Category: Animal House
Hey all,
I can't believe I've had my guide dog for a month now. It seemed like when I was in training with her that it was going to take forever, and now that we've been home and she's been doing pretty good for me, it's like, it's been a month already? lol. But it's like that with a lot of other guide dog users to. I saw 2 friends of mine that I haven't seen in years because of money, and that everyone lives far away. I saw their dogs, and they're getting kindda old. Almost as old as my dog was when I retired him, so they're both almost ten. Anyway, my friend's husband's dog reminded me so much of my retired guide that I couldn't keepp. It broke my heart. i just fell in love with him. I know it was kind of bad to do, but I couldn't help it. But they were saying how it's been so long, but doesn't seem like it. i remember the day so clearly that i got my first dog, and I of course, remember the day I got my new one. How different they were, but memorable. But I'm glad I've got this new girl to keep track of, and hopefully we can have many more months together. I'm going to see my retired guide soon, and that'll be fun. I can't wait. I know that they'll do ok, because she got along well with both dogs she saw today so that shows a good sign. So I guess we'll see what happens. But if anyone else wants to post on how time flies with however many dogs you've had, feel free. It'd be interesting to hear the stories.
I have my first dog for two years and four months and time does go by pretty quickly. It is good that you get to see your retired guide. Your dogs will probably like playing together. LOL I hope to be able to keep my dog when I retire him or at least give him to my mom so I can still see him whenever I want.
I have also spent much of my time marveling at how quickly a year has gone since I first got ditra. She and I have been through so much. At our first NfB convention last month, she finally learned how to go up and down escalators. *smile*
I love my doggy, and am hoping to keep her when she retires. Of course, I'll never forget my first dog Steven, who passed away on May 10th, 2008 due to a rare form of cancer, but I've come to accept his passing. I'll never quite get over it, though. he was a good boy, and Ditra's a great little girl. *smile* This little one always knows when it's time for her to eat, and she loves to work. omg, and the little yipping noises she sometimes makes in her sleep ... They're soooooooo cute. lol
Ok, so here's a question I've been curious about for a lot of years. I've always known of course that you have the option of keeping your dog after you retire him/her, but I was wondering if there are ever any feelings of resentment or things along those lines if and when you got a new guide dog. What I mean is that you have this older dog who's been guiding you around for the majority of his life, then a new dog comes in to take his place. What I'm wondering is how people, and presumably the retired dog, copes with such feelings. I would think the older dog would have some hurt feelings, given how eager they can be to please. Then again I could be totally wrong about this.
and how on earth do you take dogs on eskellators? pick them up?
That'd be interesting.
No, although, after the scare I had where her old collar slipped off from around her neck as I was going down an escalator, she was carried one time by a friend of mine. She hasn't been carried since. lol
When we approach an escalator, I talk to her to get her really excited and happy because she's still cautious around them, and probably always will be.
Anyway, I don't work her on it; I just have her heel along at my left side. I tell her, "Okay, let's go," and she jumps up a couple of steps ahead of me. Just before leaving the escalator, I tell her, "Ready? okay, let's go," and she hops right off of it. We have not had any injuries where her toes are concerned. I had left her little shoes at home, but they will always be at hand from now on.
Ah, the booties. I've heard they can be a pain to get on. I recently got hold of a journal written by a lady attending Guiding Eyes a few years back and she mentioned that she had some trouble with that the first few times.
GDB has a paw protection program in place where they give you a set of booties for the dog during class. They even go over how to put them on. I don't use them much because i'm scared of losing them. Ditra kicked one of them off once and i didn't know it until a sighted friend who was walking alongside me mentioned it.