Today is our day to volunteer at Wonder Lab, the local children's science museum next door. There, they call me "Lucy the Wonder Lab!" I don't know that this is necessary though. I don't even know if I like it. I mean, I love it when Adria calls me a "Good dog!" or her "Sweet Lu," or something like that, but I don't know that a title is necessary. Just to know that I have done my job and that she approves and loves me at the end of the day is enough. It's nice to be recoginzed because I am so well trained and sweet, but really , all I care about is Adria. She is my Wonder Human, and I am her Wonder Lab, and we are perfect together. "WOOF!"
Love,
Lu
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
At the Art Museum
Yesterday, Adria and I went to the JB Speed Art Museum and out to lunch at Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville with CIP. Louisville is very close to where Adria's parents, Grandma Cynthia and Grandpa Ben live. On the way home, which was a 2 hour car trip, she looked out the window as we were driving over the Ohio River bridge and told me to say hi to them but I didn't. I was half asleep.
The art museum wasn't all that entertaining. I just walked around on the hardwood floor while Adria pretended to be interested in pictures painted by a bunch of old dead guys. The pictures looked really fuzzy to me and I couldn't quite make out any of the colors except black and white. Sometimes she would put me in a down and look at the pictures and I would let out a long sigh. I do not care for hardwood floors. they make my joints achy.
I may as well come out and say it now: Shortly before my second birthday, a few months back, I went to the orthopedic specialist and he formally diagnosed me with mild arthritis in my left front elbow. He says I can still work though (Thank God!) Something to do with myself! I so pity those members of the species who stay locked in a crate all day long! We were bred to work, you know! We want something to do with ourselves!
Our tour guide Doris was an old wrinkly lady who smelled like shoe polish and she kept going on about how she had guests coming over at 4:00 to watch "the game." I wondered which game it was? Fetch? Tug o' War? Frisbee, maybe?
I began to think: Why are humans so fascinated with art? You just walk around a room and look at pictures. Big deal. It's like smelling another dog's scent I suppose. It's interesting for a while but then you realize there are still walks to take and birds to chase and grass to roll in and balls to fetch and lakes to swim in ALL before the sun goes down!
When we got to Lynn's it was crowded and LOUD! Adria and I sat at the end of the table so I could get out if I needed to. There were fifteen of us, and across from our table sat this young couple with a baby. The baby would NOT shut up! She kept squawking like a parrot, pointing and laughing at me saying, "Dog!" Dog!"
After about twenty minutes, Adria bowed her head and whispered "Would you please Shut it, honey child?! I know it's a dog!"
She reached down and stroked my ears. "Good Girl, Lu!" she said. I wagged my tail and let my tounge hang out. I was happy just to be with her, despite the fact that there were food scraps all over the floor in front of me, which I resisted.
Halfway into the meal Adria excused herself and walked me outside to go potty. I ended up going on the very edge of some Good Samaritan's lawn, because there was pavement as far as the eye could see. Despite incredulous looks from neighbors, desperate times call for desperate measures. I felt much better afterward, though.
Love,
Lu
The art museum wasn't all that entertaining. I just walked around on the hardwood floor while Adria pretended to be interested in pictures painted by a bunch of old dead guys. The pictures looked really fuzzy to me and I couldn't quite make out any of the colors except black and white. Sometimes she would put me in a down and look at the pictures and I would let out a long sigh. I do not care for hardwood floors. they make my joints achy.
I may as well come out and say it now: Shortly before my second birthday, a few months back, I went to the orthopedic specialist and he formally diagnosed me with mild arthritis in my left front elbow. He says I can still work though (Thank God!) Something to do with myself! I so pity those members of the species who stay locked in a crate all day long! We were bred to work, you know! We want something to do with ourselves!
Our tour guide Doris was an old wrinkly lady who smelled like shoe polish and she kept going on about how she had guests coming over at 4:00 to watch "the game." I wondered which game it was? Fetch? Tug o' War? Frisbee, maybe?
I began to think: Why are humans so fascinated with art? You just walk around a room and look at pictures. Big deal. It's like smelling another dog's scent I suppose. It's interesting for a while but then you realize there are still walks to take and birds to chase and grass to roll in and balls to fetch and lakes to swim in ALL before the sun goes down!
When we got to Lynn's it was crowded and LOUD! Adria and I sat at the end of the table so I could get out if I needed to. There were fifteen of us, and across from our table sat this young couple with a baby. The baby would NOT shut up! She kept squawking like a parrot, pointing and laughing at me saying, "Dog!" Dog!"
After about twenty minutes, Adria bowed her head and whispered "Would you please Shut it, honey child?! I know it's a dog!"
She reached down and stroked my ears. "Good Girl, Lu!" she said. I wagged my tail and let my tounge hang out. I was happy just to be with her, despite the fact that there were food scraps all over the floor in front of me, which I resisted.
Halfway into the meal Adria excused herself and walked me outside to go potty. I ended up going on the very edge of some Good Samaritan's lawn, because there was pavement as far as the eye could see. Despite incredulous looks from neighbors, desperate times call for desperate measures. I felt much better afterward, though.
Love,
Lu
Friday, March 23, 2012
"My Name is Lu:" An Introduction
Hello, World!
I suppose since this is my first blog post I should introduce myself. My name is Lucy aka "Lu" after The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds". I am a two-year old yellow Lab in training as a service dog for Asperger's Syndrome and mild cerebral palsy.
My human's name is Adria Nassim. She helps me write this blog and she is a huge Beatles' fan. It's all thanks to her I know how to write. She got a degree in English, you know. Adria and I have been together for almost two years now. We were paired up at a kennel called Dixie Run Labs. Adria held me in her lap and stroked me and sung songs to me asking me questions like "Would you believe in a love at first sight?" and "What do you see when you turn out the light?" She never gave me a chance to answer though. She just held me and kept stroking my neck and telling me how she gets by with a little help from her friends. I loved her immediately. and Gosh, does she love me. We go everywhere together and almost every day she tells somebody,
"This is Lucy. She is my best friend!" and boy, is it worth it.
