For the most part, being a guide dog means a lot of “down time.” There’s a lot of lying down on the job, which is actually far more boring than you might imagine. Needless to say, Yara doesn’t jive with that at all. So, now and again — and by that I mean freakishly often — she lets off a bit of that pent up energy.
Truly, it’s a dog’s life because you just know I’d never get away with playing with a tennis ball or lounging around at my job!
If you’ve been following the saga of the thank you card portraits1 you may well understand how very happy I am to finally have these. So, I’ll just get right to it and share ‘em!
Together, we are made of adorable! And after Yara was done crawling all over me, my pants were made of dog hair.
Jean joked that this is our “customary photo” because she seems to get this same pose of us every time we get portraits done.
Yara, looking quite happy with her new fleece lamb toy. Along with her harness and a bag of treats, it served as the noisemaker to get her attention focused on the camera for our shots together. Of course, first we had to get her to stop playing with it and licking the floor. Yeah, I don’t know either.
This shot of Yara with her nose shoved in my leather-bound copy of The Lord of the Rings was supposed to be the oft-mentioned holiday thank you card. Pretty amazing what a single Zuke’s treat in my hand can wield, eh?
This adorable shot of Yara and her fleece lamb toy is part of the thank you card/gift for any donors sponsoring us to this year’s Walk for Fidelco.
1. The shots I wanted were attempted back in November when we had our holiday cards done. Except because of some serious child distraction at the time, we didn’t get many good shots beyond the holiday card. And then things kept coming up and delaying the next appointment, like Yara having hot spots and me getting the flu.
Today I give you a few examples of how my life is never dull thanks to Yara. Currently, my guide dog is participating in a rousing game of Chase the Tennis Ball. Except because this is Yara, this game has elements of other games, such as Tail Chasing and Pouncing of the (Invisible) Enemy. I can’t quite figure out how to react to this, so mostly I’m just laughing at her.
I’ve discovered that she’s also just as much a non-fan of Mondays as I am. Yesterday morning I called her to breakfast and instead of bounding to the kitchen and making a total obstacle of herself while I make her food up, she crawled under my bed! There’s a theory on Facebook that she’s got one of those “I hate Mondays” cat posters under there. Personally I wouldn’t be remotely surprised. The underside of my bed is a treasure trove of toys and bones and I imagine it’s quite cushy and insulated, given all the dog hair that accumulates under there no matter how often I sweep it out. I don’t rule out the possibility that she’s creating a fort and that soon a sign pronouncing “no guide dog handlers allowed, this means you” will be prominently displayed.
This morning I had an interesting experience while waiting for the bus: There is an elderly man who frequently rides the morning bus and he is, for lack of a better description, exceedingly odd. For instance, he often has entire conveersations with himself which include rousing arguments. He’s also prone to being quite irritable for no reason I can determine other than the standard of being old, so I try and keep my distance on the off chance he might start yelling at me. Anyway, today he proceeded to give Yara a lecture on the bus schedule. And yes, he really was directing this to Yara. I am sure of this considering he was looking down at her at the time and kept interjecting how he was sure she understood all this. “You get all this, don’t you? Of course you do. Such a smart girl!” Yeah, I don’t know either; it was simultaneously entertaining and mind-boggling.
My lovely Yara is an interesting study in dichotomies. On the one hand she is always so very concerned and hyper observant when I decide to spend an inordinate amount of time in bed, for instance when I don’t feel well. However, she also seems to simultaneously be working towards willing me better so that I might get my unwell self up and play with her.
And there are some you who wonder why I don’t bother paying for cable.
[Group photo from 2009 Walk for Fidelco; from left to right: Sarah and Fay, me and Yara, Raechel and James with Scarlet and Otis, and Tom and Patty with Remy]
For the third year in a row (2008; 2009) Yara and I will be attending the Walk for Fidelco. Please consider sponsoring us with a donation to the Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation. All proceeds go towards helping breed, raise, and train guide dogs for the blind and aide in follow-up support for graduates of the training program. Your support is sincerely appreciated!
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