photo featuring their dogs Benny (left) and Sadie (right), along with their grand-dog Wally (center).

Here is the text that goes with the card:

Wally: The boss says we have to return to the office five days a week.
Sadie: I like being virtual.
Wally: False! There’s no such thing as a “virtual dog.”
Benny: Next thing you’ll tell me, there’s no such thing as Santa Claus.
Sadie: At least I'll get to dress up in something other than sweats.
Benny: More importantly, I can take clients to lunch again ...
Wally: While the rest of us stay in the dog house.
Sadie: How 'bout we celebrate being together.
Wally: Yes, it's good to return!

Wishing You Joy As You Return To Doing The Things You Love!

A bit of background about the dogs. Benny, who is 8 1/2 years old, is an Australian Shepherd. He was certified by Therapy Dogs International (TDI) as a therapy dog when he was 15 months old. He has volunteered at White Plains Hospital since then, except for a 2 1/2 year hiatus due to Covid. Sadie is a miniature Australian Shepherd who is 6 1/2 years old. The family adopted her when she was 2 ½ and took her to school so she could become a TDI-certified hospital volunteer. As with Benny, Sadie passed her test on the first try, and is a popular volunteer at White Plains Hospital.

Grand-dog Wally is a 5 1/2-year-old Aussie Doodle who belongs to Douglass’s younger son Martin and his family, and lives in Harrison. Wally is a frequent visitor, where he plays with his dog cousins.

Susan explained, “although we would love to feature our two grandsons in the holiday cards, their parents prefer that we not do so (our sons Nathaniel and Martin were "tortured" by being featured in our hilarious themed holiday cards until they were teenagers).