The feel of the dog is so familiar.

It must be similar for those people who can see. But, I was thinking about this this morning. First thing in the morning, my little black lab guide dog leaps off her dog bed and bounces over when she notices me stirring. She comes over wagging her whole self, eager to start a new and exciting day. I was patting her softest ever ears, her stocky body, her softish short lab fur. Feeling through mmy hands near her shoulders the wagging of her whole self. This is my dog. And then, it occurred to me that the first time I touched her, she seemed so strange. So much shorter than my golden guide before her. So much more stocky. Such short fur and so little of it. Before that, the dog I touched all of the time had long fur and lots of it. Curly under the neck and curly when she had a bath or got wet. A long slowly wagging thin, feathery tail, Taller, longer legs. The sounds too are familiar. Gia squeaked when she got excited. She had a high pitched bark. She made certain little noises when you patted her or when she settled down to sleep. Tulia snores. She makes different noises when you pat her. She moves differently. Her paws sliding and swishing on the floor. When I had both of them, I knew who was moving around, who was there, who was wagging to let me know where she was. Interesting how sounds and textures and shapes of dogs become so familiar so quickly.