Category: Animal House
What the title says best and worst stories about your guidedogs or your experiences.
I'll tell a story that is great based off the situation, but bad due to the weather. Bliss and I had to walk in a blizzard to school one day. We couldn't tell where the sidewalk was, grass, or even the streets. She did fantastic. I don't know if we were on the grass or the sidewalk, but she got me to school safely, and we didn't walk out into sidestreet traffic.
I think this was one of my proudest mommy moments!
Aww, Bliss! good girl! I love her name, btw.
My previous puppy, fortune, and I were walking to a grocery store and had to cross several streets and train tracks. Naturally, a train would pass by, just at that time. I don't have to tell anyone how terrifying that god-awful noise is, and it's the only thing you can hear. I didn't know quite where the tracks were--I hadn't noticed them underfoot, but you can easily cross them and not realize it, so I was unsure whether they were ahead or behind me. I just had to hang on to her harness, and go, and trust her. Well, I'm still here... *smile*
My first dog Heartly saved my life on a number of occasions.
First time was when we were crossing a busy street and a car went against the lights and had it not been for Heartly, I would have been cactus as I'd already stepped out.
Oh yes, Bliss is a lifesaver. we've had cars pull out in front of us too.
Ditra had to yank me out of the path of an oncoming car as I was more than halfway across the street with her. we pretty much had to run the rest of the way to avoid getting hit. I heard tires skid exactly where I had been standing moments earlier. I praised the hell out of this dog when we were safe. almost cried.
My worst story? I found out what happens when she gets stressed out at things like national convention. Four words. Clean-up in aisle ten ... so when i've attended big things like that, she stays with family, but I haven't been to one in years.
Today happens to be the third anniversary of my first guide, Digby, crossing the Rainbow Bridge.
There are so many good stories I could tell about Digby from funny to heart warming to awesome guiding that it's hard to pick just one.
I'll pick the first time I truly had to trust my dog. We were walking home in a thunderstorm. Yeah yeah, dumb move. Anyway, this was before the days of smart phones and instant warnings about every little thing. What started as a light rain quickly turned into a flash flood as we were walking. I was half way home and there was no place to pop in so we had to just keep going. We had to travel along a long street with no sidewalks and in what seemed like seconds, the water rose almost to my hips. I was so worried about Digby because I had only had him for a couple of months and this was our first rain storm. Welcome to Texas, buddy. Anyway, I quickly got disoriented once the water developed a rapidly flowing current. All of the sudden, Digby just started halling butt. I was totally freaked at this point because I was sure I was breaking all sorts of guide dog protocol. I remember thinking to myself, "well, they said trust your dog so here we go." Digby was swimming by this point and I was running. The next thing I new, he was standing on the second step to my porch waiting for me to follow. I was absolutely amazed.
The worst story also happened within my first few months of having the Dig. At the time I was living in a cute little duplex with hardwood floors. Digby's tiedown was by the front window across from the couch. He had a Nyla bone and was happily chewing it and causing it to knock against the floor, or so I thought. What he was actually doing was very contentedly eating the windowsill. The funniest thing about Digby was that he always did some of his best guide work when he had procured something along our path that he was not allowed to have, you know, like a discarded chilidog wrapper, or a box of chicken nuggets. Who the hell leave a box of chicken nuggets laying on the ground anyway? Apparently, people who take public transit. lol
Anyway, thanks for the chance to share a bit about my funny guy. What a cool opportunity to take yall along on my walk down memory lane today.
Chicken nuggets! Geez! LOL
My second girl, Fortune once picked up a doughnut, while working. Can people really not find a trash can? And during our training at the school, Pearl carried a roll, half a block. She's very smooth about picking things up, too, I didn't even notice! I'll have to be more aware, with her.
So nice to hear about your Digby. The Dig. I like that. And nice memories, for today, rather than sad ones.
What an endearing, and smart boy, figuring out how to get home through a flood. It sounds truly harrowing!
Yeah, Nyla bones and hardwood aren't a great combination! *laugh* I have hardwood where I live now, and Pearl tries to slide her bone across the floor, it's pretty funny to watch. I think she wants to chase it, and she's realized it slides easily, on this floor. I've just gotten her a rubbery type bone, instead, for my own sanity, and a lightweight ball, better for chasing. Plus, Nylas are brutal under bare feet! LOL
Ah, yes, that they are. He also had a rubbery Nyla that was almost the size of my arm. That thing lasted for ever. I think it got left at one of the houses we moved from over the years, probably buried in the back yard or something. Anyway, it was a hard rubbery foam which was great because it was quiet and didn't hurt when stepped on.