This blog is set up to tell my side of our story because people never ask me how I like going for a coffee break at Starbucks, or what I think of trips to The Gap to buy new spring clothes, or how I liked the Taylor Swift concert last weekend they only tend to ask Adria that stuff. I never really have understood why either. I do belong to one of the smartest breeds out there, you know and I have an opinion too, for goodness sake! Who made the stupid rule that the Declaration of Independence only applies to those of us on two legs? "WOOF!"
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."
Do the dogs count too, Mr. Jefferson? What happened to evolution?!
As of four months old, I have been privately trained to become Adria's special helper. I LOVE my job! I am trained to find home on command when we are out walking someplace and get lost and am learning how to pick up and retrieve dropped objects and bring them to her.
Today Adria taught me a new game at playtime called "Find It!" I really like this game. Adria went and got my Kong out of my toy box she keeps high on the shelf in her closet, brought it in the living room and placed it on the floor in plain sight.
"Find It, Lu!" she said.
Find What? I thought. staring blankly at her. It would help if I knew what to be looking for.
Dismissively, I put my nose to the floor, suddenly picking up the scent of BACON FLAVORED TRAINING TREATS!
Must. Find. Bacon.
I kept circling the room trying to hone in on the scent of my beloved bacon but I couldn't find it! Finally, I flopped to the floor in a dejected heap brooding on my insufficiency as a working dog. I can't even find something for her. Geez. What would Jag think?
Jag is my trainer John's German Shepherd. He is quite the stud and I want to be like him when I grow up. So well behaved and handsome. I pant just thinking about him! =)
Anyway, after sulking a while I decided to give "Find It!" one more shot. I could hear Adria still encouraging me across the room: "Find it, Find it, Lu!"
I ambled over to the corner where my Kong was and thought I'd lie down and have a nice chew, but as soon as my jaws locked around it, I heard Adria shout: "Good Find It! Come, Lu!"
If there's one rule I learned as a pup it's that you always come when called. If not, the consequences can be rather unpleasant. I sprinted back toward her and dropped the Kong at her feet, and out came BACON TRAINING TREATS from her hoodie pocket!
I understood now. Go find the Kong. bring it back when she calls and get BACON!
We played "Find "It!" for a long time and then I curled up for a nap. I really do love this job.
Love,
Lu
I suppose since this is my first blog post I should introduce myself. My name is Lucy aka "Lu" after The Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds". I am a two-year old yellow Lab in training as a service dog for Asperger's Syndrome and mild cerebral palsy.
My human's name is Adria Nassim. She helps me write this blog and she is a huge Beatles' fan. It's all thanks to her I know how to write. She got a degree in English, you know. Adria and I have been together for almost two years now. We were paired up at a kennel called Dixie Run Labs. Adria held me in her lap and stroked me and sung songs to me asking me questions like "Would you believe in a love at first sight?" and "What do you see when you turn out the light?" She never gave me a chance to answer though. She just held me and kept stroking my neck and telling me how she gets by with a little help from her friends. I loved her immediately. and Gosh, does she love me. We go everywhere together and almost every day she tells somebody,
"This is Lucy. She is my best friend!" and boy, is it worth it.
This blog is set up to tell my side of our story because people never ask me how I like going for a coffee break at Starbucks, or what I think of trips to The Gap to buy new spring clothes, or how I liked the Taylor Swift concert last weekend they only tend to ask Adria that stuff. I never really have understood why either. I do belong to one of the smartest breeds out there, you know and I have an opinion too, for goodness sake! Who made the stupid rule that the Declaration of Independence only applies to those of us on two legs? "WOOF!"
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."
Do the dogs count too, Mr. Jefferson? What happened to evolution?!
As of four months old, I have been privately trained to become Adria's special helper. I LOVE my job! I am trained to find home on command when we are out walking someplace and get lost and am learning how to pick up and retrieve dropped objects and bring them to her.
Today Adria taught me a new game at playtime called "Find It!" I really like this game. Adria went and got my Kong out of my toy box she keeps high on the shelf in her closet, brought it in the living room and placed it on the floor in plain sight.
"Find It, Lu!" she said.
Find What? I thought. staring blankly at her. It would help if I knew what to be looking for.
Dismissively, I put my nose to the floor, suddenly picking up the scent of BACON FLAVORED TRAINING TREATS!
Must. Find. Bacon.
I kept circling the room trying to hone in on the scent of my beloved bacon but I couldn't find it! Finally, I flopped to the floor in a dejected heap brooding on my insufficiency as a working dog. I can't even find something for her. Geez. What would Jag think?
Jag is my trainer John's German Shepherd. He is quite the stud and I want to be like him when I grow up. So well behaved and handsome. I pant just thinking about him! =)
Anyway, after sulking a while I decided to give "Find It!" one more shot. I could hear Adria still encouraging me across the room: "Find it, Find it, Lu!"
I ambled over to the corner where my Kong was and thought I'd lie down and have a nice chew, but as soon as my jaws locked around it, I heard Adria shout: "Good Find It! Come, Lu!"
If there's one rule I learned as a pup it's that you always come when called. If not, the consequences can be rather unpleasant. I sprinted back toward her and dropped the Kong at her feet, and out came BACON TRAINING TREATS from her hoodie pocket!
I understood now. Go find the Kong. bring it back when she calls and get BACON!
We played "Find "It!" for a long time and then I curled up for a nap. I really do love this job.
Love,
Lu
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