Running Free!

After maneuvering through a complicated route in rehovot this morning (followed by the usual stop for coffee) we returned for the usual routine of feeding, brushing, and obedience training. After lunch we set out for Yavneh for what we (students and dogs alike) had been waiting for - a free run along the dunes in Yavneh. After all, even guide dogs have to have exercise and fun. They work hard and need to run off tension. our dogs have been dealing with a lot since we received them and began the course. Now the time had finally come to let them have some real fun.

We climbed up the dune overlooking the neighborhood where we had spent so much time in the first days of the course walking along the broad, empty sidewalks and quiet streets just learning how to turn corners and cross empty streets. At the top we simultaneously released all three dogs. They took off joyfully leaving their footprints in the sand, but as we continued walking they retained a constant distance from us. I blew my whistle twice and Suki came running back together with Petel and Sunny. We prainsed them, gave them tidbits, and sent them off again. From far away it was difficult to see the sand-colored Labrador retreivers, but as they approached Suki's bright white coat and feathery tail became visible. The dogs returned and we attached their leashes and harnesses, and we returned to the car where they each drank about a liter of water. They had finally gotten a chance to work off two weeks of tension and pressure of constant changes that they have gone through in the past two weeks. I imagine Suki happily running through the fields at home. A dog's life!