I must be a little ill.

I'm not sure what happened to me this morning. I'm still a bit frightened and confused, and I'm glad Bracha is next to me, comforting me and talking softly to me and telling me everything is OK. Suddenly I started running all over the living room and then, well I don't remember much. Bracha told me that I had a "sees-your". I'm not sure what that means, but she explained that it looks like I have a disease called epilepsy. Saoirse had that, and she took special pills for it. Then Bracha called Ami to tell him, and Ami was very sympathetic and said that if I needed to take medicine it was OK. I can still do everything I always to, and Bracha reassured me and told me that she still loves me and I will always be her guide dog. Afterwards I was still frightened and disoriented, and stood at the edge of the patio barking at Bracha and not sure what to do. Then I went to sleep for a while. I feel so bad, but I guess this is something that is beyond my control. As long as I can be Bracha's guide dog and do what I am supposed to do, I'll be OK.

Hey, are those Adidas?

One cannot remain annonymous when walking with my red shoes on. The moment we walked out of the train station the comments started:
"Hey, are those Adidas?"
"Wow, look at those!"
"Hey, look, that dog has shoes!"
And on and on. I think Bracha gets a bit tired of it and simply ignores most of them, but after I made my way through Azrieli and for the first time found my way out of the center and onto the pedestrian bridge, one woman started up and we got a good laugh. First she asked the woman next to her why I had shoes. The woman didn't know. Bracha couldn't resist. They were, after all, talking about me as if she were not even there and could not hear.
"If you want to know, you can ask me directly, you know."
"Why does your dog have shoes?"
Bracha explained that the shoes were to protect my feet from the hot sidewalks.
The woman considered this. "But, up till now they (dogs) never complained..."
We goth chuckled to ourselves. The time of dogs being silent is over! Hooray!

Now I have to tell you about my new swimming place. The river is just about dried up and is nothing more than a muddy trickle. But wow! The fence around the reservour is, well, not quite intact, so we made our way in! Now Nuala and I can swim! What fun!

Real Shoes!

Wow! My new shoes arrived just in time for our trip to Tel Aviv. I'm so happy and proud! These are real shoes with rubber soles, so Bracha doesn't have to keep taking them on and off all the time. My other ones are torn and all worn out. So yesterday we went to Tel Aviv and I wore them all morning - on the train, up the moving stairs, out to the bus stop, and on the street! And after Bracha photographed them, we discovered that they have reflectors on them, too! Thank you, Yariv, for suggesting them!


Now I have to tell you about the taxi driver whom we met coming home from the train station last night. He was standing outside the exit to the train station and we had never met him before. He asked if I was quiet and Bracha assured him that I know how to behave nicely in a taxi, and would only sit on the floor. He opened the back door and I slipped in between the seats. He explained that he usually does not take dogs. "But sometimes when it's necessary, I make an exception." He explained that he was an observant Moslem, and that if a dog licks his hand he would have to wash his hands seven times to be clean again. Bracha said she understood, and that she was pleased at his willingness to understand the necessity of taking guide dogs. So if he can take a dog in his cab, even if his religion says dogs are unclean, why do others make such feeble excuses?