The Way of the Cat 😼

June 1, 2024 | Filed under nonfiction pets and people

The Way of the Cat

How to assemble an end table.

Person one places box on bed.

Person one must push cat off box to open it.

Person one calls person two, the husband, to begin assembling table consisting of a few wood pieces and a few metal upright pieces.

Cat begins chewing plastic bag, person one gathers bags and shoves them inside the shipping box.

Cat begins rubbing, purring and stepping on instructions.

Person two, the husband, tells cat to “Go away,”.

Cat ignores person two and rubs on person one, who is watching person two try to figure out the instructions seemingly written by an alien humanoid species not from this planet.

Cat continues rubbing and being adorable.

Person two, the husband, is becoming frustrated, time for person one to exit the room

Person one entices the cat into office whereupon person one fills kitty crunchies and calls for cat.

Cat appears and begins eating.

Person two, the husband is now fully committed to the table assembly.

Person one is shaking her head, petting the cat who is eating from the dish on the desk, mumbling to herself, saying “I am such a slave,”.

Backyard Denizen 🐍

May 9, 2024 | Filed under blogging pets and people

During a hot span of days a few weeks ago Jerry found a large black snake sunning itself on a rock on the side of our house. At the time, he couldn’t get a good photo but based on his description I figured it was a black snake or some kind of rat snake, very common around here. He reassured himself it wasn’t venomous by identifying it with an app on his phone and it kept to itself. We didn’t want to disturb it knowing it would keep down the rodent population and it was denning in a place where there wasn’t foot traffic, separated from us by the back fence, so the dog was not going to harass it, either.

We live near the wooded area attached to parkland and deer walk down our street, rabbits chase one another to and from the yards, and songbirds are all over, which is sweet and much better than being awakened by sirens, yelling and semis blasting air horns from the highway at three a.m.

Back to the snake: The next couple of weeks it was cooler and rainy and we didn’t see it again …until today. It not only slithered to the other side of the yard near the tool shed but it also left us shedding. We estimate it is between five and seven feet long and not quite two inches around. The description and photos are below.

Maybe having the snake will keep the rabbits from the garden. 🤞

The image shows a person holding a long, shed snake skin on a glass patio table.

The setting appears to be a sunny day with shadows cast on the ground.

The next image is a black snake in the grass in the middle ground of the photo.

News Flash 🦮 big Yellow Dog Retires

September 30, 2023 | Filed under blindness Guide dogs pets and people writing

Bailey, my second Guiding Eyes dog guide, has hung up the harness. He is now the senior adopted dog of house Chiappetta and for him, at least the change is good. It’s a push and pull of relief and regret for the humans, though. But hey, he’s almost eleven, has bounced back from lung cancer and enjoys napping in the sun in his new back yard.

Yellow lab Bailey one year old standing at the shor in Maine

Yellow lab bailey posed with blue skies and clouds in the background.

We met in 2015 and during the second week of class I returned home with a serious case of RSV. A month later, when we reunited, he flew into my lap and nibbled my cheek as if to say, “Finally, we’re together again!”

Our first year was exciting and focused. His energy and love of working became infectious. He approached it all with curiosity and confidence. This is his best trait. The most difficult one to control is his scavenging and I hope his successor is not as intense in this category.

He is a great swimmer, doesn’t play fetch, drools profusely waiting for his meals and tolerates our cats with quiet dignity. He loves learning new tricks and learned to roll over, spin and balance a treat on his nose.

Amusing quirks:

When he barks, which isn’t often, he scares himself.
When exiting a vehicle in a new location he needs a moment to scent the air before moving on.
Loves to sleep under my desk
Expresses impatience by sighing like a person
Walks on the tips of his toes and spreads out his toes when excited.
Air licks if he can’t get to your face.

The most significant saves while working were clearing us from a dangling wire hanging from the ceiling in an office building and a utility wire laying on a sidewalk. Avoiding e-scooters more than once while crossing a street. Plus numerous traffic checks on the block leading to my former office building .

Annie with pink mask and Bailey close up

Ann and Bailey on bench: Both looking straight on

Doggone Good

By Ann Chiappetta

Good dog

Guide dog

Love what you do

Cool dog

Goofy boy

So much respect for you

Yellow dog

Poochie-poo

with a big brown nose

Steps out,

Nostrils flared

Catching

Air-scented code.

