A Typical Day in the Big City

Just in case you think I sometimes get bored, or that maybe I have it hard and ought to be a pet dog who sits home all day, here is a typical trip to the city of Tel Aviv and Back and everything I have to do:

Out of the house to catch a ride to the train station - or almost all the way. Walk to the main stoplights and get across the busy intersection at the entrance to Nahariya. (three crossings, one without a stoplight)
Get through the train station, stop at the drinking fountain for a drink (even if I'm not really thirsty it's just a habit!)
Get on the train and find a seat. Settle down.
Make appealing dog faces and wag my tail ad the lady who sits down and starts petting me. Back to sleep until Bracha wakes me up with a treat and clips on my harness. Up the steps of the train car and out the door.
Out of the train station and up the escalator (Hooray! Two of 'em!) and over to the bus station.
Get on the bus, walk to the sabim and up to the door, into the elevator, and nudge saba awake with my cold nose! Nap on the Persian rug.
Back on the bus, get off, and find Petel!
Walk down the sidewalk, avoiding parked motorcycles and people, moving bicycles, and trees, and settle down in the restaurant under the table. Petel and I played for a bit and then went to sleep.
Liron and Petel showed Bracha how to operate the revolving door while onlookers all shouted at us to go through the regular door. Don't they know I can handle this??? Get into the cell of the revolving door and out the other side.
Walk down Shaul HaMelech, up the big moving stairs that I love, dodging people and more cyclists on the sidewalk, and over the big pedestrian bridge, find the elevator for Bracha, and walk straight to the 68 bus stop. (I don't know the number, I just know where it is).
Ride the bus until we get to the place where Rotem goes to school. New route: down the steps and around the fence until I find the gate and zip into the school. Find Rotem in the long hallway, go out, and walk to Rotem's house. I know that gate from all the others.
Sit quietly under Bracha's chair while visiting with people.
Cross the street and get back on the bus. Then the other new route - from Jabotinsky, across two busy streets, around the stairs, and wind through the path between the bitg buildings and into the train station tunnel. Bracha praises me and gives me a treat. Down the tunnel and through the turnstile. Onto the platform and onto the train.
Grab a nice cozy spot between the seats just made for guide dogs! Sleep until we get to Nahariya. Get off the train, through the station and out to the cab stand. Into a taxi, sit nicely and make eyes at the driver till we get home.
Dinner, busy, and bed! What was that they said about my having to work too hard? Do they think I'd like to sit home all day? No way!

Don't Fence Me In!

Yesterday I was feeling pretty smug - I proved to Bracha that I learned two new routes. The first is the route from the bus stop in Kiryat Ono to Rotem's school. We've been there a couple of times but it appears that now Bracha can pick Rotem up at school. It's rather confusing because there are a lot of gates in the fence to the school, and only one of them is open. I kept turning right and standing in front of each one until we found the right one and I went right to Rotem's classroom! Bracha was very proud of me and we have that one down just right. The other route is much harder - from the bus stop on Jabotinsky into the train station. We have to pass a lot of people, cross a street, and then turn in between very tall buildings, like walking inside a maze with high walls, until we get to the entrance to a long tunnel. Then Bracha bent down and gave me a treat. I know that in the winter we will have to walk this route when it is dark outside, so we are learning it now while it is light and then I'll know where to go.

Now, here at home I feel a bit less smug because Bracha is building a fence around the patio. This means no more wandering off, and no more sneaking into the orchard to find you-know-what - avocados! Here I am lying next to the new fence post, and soon I will have to stay on the patio. That's what happens when you try and stretch your limits. In the end, you get more limits!

Sleeping off a Wonderful WEekend

I could hardly believe it when we got out of the car and we were in that wonderful place with the lawns and lake again! No sooner did we put our things down in our hotel room when I started clamoring to go in the water again. As soon as we started getting close to the lake I started pulling on the harness with excitement! I went swimming every day and it was all Bracha could do to get me out of the water. We even swam out to the raft together, but I had a bit of trouble getting onto it with the wet slippery stairs, and when I did get on and walked around Bracha went to the edge and jumped off! I stood there and did not know what to do. You see, I've never jumped off into water before, and I didn't know what to do. So after that we stayed in the lake together and I came out all clean and soft. People never stopped petting me all weekend, and I just lay on the lawn, letting children and adults pet me and letting all kinds of music drift over me. What a wonderful time! Why can't we be at the festival every week?
Now Bracha and I have still not come to an agreement as to what is the best thing at the festival. Bracha thinks it's this:

And here's what I think is the best part...

