Thought Wheel

Ann Chiappetta

Those Big Brown Eyes 🦮

| Filed under writing

 

Being a guide dog handler often means added responsibilities and animal husbandry when it comes to our canine partners. We not only practice daily obedience, but also brush their teeth, clean ears, and  inspect nails for trimming. We check for changes in their relieving routines and   the hands-on attention lets us know  when to  ask for assistance with identifying a bump or injury.

 

On the top of the list is eye health. Canine eye health is a primary concern for our dogs. I know, it seems almost trite to say it,  but one cannot work a guide dog that has trouble seeing. Dogs are susceptible to eye diseases just like people.  This is why the  month of April  and May has been reserved  for free eye exams in a Nationally-recognized program instituted by the American College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists, or ACVO.

The ACVO/Epicur National Service Animal Eye Exam event will provide a free screening-wellness eye exam to qualified Service and Working Animals including those providing the following services: guide, hearing assistance, drug detection, police/military, search and rescue, therapy, and those assisting people with disabilities other than blindness. Registration is open annually April 1st – 30th.

 

Bailey passed his exam with  great tolerance and a huge sneeze, which isn’t an uncommon reaction when getting one’s big Labrador eyes inspected with one of those newfangled blue light thingies. 😊

Below is Bailey sitting  and looking at the camera wearing  his new black ACVO bandana. What a good boy! 🦮

 

 

Yellow lab Bailey sitting facing the camera wearing a black bandana with the ACVO logo

Stepping In It 💩

| Filed under Guide dogs Poem

I thought I’d share a slice of life with our best friends.

Poo on a shoe

By Ann Chiappetta

 

 

The day began in good faith and plan

Rising at six a.m.

Busy with brewing dark roast

coffee aroma disguising the odiferous

Tang of poo

Deposited   along my route to the office

Unknowingly I cam across it

And tracked the goop hither and yon

And blithely carried on

 

It was the second time that did it

My sneaker stepped in the middle

Of the big pile with a   squelch

And  , slip and slide

Then the smell arrived.

 

Dog shit on my best Merrills

And stuck in this muck

What was I going to do?

I, of course yelled down the hall for my husband

And as we coordinated the clean-up

With gagging and nose plugs

He said,

“Honey, why did it have to be you?”

Dedicated to the family dogs, Bailey and May

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ann M. Chiappetta, M.S.

Making Meaningful ConnectionsThrough Media

914.393.6605 USA

Anniecms64@gmail.com

All things Annie: www.annchiappetta.com

 

 

Feline Revenge

| Filed under writing

black and white cat. This image requires alt text, but the alt text is currently blank. Either add alt text or mark the image as decorative.Feline Revenge

 

This is about inter-species communication. No it’s not about extra-terrestrials, it’s about cats and dogs.

 

Jerry and I were in bed listening to an audio book, Bailey was on the dog bed and May was laying between us on our bed. In saunters Papa, our tuxedo cat. He and I have this routine of him coming onto my side of the bed and onto my lap, then we proceed with the human-feline interactions,  the feline sucklying  and kneading the blanket and me petting him until he relaxes and rests.  But this night May and Pappa are competing for the blanket space and my lap. So Pappa, not happy with May being so close to “his” place, begins to rub on her; he dives in, his face and upper body rubbing her face and shoulders.  He continues until she is twitching in annoyance and begins to scratch her face and neck. By this time Jerry and I are  trying not to laugh . The cat is giving May the feline version of the canine nose boop.  We want to cheer Pappa on, knowing he is doing his best to conquer the space on the human bed and in five minutes, May gets off the bed and Pappa has what he wants. Smart kitty cat. It makes up for all the times when May annoys him while he’s cat-loafing on the coffee table trying to catnap. 🐱🐱

by Ann Chiappetta | tags : | 0