A Handy Dog to have Around

I know I can avoid obstacles, stop at curbs, cross streets, find ATM machines, garbage cans, and benches. But today I really outdid myself. Here's what happened.

Bracha and I cut through the fields on the way out of the moshav today to go to town. Things were going well. I pushed up against Bracha and made her go over to the right side of the sidewalk when she didn't see a man coming along on a bike. And Bracha praised me when she realized what had happened. She also gave me a lot of petting and praise when I walked very nicely through town. But when we got back home Bracha realized that her cell phone was missing. Bracha's phone is very important to her. It has all her friends' phone numbers in it, and has an expensive program in it that makes it talk and chatter all the time all by itself and makes the letters and numbers big so she can see them. So she was pretty upset that it was lost.

She clipped my leash on and we wet out over the fields where we had gone in the morning. Bracha brought another phone with her.

When we got close to the place where she thought she had dropped it she unclipped my leash, told me , "Suki, go find the phone!" and dialed her own number. Sure enough, the phone started ringing. I stopped sniffing around and walked up to it. Bracha bent down and picked it up and shouted, "Good dog, Suki!" Well, that was easy enough. After all, it's not every day that we hear Irish reels coming out of the underbrush.

I guess I am a very handy dog to have around.

Suki the Desert Dog

I like this place they call the desert. Bracha took me down there by train again, but this time Yagu' the guide dog in training was not there. He's been returned to Beit Oved to begin his training. I hope he makes it through.

Everything in the desert smells different. There is a sort of dusty smell of desert soil and a scent like I smelled once on the mountain near Adamit where goats wander about. I soon learned what made this strange goat smell. There were some other animals there and I can't quite figure out what they are. They have large horns on their heads and at first I didn't know whether to be afraid of them or not. The moment their scent reached me I stopped in my tracks and planted all four feet on the ground and Bracha had to really coax me to move on down the path. I just didn't know whether I could tend with those horns, and they were a lot bigger than me. Bracha said they were called ibexes and wouldn't hurt me, and I sat and stared at one of them and he stared back at me. They were strange and beautiful.

But we were a long way from home. On Saturday night we rode the bus to a train station and we got on a train and rode for twice as long as we usually do. Bracha was a bit worried that I would be uncomfortable on the train for so long, but I really managed all right and slept through most of the ride. But it was good to get home to my own bed. I like traveling, but there is no place like home. And now I'm happily situated on the front patio. But that's because I went in the open sprinkler and got nice and wet and muddy!

Suki and I Together from October 19th, 2009 to October 19th, 2010!

Liron, Moshe, and I on the Course One Year Ago

Suki is letting me take over the blog for a day. I've made it clear to her there are a few things I want to say. Suki and I have been together for an entire year as of today! It's hard to believe that an entire year has gone by since Ami walked into my room at Beit Oved and gave Suki to me. I remember our first days together – a lot of affection, some frisking about (including a shredded roll of toilet paper all over the carpet of my room when I left Suki unattended while I was in the shower), the fear we all felt before going on the traffic simulation walk and then seeing how Suki stopped whenever the school car pulled up deliberately alongside us, and finally, the real thing – Suki stopping in the middle of a side street to prevent us from walking into the path of a car speeding around the corner, and a walk through pitch dark streets in Rehovot at night. It was then that I knew I could trust Suki, and I know now more than ever that I can depend on her. Just the other night I crossed a busy intersection in the middle of Tel Aviv. I would have been terrified to do it without her, but off we went, and she performed perfectly.
It's not always easy. We still get hassled a lot and there are days when I come home frustrated at people's ignorance and rudeness. But Suki is always there, tail wagging, wet nose prodding, as if to say, "Hey, you've got me, it's not so bad. We'll show 'em." And so we do. Walking everywhere with a beautiful white dog is always exciting, and I am so proud of her.
Sure, we've gone lax in a few things: Suki still barks and gets upset if she is left alone in the house. We have to work on that. And what about that sitting down at the top step of descending stairs, and pausing with her front paws on the bottom stair going up? Sometimes Suki, er, jumps the gun and knows what is coming and does not wait for my command. But a couple of days with the clicker and she'll brush up on that quickly - just like she learned to locate ATM machines, seats at bus stops, mailboxes, and garbage cans. .Oh, and I almost forgot – water fountains, but that she really taught herself. I never showed her. But my thirsty golden retriever knows where the water fountain is at the train station and leads me to it every time.
So, Sookers, we'll keep up our agreement. You take care of me and I'll take care of you. And no more of that sneaking cat food, avocados, and accepting candy from the life guard at the pool. I want you to be healthy for a long time.
Today we are going to have a special day together. You'll get a run on the beach and a swim in the sea, a walk through town, and, oh Okay, a new toy. You deserve it.

Fighting Our Way into the Pool

Here we go again. It's time to switch swimming pools. Bracha wants to go to the pool at Country Gan Evron because sometimes people will drive her there and it's easier. And the people at Nahariya aren't treating us very well lately. Yesterday I listened in when Bracha talked to the manager on the phone. He said he had clarified things and that the Ministry of Health had a law that prohibits animals from entering the pool. (sigh). Bracha explained to him that guide dogs were an exception to that law and offered to refer him to the Law Against Discrimination Against Blind People Accompanied by Guide Dogs, but he told her to listen and be quiet. Then he said he had two reservations about letting us in: the first was that I might attack someone (at this I had to go into the other room because I was laughing so loud) and the second was that other customers might object and leave the pool, causing him economic setbacks to his business.
Bracha was, I could see, on the verge of losing patience with this nonsense, but she told him calmly that she felt that as the head of a business it was his duty to obey the law of the Knesset and that his other clients should also learn the law and understand it. She suggested he put a sign in the entrance to the pool with a picture of a guide dog so that the people and the guards would know about us going in. He said no, he didn't want to make a "festival" around me. Putting up a sign stating what the law is about doesn't seem to be a festival to me. It's a fact.
So finally he and Bracha came to an agreement that she would pay for a month's entrance and I would be with her all the time at the pool. If, after a month, everyone was satisfied she would buy a membership. Bracha decided to go for it. She explained to me that it was a win win situation for us. Either he lets us in after a month, or if he tries to throw us out and claims that his customers don't like it, than bye bye see you in court! Then we will get the Aguda to intervene. I wish I could tell him that he'd better let us in or he will be sorry, just like the owner of that restaurant that didn't let a guide dog in and it was all over the newspapers. I dare say that will do his business a lot more harm than clients who would leave the pool because they don't like my being there.

