[nagdu] 13 years of Echotude

[Tamara Smith-Kinney]

What a wonderful partnership.  Many happy sniffy walks to Echo.  And many
spring squirrels to chase!

Tami Smith-Kinney

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
Of Tracy Carcione
Sent: Monday, February 15, 2010 7:55 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Subject: [nagdu] 13 years of Echotude

Tomorrow will be Echo and my 13th anniversary!  13 years ago, in 1997, I
went off to GDB San Rafael.  I had spoken to my instructor beforehand, so
I knew I was getting a small female black lab, which was exactly what I
wanted.  I was delighted when he announced on Dog Day that her name was
Echo.  I went into the instructor's room to meet her, and she bounced up
to me, then fell over on her back for her first belly rub from me.  She
was the cutest thing!  I don't remember much more of that day, but that
evening, after I put her on tie-down, she started whimpering.  I sat down
next to her and petted her while I listened to Gregorian chant on the
radio.  We were both a bit anxious that evening, and it was really nice to
sit together and be quiet.  Our class was very small, so I had a room to
myself, which was great.
Next day, we went out for our first walk together in downtown San Rafael. 
She was awful!  She was slower than a snail.  She pushed me into tree
cutouts.  She started wandering up the middle of the street once.  She
stayed awful for several days, too.  But gradually she got used to me, and
decided she could work for me after all.  We needed some more help after
we got home, but then we finally clicked, and she was great!  She needed a
lot of cheerleading, especially at first in New York City.  I made up a
new measurement, good girls per hour.  Sometimes our GGPH was up in the
hundreds.  Echo could do anything, so long as she knew her efforts were
appreciated and she got some happy encouragement.  And over time, the GGPH
dropped to an easier level to maintain.
She was great at finding places she'd been before.  I remember at some
convention hotel, I had breakfast at one of those open cafe places on the
mezzanine.  Later that day, I was up there for some meeting, and got
confused coming back to find the elevator.  I couldn't figure out where to
direct Echo, and she couldn't figure out what I wanted.  Finally, she led
me to the table where I'd had breakfast.  I recognized where we were then,
and could give her some sensible directions.  She was also able to figure
out, after the first time, which bank of elevators we wanted to get back
to our room.  Not sure how she knew, as they all seemed similar to me, and
all in a big circle, but she always got it right.
She was a bit high-maintenance, but the results were well worth the effort.
She retired at 11 and a half.  She had slowed down, didn't have the
endurance for long walks, and didn't have her old enthusiasm for going new
places.  She's adapted well to the life of leisure.  She enjoys going out
for a good sniffy walk with my husband, and spends most of the day
sprawled out on the bed, taking it easy.  Come spring, she can go out in
the backyard with me.  She still enjoys chasing squirrels.  And stealing
my tomatoes, when they're just getting ripe.
Happy anniversary, Echo! Good girl!
Tracy




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