[nagdu] Getting another dog

[Kolby Garrison]

Hello Everyone,
I am working with my 1st Guide Dog Sunny, a 5 year old female Golden
Retriever. Like Angie, I will go straight from Sunny to my next dog when she
retires. I have discovered in the 7 months that Sunny and I have been
together that working with a Guide Dog is 100% for me. I keep my cane skills
up out of necessity, but again like Angie I just do not like using the cane.
I find it interesting that some of you had trouble with your dogs and the
College campus atmosphere. I am a sophomore double majoring in Communication
Studies and Spanish, and I live on campus. Sunny thrives on all of the
activity that a College campus provides. I have just begun a new semester of
classes, but the schedule change has not bothered her in the least. I have
always known that I wanted to partner with Guide Dogs, and I dove in head
first and will not ever look back. To each his or her own though. Smiles!
I love hearing everyone's stories and different perspectives. Please keep
sharing.
Kolby

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Angie Matney
Sent: Tuesday, January 27, 2009 7:25 AM
To: NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users
Subject: Re: [nagdu] Getting another dog

Well, I guess I'll weigh in with the opposite perspective. I took my last
walk with Glaze the day before I left for The Seeing Eye to get Yani. I sort
of had to do it that way. i was going to be working for two different law
firms in two cities the folowing 
summer, and I wanted to have a dog during that time. But even if the
situation hadn't demanded it, I think I would do the same thing again. I
won't deny that making such an abrupt transition had its difficulties. I had
forgotten what it feels like to move 
with a really young, enthusiastic dog. I was also feeling horribly guilty
for sneaking away from Glaze the way I did (my dad distracted her with one
of her favorite treats while I left with the friend who took me to the
airport). 

On the whole, the uninterupted period of guide-dog mobility was good for me.
I did use my cane more in the months leading up to Glaze's retirement. This
was good, since I must confess that when I have a dog, I don't use my cane
as much as I 
probably should. But I did realize that I *could* use my cane if I wanted
to. The simple fact was that I didn't really want to.

It helped that I was in the position of being able to plan Glaze's
retirement for several months. Maybe that made it easier to go directly from
one dog to the next. I think I'll probably do the same thing when Yani
retires, if I'm able to do it.

Angie






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