ROTTEN BANANA ROLLOVER…

It was a very hot afternoon in mid September and working Dobbs around the block to his usual relieving spot wasn’t really a good option. Instead, I heeled Dobby using my white cane down to a small piece of grass by the back driveway of my apartment building so that he could relieve himself.

Now, the day before, Dobby had gotten a bath and oh, was he excited. A full day later he was still bouncing off the walls, prancing around as if to say, “Look at me! I’m so pretty, I’m so pretty and clean!” Right after he had gotten his bath at the grooming salon, he was so over excited by the whole experience that I had to stop him several times en-route to try to calm him down enough so that he could re-focus on his work. Needless to say, Dobby can be a real character sometimes.

As Dobby is wandering around the little patch of grass, he relieves number 1 and I’m waiting to see if he’s going to do number 2 when one of my neighbors, Susan, walks up to us and says hello. Dobby likes Susan a whole lot and I put him into a sit and he gave her his paw. I then put Dobbs into the down position and began chatting with Susan about the latest news from around the building. Well, unbeknown to me, someone had previously dropped a whole banana onto the cement right by the edge of the grass and it had been baking in the hot sun for quite some time. Now, I pay close attention to what Dobbs is doing at all times. I’ve caught him occasionally trying to “sample” things in the grass while he’s sniffing around looking for a good spot to do his business so he knows that I’m watching him. He rarely if ever tries to eat anything on the ground any more but I still keep my eye on him. That doesn’t mean, however, that interesting items on the ground don’t attract his attention from time to time and on this day, that banana, apparently, was fascinating to him. Now Dobbs knew better than to try to eat it but without warning he decided that rotten banana would be a perfect thing to roll around in. Thank goodness he didn't have his harness on when he did it, what a mess that would have been.

Suddenly, I was aware that Dobbs was rolling on his back. I leaned over to scratch his belly thinking that he was still just excited from his bath and because of the fact that Susan was there. Susan said, “Oh my gosh, you do realize that Dobbs is rolling around in an old banana on the ground.” I said, “What! He's rolling around in a banana?” “Yep,” she said, “an old rotten one and it’s all over him.” I ran my hand down Dobbs’ back only to find it covered in warm, rotten, smashed banana. Dobbs was SO proud of himself. I couldn’t believe it. “Dobbs,” I said, “you just got a bath yesterday!” He was wagging his tail so hard it was hitting the side of my leg with a loud “thwap!” “What am I going to do with you,” I said. Susan thought it was kind of funny. I wasn’t that amused. I broke off our conversation and heeled Dobbs back up to my apartment where I tried to clean him off as best I could. It soon became apparent that I was going to have to take him back to the grooming salon to get him re-washed. Of course Dobby was pleased as punch with himself and pranced as he walked down the sidewalk all the way back to the salon. They were nice enough to re-wash him at no charge for which I was very grateful. They’ve earned my business from now on.

Looking back on the whole incident, now I think it's hysterical though, as I've said, at the time, I wasn't amused. I guess the moral of this story is that no matter how well behaved your guide dog may be, he’ll surprise you. Dobbs is crafty when it comes to things like this. He finds ways of following your commands, but does them in ways that while technically follow the letter of the law you’ve laid down; still allow him to do what he wants when you least expect it…