[nagdu] Welcome Haben

Mardi Hadfield wolfsinger.lakota at gmail.com
Fri Feb 6 06:07:33 UTC 2009


 Hi every one,     Welcome Haben.   No, I don't live in Alaska.  My Huskies
are "south paws"  We live in Tucson, Arizona.  When I first needed a guide
dog, I was told that the schools did not train for wheelchair users.Since I
already had a service dog, who was a husky, I hired a trainer to help me
train Lily  to guide me. I had to retire her at age 8 as she had health
issues and she died month later, leaving me with out a guide dog.  I tried
out a border collie and he did not work out as he had been abused before I
got him and he could not handle being out in public. Then I got another
husky, Nala,who was a fantastic guide. She will soon be 10 years old and has
health issues now.She has guided me for 8 years and it has been hard to
retire her as she does not want to retire. When she sees me getting ready to
go out, she brings me her harness and get all excited. She started picking
fights with Wanagi, the dog that I was training to take over for Nala. She
is a lot happier now that she is working again part time. Wanagi came up
lame with a hip problem, so she was  career changed. I am keeping her as a
pet. I have been looking for a dog to take over as my new guide for over 10
months. I think I have finally found a dog.I would love to get a dog from
Fidelco,but when I asked about it ,I was told that they don't train for
wheelchair users.I would have to pay my way to and from South Eastern Guide
Dogs, which I could not afford, and really can't be away that long. Guide
Dogs for the Blind would take me ,but again, I can't be away  from my home
and business that long. So I guess I will just continue to train my own
guides with the help of my trainer.  Haben, do you have a guide dog? If so ,
what breed is it? I love hearing from others and about their dogs.  Have a
great day,  Mardi and Nala,semi-retired, and Shaman , possible trainee.



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