Guide dog

Good dog

There’s so much we do

In you

There is acceptance

loyalty

My moods don’t have you fooled

Big dog

Bigger heart

Grateful to be a pair

Stepping out

I want to shout

I trust in your care.

Good Dog

Guide dog

My heart is full

Love you

To the moon and back.

Glad to be matched with you.

As with the retirement of my first dog, Verona, I am posting my call for a new canine partner. My needs have changed over the past ten years yet the drive to be independent has become stronger as I age. I am cognizant the next dog will most likely be the last guide dog for me. Here’s to the next potential partnership and adventure.

Situation Wanted

A sixty-something white female who just happens to be blind is seeking a highly motivated working dog. If you are a Labrador retriever and are willing to work with me, please read the job requirements. Only serious applicants need apply.

Males preferred but will consider a female if all other character and personality traits are met.

Height: over 20inches; weight: 75 lbs. Color: no preference.
I am a moderate walker, use a support cane and travel in all modes of transportation. This includes paratransit vans and public buses. I also fly at least once a year and ride passenger trains. I stay in hotels and motels. I visit cities and live in the suburbs. I shop and attend social gatherings and meetings.
My new partner must be experienced in offering a kind and gentle nose to other furry critters including cats and guinea pigs and other dogs as well as children. You will be filling the paws of my current partner, who is retired. He has been an amazing worker, friend, and part of our family for over ten years.

If you have read these requirements and feel that you have the right combination of breed, personality, manners, strength, adaptability, affection, drive, and possess intelligent disobedience skills, and wish to work with a human who will trust and love you the best she can, please send your contact information to Ann Chiappetta, Care of: Guiding Eyes for the Blind 611 Granite springs Road, Yorktown Heights, N.Y.

Celebrating National Dog Day 🦮

August 26, 2023 | Filed under blindness blogging Guide dogs pets and people

For National Dog Day 2023

Dog Two

By Ann Chiappetta

He is a sweet yellow fellow

Toasted darker

On ears and tail tip

Gives a nibble and a lick

Golden eyes Better than cash

He comes with a snow nose And personality to match

He’s tall and silly

Works, wags, and licks

So far no one’s gotten ticked

When he sneaks a kiss.

Guiding me around

Alert and looking for sights and scents

On the bus and on the street

Freedom with four feet.

Dedicated to Guiding Eyes Bailey

He’s Home! He’s Home! 🦮

March 2, 2023 | Filed under Guide dogs pets and people

After two days in the hospital, Bailey is home and resting. It has been a stressful two weeks. Once we got the diagnosis and scheduled the surgery for a carcinoma in his lung, Jerry and I were in a kind of shell shock. Hoping for the best, ignoring the worst-case scenario.

The medical staff at Animal Medical Center in NYC is phenomenal. We are still waiting for a full prognosis because the pathology takes at least a week but it is looking like pulmonary carcinoma. One entire lobe was removed, so the guy has only half a lung on one side. He went into all this in good shape despite the tumor and this has everything to do with a good recovery and getting back to work. Not sure working again will be in his future but time and rest will help the healing and no matter what happens, there is relief for what was ailing him for so long. His quality of life has been given back to him and for this we are grateful.

If you want to donate to the medical center and help support them in treating animals and educating future generations of veterinary physicians and treatments for diseases like cancer , and caring for guide and service dogs, we would appreciate it. There was no cost to us because Bailey is a working guide dog.

He is resting in the kennel on his squish mellow and seems comfortable. The first thing he wanted to do once we got home was eat. What a good boy!

A DNR for My Dog Guide? 😨🦮

February 16, 2023 | Filed under blindness Guide dogs pets and people Relationships

Whoa, pups and people, first of all, this is not a shock jock kind of post. It is my attempt to express the feelings and observations during the events of the past three weeks. We are all okay, so it is safe to keep reading.

🦮

Bailey, my 75 lb. yellow lab raised and trained by Guiding Eyes for the Blind, was diagnosed with a tumor in his lung. It was discovered in a routine vet visit and I am so grateful for the staff veterinarian at Guiding Eyes for listening to me and ordering the Xray and referring us to Animal Medical Center in New York City for a CT and needle biopsy confirming the diagnosis.

We are now waiting for the surgery date to remove it. During the examination of the CT scan/biopsy procedure authorization, I read the DNR clause. It said CPR would be administered unless directed otherwise by the owner. Of course I wanted lifesaving procedures to be performed, my dog is showing very little symptoms and isn’t ready to check out.

