[nagdu] Sad News

[Allison Nastoff]

Hi Lora,
I wanted to let you know that I am very sorry about your loss.  I 
do have some idea what you are going through.  When I was in 
seventh grade, Indy, our beloved pet German shepherd died.  We 
managed without a dog for six months, but then my sister and I 
couldn't stand the emptiness in the house, and not being greeted 
with a bark and a wagging tail when we came home.  So we went to 
the Humane Society, and adopted a lab from our humane society.  
However it turned out that because this dog was a stray, and 
probably separated from his mother too young, he had severe 
behavior problems, including signs of aggression.  We kept him 
for about seven months, and tried to correct his problems, but he 
was becoming more and more difficult to handle, and my parents 
were afraid he might hurt someone.
One day, when I came home from school, the dog was gone.  Mom had 
talked about taking him back to the humane society for several 
days, and that day she had done it.  Deep down, I knew that we 
had done what was best for both the dog, and for us, but I missed 
having a dog so badly that I cried the rest of that day, and was 
depressed for several days after that.  Even years later, I still 
find myself wondering where he is now, or if there was anything 
else we could have done.
Just because a dog has behavior problems doesn't change the fact 
that this dog has become a member of the family, and has filled a 
place in your heart.  I imagine that this is how you are feeling.  
Don't be ashamed if you need to grieve, even cry openly about 
loosing Myrtle.  But also know that you did what was best, and 
that while there will be some grieving, life always works out the 
way it is supposed to.  My family chose not to get another dog 
until I was ready for my guide dog, and although the five year 
wait was agony at times, especially when seeing other people with 
dogs, now that I have Gilbert, I realize that the wait was worth 
it.  Although I still think about the dog we had to send back 
sometimes, I have moved on.  I am sure that in time, you will 
too.
Allison and Gilbert

> ----- Original Message -----
>From: Lora and Myrtle <blindhistory at gmail.com
>To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>,guidedog-friends at yahoogroups.com
>Date sent: Thu, 26 Feb 2009 12:51:43 -0700
>Subject: [nagdu] Sad News

>Today I got a call from my guide dog school and they are sending 
a crate to
>pick Myrtle up.  She has become a very unsafe guide trying to 
lounge into
>traffic getting very distracted by other dogs etc.  I agree that 
she has
>become a very unsafe guide and is not reliable, but that doesn't 
make it any
>less hard to deal with.

>--
>Lora and Leader Dog Myrtle
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