Last week Yoda and I got to go visit his little buddy Lando in Minnesota.  Lando and his mom lived at our house for a few months while she finished school.  We hadn't seen them for about 8 months.  Both had some separation anxiety when Lando moved.  Lando apparently simply laid around a lot looking depressed. Yoda, however, got more creative and chewed everything from rugs to checkbooks to remote controls!  But that only lasted a week or two and then it was safe to leave things out again.

Yoda wrestled with Lando like nothing had changed.  I couldn't believe how easily Yoda could lift his upper body and lightly bring his front leg down on Lando.  I did notice though that Lando never employed his signature move.  Lando's strategy always used to be to get low and play-bite the other dog's legs to put him off balance.  Awww, sweet Lando, taking it easy on the new tripawd!  Yoda took full advantage, heh heh heh!

The boys also went to the dog park.  Before we came, I had warned Lando's mom that Yoda couldn't go as far without taking a rest and some water and that going down the stairs at home was still difficult.  Therefore Lando's mom assumed that we wouldn't make it to the part of the path where there are stairs that go down.  Well, pretty soon after we entered the park, Yoda became fast friends with another dog (looked like a golden retriever mix to me) and they took off in a game of chase.  Even though I've seen Yoda run with other dogs at the parks at home, I was surprised at how fast we lost sight of them.  Lando's mom, though, was stunned, especially when we got to the stairs and there was Yoda and the golden mix way at the bottom!  (These were big, wide outdoor stairs, of course, so not real a challenge for Yoda anyway).

Yoda knows that vacations are for rest and relaxation too.  So while Lando's mom and dad had to go to work, Yoda, Lando and I did plenty of sleeping too.  I heard from Lando's mom, after we got back, that he was still worn out after we left.  Yep, Yoda knows how to keep his friends in shape

For anyone wondering, Yoda was 6 weeks post-amputation at the time we took our vacation and is undergoing chemo.  His third treatment is this Thursday.  More than halfway there - yay!  And if we stay on schedule, he'll finish his chemo a couple weeks before our 3rd anniversary - the day I adopted him from the Humane Society.

(By the way, if there are any Star Wars fans asking themselves - yes it was a total coincidence that a dog named Yoda and a dog named Lando ended up in the same house.  Or it was fate  )