I stopped, thinking, OH, shoot, a DNR? And it hit me just how serious this was and how sick my sweet 9.7-year-old lab really is. He showed only a mild cough after playing and slowing down a little when we were out and about. I’m not sure why but Bailey’s diagnosis brought me back to our Mom’s lung cancer and the mind-numbing period of time during her surgeries and treatments. Because of the consultations and speaking with medical oncologists during our Mom’s illness, I believe I have a better grasp of Bailey’s chances and risk factors. I am not saying a dog is the same as a person, but I am thinking that Mom’s passing provided insight and strength for me and my husband to be better equipped to handle whatever comes after Bailey’s upcoming surgery and convalescence. Then again, maybe I am saying a life is worth fighting for, human or non-human. Mom did not differentiate among two or four-footed family, and neither will I.

yellow lab Bailey in our livingroom

Remembering Verona 2006 – 2020 🦮

January 15, 2023 | Filed under Guide dogs pets and people Relationships

It’s January, a month of memories. I look back upon those who have died and I also look forward to keeping them close to my heart through recalling the special times we’ve shared together. My Dad, Bob, and his being a neat freak and a talented carpenter and mechanic and lover of nature. I also recall my mother-in-law, Carol and the way she loved my kids and feeling blessed I survived her erratic driving and feeling relieved I did not have to see the close calls because I am blind. 😓😱 .

Although we lost both my Dad and Carol in successive January dates, both on the sixteenth of the month, I want to also celebrate the life of another family member, my first guide dog.

In January 2009 I met and trained with my first guide dog, Verona and this post is being written and shared to honor her life. I am fortunate to be part of the Guiding Eyes graduate community and because of it I take part in occasional grief and bereavement Zoom meetings. We share how much our dogs mean to us, the bond of trust and love and how much they mean to us even after they die. I always feel better after one of these meetings because I spent the time with other handlers who understand the lifetime bond developed with these incredible dogs and the indelible imprint they have upon our hearts.

Here is one of my favorite stories about Verona, a sweet sixty lb. black lab. My husband, Jerry, took over her care and handling once I retired her and submitted my application for a successor dog. She was seven years old and full of energy but she developed cysts in her eyes and it began effecting her ability to guide me. One day Jerry took her upstate during turkey hunting season. She was a great field dog and not a bit gun shy. He set up the blind, telling Verona to lay down. He soon shot the turkey and got out of the blind, saying “Let’s go get it!” and Verona ran out of the blind and ran for the turkey, grabbing it’s neck. He asked her to let go and she did but kept trying to grab it. After he called me and told me the story, I laughed and between giggles, said, “Well, you told her to go get it and she’s a lab, what did you expect?”

Verona lived a great life, succumbing to old age in February 2020 at age 14. I could not have had a better first guide dog and since walking our first route together I haven’t looked back. Thanks, sweet girl for being able to give me back my independence.

If you want to read more about our adventures, pick up my memoir,

Follow Your Dog a Story of Love and Trust .

close up of Black lab with snow on her face

💗 What to Love about a Human’s Best Friend 💗 🦴 🐕

December 10, 2022 | Filed under blogging Guide dogs pets and people

After raising two kids and doing the parent thing with the pediatrician for all those years, I thought my husband might like helping out with our pets once in a while. I am proud to say Jerry has become a wonderful pet parent and takes our pet dog, May to all her appointments. We adopted her in 2020 and love her sweet and sassy personality. She is smart, protective but not territorial, and solves problems quickly and efficiently, just like a good German Shepard should. While she has a bit of Rottweiler , as proven by a DNA test, she’s got a GSD body type and traits and the only part missing is pointy ears. She has derpy ones that flop over and stick out perpendicular to her head. Do not let this fool you.

At first we house trained her, which took a few months. She was already crate trained. It took a while for her bladder to mature. She learned how to unlock the metal safety gate, you know the child-safety ones with the lock cover and the sliding , recessed latch?

My yellow lab guide dog, Bailey and May love one another, play together and love to share space, which is good. She also loves our cats. She does poke and play with them but taps down the chasing and while this took some time, the darned cats like to be chased, so we gave up trying to stop it. A few swats from the kitty pins and she learned to respect them. When we brought in a kitten, May’s mothering instincts blossomed, surprising us. She raised it, groomed it and now they all sleep together. April, my daughter, who convinced us to adopt May and who has been a huge part of caring for May, has been able to help with most of her doggie dislikes, like the ear drops. April is great at relaxing May for a two or three toenail trim. But it does take a few days because May won’t tolerate more than one foot at a time. The groomer must hate it when she comes in for a spa day.

