[nagdu] Getting another dog

[AnnaLisa Anderson]

Hi Wayne and Susan and others,

I appreciate your sharing on your decisions on when to get another dog.
Wayne, as you know I especially enjoyed reading your blog when you were
training with Gucci.  You are a very good writer and made me feel as if I
were there with you, experiencing everything.

So this is how it is for me.  I knew from the time I was very little that I
wanted a guide dog.  I attended a school for the blind for most of my school
years.  There were a few teachers there who had guide dogs, but the dog I
remember that influenced me most was named Sparky, whom I met when I was six
years old.  She was my music teacher's dog, and I believe she was a black
lab.  She always lay quietly in the teacher's office under her desk, and on
occasion she would let us pet Sparky, which I always loved to do.  Sparky
always loved the attention,  and I remember how her tail would go thump,
thump, thump happily on the wooden floor in that old building, and she gave
the nicest kisses too.  I remember thinking how neat it was that you could
bring a dog to work with you, so I told my mom that I wanted a guide dog
when I grew up.  I waited till after college to get my first guide, though
in hindsight I wish I had gotten a dog during college.  But I also needed to
grow in my cane skills then, so it was probably good I did wait.

When it came time to retire my first dog Megan 13 years later, after having
worked with her for so long, I was definitely not ready to rush right off
and get a second dog.  As Susan said, I needed time to regroup and focus on
sharpening my cane skills again.  I was glad for the break too, from always
having to worry about dog parking schedules and so forth.  Plus it was the
coldest part of the winter, so it was nice not always having to go outside.
<smile>  It was almost exactly two months from the day I retired my first
dog, till the day I got my second, and that was about right for me.  By then
I was excited about the new adventure to come, and had peace of mind about
my dog's retirement.  I'm not sure how I will do it when it comes time for
Sundance to retire, but I will probably not wait long to get a third dog.

Sorry for rambling on, but just thought I'd throw my six cents in here,
since I find this thread interesting. <smile>

AnnaLisa and Sundance


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