Itchy Ears!

I woke up in the middle of the night last night feeling as if I were about to jump out of my skin! Bracha got up and took me outside, but what I wanted wasn't to go out. I wanted my ear to stop itching. Bracha took me back inside and spoke to me softly and told me to stop scratching and go back to sleep and that she would take me to the vet in the morning. She said all he would do is look in my ears and that I might have contracted some ear mites or an infection.

Sure enough, when we got there, Avi picked me up (all 36 kilo of me!) and hoisted me up on the table. Then he looked inside my ears. I may have caught a few ear mites from Kabri, and now I have to have some ear drops. And then it came.
"Suki needs her rabies shot." Avi then told Bracha he was going to give me my other shot, too. I tried to skedaddle, but no go. But Avi did give me a treat or two and then Bracha hugged me and reminded me that we were going to the Kinneret this weekend. We can take my ear drops along and I'll be fine.

And I lost a kilo! Now we just got a new bag of low calorie dog food, and I'm going to knock off two more so that I weigh 34 kilo. Avi says that is acceptable. And if I swim this weekend and run, it will be a good start! I can hardly wait!

Cracking Down and Keeping Cool

There is a store in Nahariya that Bracha likes to go to to try on clothes. They are very nice there and usually I find a nice spot and lay down and go to sleep. So there was Bracha busy trying on clothes and in walks another customer.

"Hey," she said. "If dogs are allowed in here, maybe I'll bring mine next time, too."

I could see that the nice saleswoman was beginning to lose her temper. Bracha politely explained that I was not a pet, I was a guide dog for the blind. the woman seemed to become a bit embarrassed and left. The saleswoman told Bracha that she was angry and Bracha told her not to get angry. "It's not worth it." Why get upset at these stupid people who are ignorant and rude?

Now I want to admit that I have been a bit out of line lately. And now I've gotten waht I deserve - no more hanging out on the patio without a leash. That's because I ran away. And Bracha had to go looking for me and calling me until I came back. Then Kabri came over with Paul, and Bracha agreed that we be allowed to run in the yard, but we both were rascals and ran away into the orchard together.

So last night Bracha sat down and told me very firmly that I would not be let off leash in the yard any more. That's it. It's just too tempting to run off, even though she knows that I will always come back. So now we have a new plan. I can go off leash on hikes through the fields, but at home we are going to fence in the patio. That way I will stay put, and Nuala will have a place to be when Bracha is not home.

And the other thing we are going to crack down on is getting my summer figure back. A short stint on light dog food and a good run every day, plus losing about a kilo of winter fur, and I think we'll be back in shape again!Then I will be fit and I promise to be good. And next week we go to the Kinneret! It's festival time!

Look, they're training them!

I figured something good was in store when Bracha packed a bottle of water, some treats, my leash, my towel, and Nuala's leash, and took off my flea collar. That collar comes off when I go in the water - at least if Bracha can plan that in advance. Soon Paul pulled into the yard with Kabri, my good friend from ndown the road, and Nuala and I got into the back of the car on the floor. Paul asked Bracha if I needed to ride in front, but she said no, this was a recreation ride and I got to have fun in back like a regular dog today! Soon we were at the beach, and we did a lot of running around. I still could not get Kabri to swim, but no matter. I got him pretty wet just shaking myself off again and again.

Soon we made our way to Nahariya and Bracha and Paul walked around and she held me in harness as usual and held Nuala's leash with her other hand. And boy did people look! One little kid's father said, "LOok, they're training the dogs!" I beg your pardon! I have already been thoroughly trained, and Kabri and Nuala are not guide dogs. And then the nice lady Ilana who likes guide dogs rode by on a bycicle and laughed and asked Bracha if she wanted another dog. So we all had a good time. And summer is coming! Soon we can go to the beach all the time!