But these aversions are within the normal spectrum for a pet, right? Let me go on to what is challenging . sometimes she reverts into a demon, thus her alternate name, Mazikeen. Anyway, her Shepard came out, she is such a drama queen. First, to tell us her ear hurt she jumped onto the bed, flopped between us and kept us awake by whining and shaking her head all night . Then she hurt her ear more by scratching it and when we tried to look at it she screamed like we were cutting it off. So, off to the Vet to take a look at the ear. Then, Jerry gave her the anti-puke pill because she gets car sick in the truck. Well it didn’t work but we have a blanket for that and an extra seat cover just in case. Then, they can’t take her temp anally because she turns into a whirling dervish in the exam room so they have to do it under her leg. That went okay, so did the ear inspection. But when they wanted to take a blood draw to check basics from taking the allergy pills, they could not do it. She became a manic mess and sprayed blood all over them from jerking away. Three times, even with cheese whiz and three people to help distract her. So next time we have to fast her in the morning, run her until she is exhausted because a tired dog is a good dog in the exam room, give her the anti puke pill two hours prior and maybe Jerry can avoid a mess in the truck and the vet tech can get some blood. Oh, they want a urine sample. Well, that is not going to happen, She won’t let anyone sneak up and put a pan under her ass.

All this is frustrating and I am thankful it is Jerry and April facing the challenges with May. Oh, yes, I almost forgot to mention she punishes herself by running into the dog crate and facing the wall after we discover a chewed slipper or something she’d taken off the kitchen counter, like an oven mitt. How could you not love this dog or be amused when she does this? Talk about operant conditioning, lol.

The best thing about May is the way she lowers her head and leans into you or lap asking for affection, exposing her neck as if to say I trust you so much I want you to scratch me where I can’t reach. What could be more endearing than this?

May on the dog bed with her bones and toys

May the dog on her dog bed with her toysMay the dog on her bed with her bones

A Poem for Country Living

August 1, 2022 | Filed under blogging nonfiction pets and people Poem

Transformation

By Ann Chiappetta

My City Dogs become Porch mongrels

Laying beside the mason jar of sun tea

The basso drone of a honey bee

The snap of a Jay’s call

The aroma of a grill

A whisking breeze bestows relief

It is a call to prayer

Soon we will rise

Shake free of the delightful

porch-dog torpor

trade the carefree for the city

But for now we are country hounds.

2022

Upstate Adventures 🐻🌲

July 31, 2022 | Filed under blindness pets and people Relationships writing

Hello from Windham and Hunter Mountains, Green and Ulster counties, NY, home of the New York Catskills and summer wildlife. Bear and deer and black flies, oh my!

🐻 🦌 🌄

It took us almost as long to pack for the trip Like we were moving out. In a way we were moving out, at least temporarily.

Let me explain. Remember hurricane Ida in the Fall of 2021? We sustained water damage to our entire apartment. In fact, all the apartments on the ground floor and the lobby area took on six inches or more of flood water. Our lobby was completely under over four feet of it. me we all had to first wait for the insurance and FEMA funding to come through, then wait for a move out date. Since we own cats and dogs, this meant finding a location for two weeks that was not going to mean living in one room together like in a hotel. and the most important part of it was also packing up everything to be stored in a pod while the work is being done. Oh, and to add a cherry atop this shit show of bad timing, there is also asbestos abatement along with the replacing the floors from the old glue used on the original flooring being removed. We didn’t know about that one. Now it is a concern and rightly so. It is also bad timing.

A powerful wave of flood water slamming open your front door and engulfing your apartment is traumatic enough but the asbestos thing is just, like, really shitty. It will delay things a bit more for the installation of the new floors and moving back in again when we return.

We are fortunate to be able to make the bad timing and all the packing work to our advantage. we deserve some respite after so much upheaval. The stress exhausted us. If Jerry and April weren’t there helping me, guiding me around all the boxes, extra workers, and taking charge of the packing prior to the work, I’d never manage it alone. This is our family and I am proud of us.

The wildlife is active. The variety of animals eating the apple tree in the adjoining yard included rabbits, a wood chuck, and two black bears, we think a mother and older cub based on size and attitude.