Sasha is a very gifted little creature. She is a registered Toy Poodle, and her legal name is "Little Sasha Hockaday". Her parents were successful show dogs. Her father was "Little Cricket XXXIV" and her mother was "Snow Flakes XXXIV". Sasha was born on July 26, 1986. She was lovingly hand raised by two nice old ladies, who have a real love for animals.

On the day that my wife and I saw her, she was just a little thing, no more than a handful. She was the only female in the litter. The first glimpse of her was a fuzzy little ball running through the fenced-in area at the breeder's home. We knew from that moment that she was to be ours. The entire litter was hand reared, and exhibited extremely intelligent traits. Clear and focused eyes, inquisitive stares, and listening closely to everything, Sasha had potential.

We bought our baby. On the ride home, Debbie taught her how to drink from a straw. The following months were trying at times, but she learned something new nearly every day. In no time, she would walk upright, speak on command, ask to go outside,. etc. She was always excited to learn something new, and would prance around like she knew she was above the rest...ready to show off her newest "tricks".

She has always been the ham...she will set poised for a camera, wearing all kinds of things that she wouldn't normally stand for. Here, she's in my van (sometime around 1990) at the model airplane flying site in Wilson NC, wearing a large pair of glasses that Debbie dressed her in.

Toboggans, socks and sweaters, scarves, ears tied back (as to be wearing her hair up), etc. are her attire for starters. She is no doubt, a momma's baby...running to Debbie when she doesn't feel good. But, like most little girls, she runs to daddy when she wants things that momma won't give her or just after momma has brushed her hair. She really is a little person.

Sasha has quite a vocabulary, understanding the meaning of :cookie, chewy, PP, Do it! (meaning "PP NOW!"), Granddaddy, mama, daddy, bed, baby, ball, toy, go, no, now, look, kitty, git'um, Aunt Rhonda, Chris, fish, bath, bird, squirel, "I'm gonna get it", and many more. As you can see, she is quite scholarly.

Sasha has two older brothers, our oldest son (Chris) and our younger son (Brandon). In his younger years, Chris spent a lot of time with Sasha, and they loved each other dearly. This is picture that Chris took of Sasha in his makeshift photo studio (his bedroom). As you can see, she'll sit still for a camera. Chris had a pet Bream in his fishtank, and Sasha would have given a year's supply of 'Chewy Treats' to get her paws on him.

On the topic of fish, we discovered (about 1994) that Sasha loves to swim and loves to go fishing. You'd never guess it from her dislike of a bath, but she will dive off of my Father's dock at Kerr Lake to go swimming. This photo shows Sasha playing on a float in Kerr Lake, NC. I like to fly fish, and have to be careful, because Sasha will dive after the fly as well. If you catch a fish, she cries until you let her have it. She will carry a fish around in her mouth as long as you let her. Sasha, the fishdog...