Category: Animal House
Hi all,
Well, I have spent twelve glorious years with my first guide dog, Pierce, but now that he's getting older, I'm wondering if it's time for him to retire. This is something that is weighing on my mind so heavily, and I really don't know what to do. They say that when your dog is ready, he/she will let you know, whether it be from lack of interest in work, health reasons, etc. Well, Pierce really isn't showing any of this. Yes, he's getting older, and it is harder for him to get into vehicles that are higher up off the ground and things like that, but as far as his working goes, he's still as excellent as ever. When he sees the harness, he's alert and ready to go, even if I'm not planning on going anywhere. I could pick up the harness just to move it, and he's still alert to the fact that I have it in my hand.
I know that it really wouldn't be fair to work him the duration of his entire life, but I'm also scared to death that if I go get a new guide dog, then he'll feel that I'm replacing him, not only as my guide, but also in heart. I don't want him to see me using another dog, and think that he is no longer important.
I fully intend on keeping him when he retires. We have such an incredible bond, and I will not break that. I'm just so afraid that I'll hurt him if he sees me with another dog. Because of his age, I wouldn't want that anxiety to cause harmful consequences to his overall health.
I just love this dog so much, and this decision is really hurting me. I even feel disloyal by just considering his retirement, and possibly getting another dog guide. There's no doubt that I want to get another dog. I cannot even begin to explain the independence I have developed from having Pierce in my life. he has been, and still is, an incredible blessing and gift to me.
So, I'd like to hear from any of you who have been in this position before. Thanks so much.
You've been incredibly lucky to get so many great years from a guide. many of us are lucky if we get 8 good years from them, so congratulations at least in that respect. When I retired my first, I knew he was ready, even though he was still alert, and wanting to work, the pace of our walking had dropped considerably, and I felt he was finding it more difficult. I'd have liked to keep him working more, but I felt it was time to give him something back. He had 3 years happy retirement, and though i wanted to keep him, it wasn't possible. I guess what I'm saying is, if you're starting to think it's time, be kind to him, let him rest and just be a dog again. many people have successfully trained with a new guide, and been able to keep the 2 dogs, without too much problem. I've even known someone who's retired guide would try and get in the harness still, but that doesn't mean he should have kept working him, sometimes our dogs will try to please us until the end of time. The only thing to consider, and I don't know anything about your home situation, is that you should try and be fare to the existing dog. Do you have the surroundings that your retired guide can still have plenty of fun and exercise. are there other people in your house that can sometimes take on feeding and exercising the retired dog. It's very difficult for us sometimes to step back and think about the dog for a minute, instead of ourselves and what we want. so I hope when you've taken time to consider your situation and any advice you've been offered that you can make the right decision for both you and your existing guide.
All the best with whatever you decide.
you would do well to talk to the guide dog school too, they might have policies in place to deal with retired dogs. they might not let you keep the dog for instance. best to talk to them i think.
The school that I attended does give us the option of keepign our dogs once they retire, so as I said before, that is something that I will definitely do. He's not going anywhere.
Animals are so incredibly loyal, and so I know that some will try to please you for as long as they live. I guess that's something that also makes this so hard.
Because Pierce is getting up in age, I honestly don't even use him much anymore. If I happen to have to be out for a long time and I have to do a lot of walking, I notice that after a while, he does slow down and get tired.
I am in a place where he is able to go out and run, exercise and play, so when he does retire, he will still get to get out, run around and be happy.
His actual retirement isn't really what I'm concerned about. As I said, since he does get tired on days that are more strenuous, I don't use him nearly as much as I once did. My biggest concern is when the time comes that I have another dog. I'm just so scared about the anxiety it could possibly bring upon Pierce. I love him, and I would never want him to feel that he is second best, or that he doesn't matter to me anymore. I would also never minimize the love and attention I show him just because I have a new guide.
It's just such a hard thing to go through. I know that for as long as I use dog guides, I will always have to face this, but this is the first time that I've ever been in this position, so it's just causing me a lot of stress and worry.
though i think if you have another dog guide, you will come across the same problem when he or she retires? so you'll end up with a house full of retired dogs within twenty years. maybe you need to consider giving him to another person, for if not pearce, then another of your dogs will have to be relinquished to a third party. that's all i'm saying. unless you live on a farm or something, you'd have issues with multiple dogs i think. just my thoughts, though i do understand your sentiments too. but after all, they are working dogs, from a dog's point of view, work is his life. and if he sees another dog doing his job, he may pine for his work. just my two pence.
Smokey Bear, I don't think she's ever going to end up with a house full of retired dogs. Dogs don't live forever, after all. She has had her current dog for 12 years, which means he must be about 14 years old. He will likely have passed on by the time she needs to retire her next dog.
Gemini, I have never had a dog guide so can't speak from experience, but I think as long as you have plenty of room that you should keep your current dog. I think I know you well enough to know you will bend over backwards not to let him feel unloved and unappreciated just because you get another working dog.
