Dogs always seem to be saying, "Me, too!" so it’s not hard to imagine that, from Spot’s perspective, a major family event such as a wedding is one not to be missed. Consider Frankie, the 12-year-old narrator of author Carson McCullers’ masterpiece The Member of the Wedding, who wants so badly to feel a part of something bigger than herself that the occasion of her brother’s wedding becomes an important rite of passage. The novel’s famous line, "They are the we of me," also accurately describes how a dog feels about his nearest and dearest – so to exclude Spot from the wedding wouldn’t be very nice.
Besides, the presence of a happy dog makes a memorable occasion more memorable still – and, given scientifically-proven data on how dogs lower human blood pressure, a canine wedding attendant can have the added benefit of calming any frayed nerves that might mar an otherwise perfect event.
Whoopsie Daisy, a 4-year old black lab, is many things to her owner, dog trainer and best-selling author Sarah Hodgson: model student, four-footed alter ego, kid sister, best friend forever. "Whoopsie is really an inspiration for me," Sarah says. "A lot of times, if something aggravates me or somebody is confrontational, I literally think to myself, What would Whoopsie do?"
This beloved dog even played an important role in the courtship of Sarah and Roman Adrianowycz, the man who’s now Hodgson’s husband.
"One day, while Roman and I were dating, we were going for a hike with my 2-year-old daughter Lindsay," Sarah recalls. "And I said to Roman, ‘Should we bring Whoopsie along or leave her at home?’ He didn’t realize this was a test, and the future of our relationship depended on his answer! I wanted someone who would take the whole package – me, my daughter, and my dog. And Roman said, ‘Let’s bring the dog.’" (Good boy, Roman!)
Not surprisingly, when it came time for Sarah and Roman to join destinies at the First Presbyterian Church of Katonah, N.Y., it was pre-ordained that Whoopsie would be more than an invited guest; she’d be a part of the ceremony.
"We had flower girls and ring bearers, and I knew that I wanted Whoopsie to be a flower dog. We couldn’t imagine Whoopsie not being there with us to celebrate the most exciting day of our lives," Sarah adds. "We plan our vacations around her! And our wedding was a circle of love, so it would have felt so strange without her, like there was a spoke missing. Besides, everyone knows we’re Roman, Sarah, Lindsay, and Whoopsie – we would have been missing a quarter of our family if Whoopsie hadn’t been there. It could have never happened."
The well-behaved dog rose to the occasion – literally. She accompanied the couple for the block-and-a-half walk from their house to the church wearing a smart vest adorned with red cottage roses from Sarah’s garden. And her behavior was as picture-perfect as her appearance.
"Whoopsie was delightful," Sarah says. "She knows the concepts of follow and wait, and she demonstrated them perfectly: she followed right along with the other flower girls and waited in the alcove of the church; she didn’t go barreling ahead. And she charmed all the guests by calmly going from one pew to the next! In fact, Whoopsie was much better adjusted than my daughter; Lindsay surprised us by getting up and joining us at the altar, but Whoopsie was perfect – she just lay down and patiently watched."