Hey, if clients don't like swimming in a pool when I am sleeping next to the side of the pool, maybe they would like to swim in the sea all winter, or perhaps in their own bathtub at home. Bracha and I will swim wherever we like, and I promise to be well behaved.

Jerusalem and Back

I have never been to Jerusalem before. The first part of the trip was pretty much like going to Tel Aviv on the train, except the train wound around and around and rattled and banged until we got there. It was late at night but we finally made it to Carol's house after crossing a very complicated intersection. Her house is very small but I was on my best behavior and Carol was very tolerant of my large presence even though I had to pick my way around the furniture and often I had to back up rather than turn around.
Walking in Jerusalem is hard. The sidewalks are always blocked by parked cars, garbage cans, and branches, and sometimes there isn't even any sidewalk at all and we had to walk in the road. But I think I did very well, and I had a couple of good runs in the park, so I was happy.

Back home again, things aren't working out well at the pool at all. The security guard stopped us yet again, and the lady at the the desk yelled at the guard not to interfere and let us in, and Bracha was yelling at the guard and at the lady, telling her it was about time that someone bothered to tell the security guards that guide dogs are allowed at the pool and she was tired of being treated rudely when she comes to swim. I could tell she had really had enough. When we left the guard just sat there and didn't even bother to let Bracha and me out through the gate, and the lady yelled at him again. I can see why Bracha wants to go to another pool. The life guard there is nice to us, but I don't like being told I'm not allowed. After a year you'd think they'd learn already.

Now I have some good news. On October 19th Bracha and I will have been together for exactly one year! It's our anniversary! I hope Bracha has some surprise in store. I've hinted at a day at the beach, and I don't mind if she goes and has coffee afterwards because they always treat us well at Aroma and give me water and bring Bracha coffee right to the table instead of her having to go to the counter and get it like the other customers do. And er, a trip to the pet store would not be bad either…

I hope you're not angry, but...

It had been a rough morning. First we went to the new pool to see about getting membership and letting me in. First the guard would not open the turnstile for Bracha to even enter the building, and Bracha had to tell them nicely that I was a guide dog and we wanted to come in to discuss joining the pool. When we got in, , the secretary said, "Sure, you can bring your dog here. You can tie her up outside at the bike rack."

Bracha explained that this was not a solution. I would be out in the hot weather and the rain and besides, someone might steal me. I am, after all, rather attractive.

Then Bracha's friend went in to talk with the manager and explained the situation. He said he'd call the Ministry of Health to clarify the matter. Bracha offered to save him a phone call. The Ministry of Health would tell him that no dogs were allowed - except for guide dogs, who are allowed everywhere. From there we went to get a taxi back to Nahariya, and the driver refused at first to take us. He claimed he was allergic to dogs. Bracha was in a hurry and got pretty agitated about having to waste time arguing.

And if that wasn't all, the life guard at the regular pool walked over to the jaccuzi to speak to Bracha.

"I hope you're not angry," he said, "but I just gave your dog a piece of candy."

OK. I admit it. I ate it. And if Bracha had been around to see I know she would have said no. And I admit to taking advantage of the situation. Bracha told him that she was not angry (though I think she was) but told him under no uncertain terms was he to feed her dog again.

So her friend who had told her that morning that she sounded just a bit aggressive when people got tough with us and told us we could not come in began to realize just what a typical morning is like walking around with a large wuite guide dog and deal with ignorant stupid people. It gets tiring. No won der Bracha gets aggressive sometimes.

Shiatzu for Dogs?

I don't think I'd ever been so tired as I was when we got back from the beach yesterday. We were there for a long time and I lay in the shade under our umbrella and rested after I had a few swims in the water and chased a little white dog around the sand. But it was very hot, and I felt like all four of my paws were maed of something very heavy and when Bracha put my haerness on me after she showered me and toweled me off it felt as if it were the heaviest thing in the world. That didn't stop me from being very upset when they left me at home and went to the supermarket without me. Of course I was too tired to want to go. But on principle, I don't like being left at home. Even when the little dog they called Shmoo was there too, I still didn't like it. But then something happened that I really loved that made me forget all about my state of being tired and unhappy. Naomi, Bracha's friend said she knew how to do something called "she hat soo." Now, I am not sure what this is all about, but suddenly she was pressing down all along my back, sort of like Bracha does when she ruffles my fur, but it made me feel really nice. Soon my eyes were closing and I just couldn't keep them open. Then I started sliding down to the floor, like when I do when Bracha tells me "artza" but I sort of don't want to lie down. And I felt like I was swimming in the sea, except there were no waves to jump over. It was like swimming when the water is all smooth and lovely. I wonder if Bracha will do this for me, too. I know she already does a lot of things for me, like letting me swim in the little pool and run free and buying me toys. And if I have a choice between choosing to get a bone and having some "she hat soo" I really don't know which I would choose. They are both wonderful.