Humans have a tendency to project their feelings on to their pets. Not that dogs don't have emotions and experience sadness, but humans have a lot more complicated hierarchy of emotions. Therefore, we tend to try and project those on to our loved animals. Dogs are very adaptable animals. Dogs are also very loyal and will believe that whatever the handler does is for the best and meant to be. They don't question. What I'm trying to say is that I don't think your dog will feel dismayed when you bring another dog into the household. Yes, he will miss working and want to work for you. But he won't hold a grudge against you or feel sadness. He was trained to trust your judgement and that is what he will do. He will simply be happy to spend the time with you no matter the situation. That is why we love them so much.
It is true that we tend to project our feelings onto our animals, but that certainly doesn't make this any easier for me. I know that this is something that I'm just going to have to really think about. It's definitely not something that I'm going to jump into right away.
I would never even consider giving up one of my animals to someone else. That's like asking a person to give up one of their children because he or she may feel dismayed by a new baby coming into the house. My animals are like my kids. I know that others may not be as close to their animals as I am, but that's where I stand, and that will not change.
Just because a person may have to give up a retired guide, it doesn't necesarily mean they are any less close or attached to the animal as you. I tried to keep my first guide when he retired. I realised quite quickly that I was doing it for me and not him. i couldn't possibly give him what he really needed at that point, having to take him out walking while I used a cain. when he retired, he'd had arthritis for about a year, maybe 2. when i finally rehomed him to someone who only had him run around the garden, or took him by car to the park and back, his arthritis actually went away for at least the first year of his retirement simply as a result of no longer needing to walk on hard pavement. so often people have to give up a guide, let another person take care of the dogs retirement, because of how much love and respect they have for the animal. in the end, we in my view, have to try and give them something back at the end of their life, in repayment for all the work and loyalty they give us. sure to many the love we give them may be enough, but those happy years of retirement, whether home with us, or with someone more suited to their needs is a bit extra I'm glad in my situation I could give.
I didn't mean for it to sound as if I was saying that someone who has to give up a guide once they retire, cares less for them. I didn't mean for it to sound like that all. I'm just saying that that isn't something that I'm going to do. I would still be able to walk Pierce, play with him, etc., so I don't feel that him going to a new home is what needs to be done. I have a very nice sized yard where he can run and play with the other dogs, so he'll definitely get his exercise, and I will definitely have time to sit and have quality time with him.
I do feel for those who do have to make other living arrangements for their dogs, though. I can't imagine the sadness and hurt that causes. I have several friends who have had to do it, and it was heart wrenching just to see what they were going through. As a matter of fact, I have a friend who's going through that very thing right now. Her current guide seems to have lost an interest in working, so she knew that it was time for him to retire, but because of hwere she lives, she can't keep him. In her current living situation, she is only allowed to have service animals, nothing else. So, she is having to send him to her parents.
So, I apologize if what I said before made it sound like you or someone else who has had to do this cares less. That's not what I was trying to say. I was just giving my own personal thoghts and opinions about my own situation.
Hi,
I was pretty lucky with my first guide. He worked well in to his 11th year and he was in pretty good health. I had a pet door and backyard so it was easy to let him have free rome of the house and then go out as needed. I really wasn't for just making him an outside dog after living the life of comfort that he had and he seem to enjoy being able to do as he wished..
The way I found out my dog was ready to hang it up is, one day out on a walk we just flat out laid down and it took forever to get him up again, after that I was pretty much like okay I guess your done. I had been thinking of this anyway I don't think it's fair to just keep making a dog work because they cann. Even in fairly good health let them spend there last years as we would like and do as they wish and just be a dog. Clark, My first guide lived till he was 15.
Shawn
Thanks, Shawn. I agree that it's not right to work a dog the entire duration of his or her life. Pierce is thirteen and a half now, so that's really why I've been thinking about this more and more lately.
I'm going to call the school and speak with a trainer, just to see what they say, and I'm also going to talk with my vet to get his opinion as well.
Hey girly,
Lol thanks for mentioning me in your other post earlier. lol. Well, my class date got changed, so I'm going to have to give up Vernon a lot sooner than I thought. So I might be going to Seeing Eye next month. So I understand how you feel, but if your dog isn't having health problems like mine is, then that's good. I'm not sure if Vernon is on his way to having arthritis or not. The vet didn't find anything in his x-rays hwich was good. But anyway, I think if you want to keep the dog, you just have to be firm with Pierce when you get your new dog to take it out, and you say, no you're not coming you're staying home. But that doesn't mean you can't play with him or do anything with him. but deffinitly pay attention to Pierce to. You should pay attention to both dogs equally I say, and if they get along well together, then that's wonderful. Not all dogs get along, but most do. Anyway, my instructor said that by the time your dog has made it to his 3rd or 4th day of retirement, he'll just lap it up. They're use to working they're hole life, and finally they get a break to be a dog. Not that they don't like to work. I thought Vernon still wanted to work for me, until my friend said the other day that he's trying to move his head out of the way of the harness, even though when I put it on, he'll still guide me. But anyway, I think you should talk to your school, or find out which school you're going to go to. Call a few different ones, and see if you can get some advice. But since your dog loves you, I don't think he'll hate you when you bring another dog home. It's always harder for the human than it is for the animal. It's kind of like out of site out of mind for them, and when you come home, he'll say, hey welcome to my home. lol. So who knows. I do wish you the best of luck, and if you ever need to talk to me about how you're feeling, just find me on messenger or call. We're both kind of going through the same thing in a way, so it's nice to lean on each other for comfort and friendship.