Hi Friends –

I know it has been RUFF as of late to get a blog post done, so Dad said I could throw some kibble at the wall and see if it sticks here; no excuses or whining, just a fact.  What has been on my mind lately is making sure the family takes care of each other before posting here. It happens to us all I guess, especially during the holidays.

Last week was a short one, as far as having to drag Dad into the office. Relax, I didn’t actually drag him. I only mean to say that I enjoyed my extra days at home with my family. We didn’t do too much, which is odd. As you know we’re usually at a gallop if Dad is not working. I asked him about this sudden down time and he said he’s just at a time where he needs a recharge. I’m sure this is true because I don’t usually get pets when I take night watch and Mom and Dad have been up a lot at night. Dad says not to worry; I huffed and asked him to take his own advice. He assured me everything is fine, they just need to calm their minds and humans can have a tough time with this sometimes. I reminded him the only time that matters is NOW. (The same old theme; nothing new here.)

With the holidays in mind, I had a new experience to share with you all. We came into the office this week and from the outside everything was as it normally is. When we made it past the security check things changed.  On a wall, there was what Dad called “a wreath “. I said a WHAT? He said, a wreath, a wreath!  I said Geez Dad, speak English or something. I know you have cerebral palsy but when did the lisp start? He went on to try and explain it and said it’s a decorative band of foliage, from evergreen trees to symbolize strength, and in old religions were part of the harvest festivals to protect against plague and crop failure. How does he know this useless information? I gave him a head tilt and shook it off.  I can tell you I wasn’t pleased with this and needed to take a few moments and investigate to make sure it wasn’t going to fall and be a hazard. It has been a couple days now, I’ve accepted it and move past it now without pause.

The next day I noticed more holiday changes. There were banners hanging overhead. My guess was someone did laundry and the dryer broke, so they needed to hang it out to dry. Dad corrected me and said they represented holiday traditions from around the world to pay respect to others’ paths. I was satisfied enough to walk-on. As we walked I found something that I had to investigate. Apparently, humans decided that they like trees so much they take them indoors for the winter? I like trees so Dad took me to investigate. I sniffed around people…and I did this for a couple minutes. The trees were NOT REAL; take it from an expert. I looked up to the right with a head tilt, and had to ask! Dad says it is kind of the same as the wreath. It all relates to the winter solstice celebrations and the return to life and the light of spring. The practice of bringing a tree inside started in Germany, but they adopted it from older traditions and fables as far back as the Egyptians that told of new growth from a dead evergreen stump and symbolized new life and rebirth from what was thought to be dead. I stopped him there…this is very likely to get long and interrupt my well laid plans for a nap. Trees in the house, rebirth, offertory gifts, bark, bark, bark, got it…. (You can see the Dane learning here, right?) Then it happened… Wait, I get presents too, right? ‘Cause I can down-stay right here ya know? Dad says “of course buddy” (I really hope that Santa guy is hooked into Kuranda beds, my office space could use one of those).

Here’s looking forward to new adventures and busy weekends full of walks.

 written by DFS

Tagged: big dog, cerebral palsy, dane, disability, disability awareness, great dane, holidays, mobility, mobility dogs, new surroundings, service animals, service dane, service dog, service dog training, silly puppy