Guru

No, he's not quite the spectacle that normally comes to mind when you think of Gurus. He's not pompous, self-righteous or even very demanding. He's often tense and sometimes even the word "fearful" would not do justice in describing how uncomfortable and scared he can become. He lifts a little white paw (the other three are black) an inch or two off the ground to steady himself and seems to be praying the danger to pass. A real guru (dog trainer) once explained to us that the motioning of his paw was in fact his attempt to steady himself and prevent an all out panic episode.

Perhaps his most characteristic moment was captured for all time in a photography studio a few years back. After trying to take his picture for many excruciating minutes, the photographer was beginning to lose patience. "Sit", we told him and every time the camera was aimed his way, he would head for the nearest exit only to be caught and put up on the stage again. Well, finally the message got through to him at least in the sense that he'd discovered that staying put was less scary than what happened when everyone including strangers threatened to chase him down! So there he sat, the camera raised into position, the owner imploring "sit", and the little black dog with the white "T" on his chest and one white paw managing finally to keep his butt firmly planted. Only he couldn't help himself, the front legs had begun to move away and with that the front part of his body (head, neck, etc.) began to move away like a slinky dog while the back half (tale, rear-end, etc.) obeyed the "sit" command. And so it was that the photographer snapped the wonderful picture for posterity.

Oh yeah, why do we call him Guru? That's not his real name. He was named Trinket by the woman who had assisted at this birth. She was a British woman with a taste for saving odd stray mutts and other dogs. We call Trinket "Guru" because every morning he gets up from bed (our bed!), jumps down to the floor and begins a long, slow stretch of the frot legs and then reverses to do the same with the back legs. Perfect yoga poses these are and I'm just in awe of his ability. He's 11 years old and still very young looking and spry. He's our little Guru.

by Billy Keys
billgkeys@yahoo.com
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