Dig had several nicknames, Porkchop, Chicken Nugget, Applepie, chilidog, and Sugar Cookie to name a few. I'll bet yall can guess how he got each of those. The best though was the time my X and I were at the Aerosmith and Kiss concert. It was at an outdoor venue so it was ok to take the dogs. Anyway, Digby had the good fortune of walking past someone who had tossed a turkey leg on the ground. Seriously??? Those things aren't cheap. I guess they were done with it though. So, of course, he's doing wonderful guide work as usual and this lady says to me, "Uh, excuse me, ma'am. Did you know your dog is carrying a huge turkey leg in his mouth?" I reached down and sure enough, there it was. We had a bit of a tug of war over that one. The funniest part is that I was 6 and a half months pregnant. You just haven't seen funny until you've seen a 5-foot tall woman with a pregnant belly out to there strattling an 85 pound white lab wrestling for a Texas-sized turkey leg. Oh, I won that battle, by the way. lmao
Eden and I were at national convention last summar and as I was walking from the hotel to the convention center, another survice dog just jumped on her back out of nowhere. My first thought was to try to grab the other dog, but our trainers told us that getting closer will make the dog worry about your safety over its own, so to just stay back and let it handle itself unless you feel its life in in danger. eden managed to wiggle out from under the crazy dog and got it in the face with her nails one good time, I guess trying to get it to back off. thank god a trainer standing outside saw it. Turnes out eden was not at fault, the handler was standing in a group of people, and just let his leash go. if I was not so worried about my dog, that guy, and his school had I found out that information would have got a talking to.
Best story, hmm.
I was walking to the bus stop one morning not 2 weeks after I had come home with her from guiding eyes. We were approaching a break in the sidewalk, where the opening of an alley was. as soon as she noticed it, she would not let me near it. the only way I could get her to go farther down the street was to back track a block and cross. I mean I tried everything. it was totally silent as it was 5 30 in the morning, so hardly any traphic in this part of the city. Turns out I saw on the news that someone was held at gun point and robbed in that alley that very morning. My puppy! Guess they can just kind of pick up on danger ay?
good stories!
I have a story, it was scary, and I haven't felq the same about guide dogs since.
About 2 months after coming home with Wizard I was getting off a bus and was waiting to meet my sister at the store. I was about to cross the parking lot when Wizard pulled me off the curb, and I almost fell face first off the curb. Turns out my sister was approaching me, and he got excited and pulled me out in to the parking lot totally ignoring an oncoming car. If I hadn't yanked him back on to the curb there's no telling what could have happened. It's been nothing but struggles and depression since then. I called the trainers and when they distract him while crossing streets he's perfect in front of the/ as usual.
I had just recently returned home with my dog, Boyd. He was an 85 pound golden retriever. A mobility instructor and I were working with Boyd in my home cities business district. We had walked for several blocks practicing crossings in many different traffic patterns.
My instructor instructed me to go from where we were resting to a local peanut shop. It was easy to find because you could smell it for blocks. Boyd and I were walking along and although I had a pretty good idea where we were I decided to ask a passer by just to be sure. I heard someone approaching on my right side, very wide side walks in this part of town, by the way. I put out my right hand and stopped what turned out to be a man. I explained where I was going and told him where I believed I was. He verified what I thought and then he said the following:
"Just tell him to take a left at the second light."
I thanked him and we went on our way. After a few steps I chuckled and looked down at my dog and said "you got that didn't you?"
My instructor and I had a good laugh over the situation over lunch.
YAY, doggie stories! Best stories first. It has happened on two occasions where I've been disoriented in the middle of a street. Once was on a single lane guideway dedicated to the Max bus. I'd walked off the wrong side of the island after a long day of work and just couldn't figure out why I was lost. I had no idea where the sidewalk was, and I was afraid of the train, or of another bus coming along. The other was in Washington DC when we made a diagonal crossing at a fairly quiet intersection, and I had no clue where Fran had taken us. Why am I touching waist-high concrete? The Seeing Eye teaches the word zeuc as a find command. It's used to target objects. In both these cases, I just took a deep breath and in my most commanding tone, said, "Fran, zeuc." Both times, she turned around, pulled hard, and got us back to the sidewalk we needed to be on. I thought that was pretty amazing.
The worst thing that's ever happened to us was the vet giving Fran a whole bag of marrow treats the day before we flew Southwest to Maryland for work training. I was busy with company and packing, so when she had... an unhappy potty time in the grass, I didn't put it together. We were 30,000 feet in the air half way to Maryland with 3 co-workers and a plane full of passengers when she just couldn't hold it anymore. She had poopageddon in the aisle of the plane half way to the bathroom. It was on her, on me, good thing my co-worker had a dress in her carry-on so I could change. I was in tears, but the flight attendants were so understanding and amazing. They used coffee grounds and blankets to cover the smell. Meanwhile, I'm babbling incoherently that this isn't how service dogs normally are, she's sick, they aren't like this, I'm so sorry. Dealing with a sick doggie on travel in a hotel is not a fun way to spend a week.
oh I loved reading these stories. great dogs all!!!
here is my favorite dog story. back when we first moved here, sarabelle, or sara, and I were taking a walk. we live near a shopping center. there is this driveway that you have to cross. as we were returning, I stopped, waited, and hearing nothing started out. we got about five feet from the curb and she turned and started going up the hill into the shopping center. I said "no honey, we're not going to visit Christina at the bead store. let's turn around and try this again." we got back on the curb and this woman said obviously crying "lady wait. I almost killed you." it appeared she was driving one of those hybrid cars. due to the noise of the busy traffic I did not hear that car. sara did and took measures to save my bacon. that poor woman almost had a heart attack. my dog got lots of treats and praise believe me!!
Great stories, love them all! makes me miss the guide dog life...
Just an addition to the food thing above. My first guide Jodelle once got a hold of an entire turkey sandwitch on our way to class. Like what? People really will just drop food anywhere.
Awww that's cool about Sara.