[nagdu] guide dogs

[The Pawpower Pack]

Jennifer,

It is hard to know for sure, how someone is feeling.  Your friend just  
may be a very private person who doesn't share her grief with you.   
It's better not to make judgement calls of that nature.

Also sometimes retiring a dog or ending a match for whatever reason  
can be very hard; sometimes not so hard.  When Bristol, my golden  
needed to retire for medical reasons, I was just devastated.  I cried  
every day for a year, and that is not an exaggeration.  About two  
years ago, I needed to retire Gracy, my border collie and I haven't  
cried about it yet.  I love Gracy very much but we had a long working  
relationship, Gracy was ready to retire, and this is what she wanted.   
With Bristol, she became unable to walk, she hated retirement and she  
was still very young.  We had also had an amazing partnership and some  
dogs are just extra special; Bristol was that for me.  Gracy lives  
with my best friend now, and I see her from time to time.  She got  
what she wanted, a large yard and squirrels to chase.  I got what I  
wanted in Laveau, my current guide-- a dog with great work ethic.  We  
are both happy.

Everyone is different.
It may be tempting to give your opinion on other's relationships with  
their dogs, but I would avoid it if I were you.  You never know what  
is really going on and it may appear that the situation is black and  
white but unless you are a party to the team, meaning the handler, it  
is better not to judge.

It is not necessary to be stern with your dog.  My dog has never warn  
a training collar, has not gotten a collar correction and I'm not in  
the habit of being stern with her at all.  She works great because I  
set clear expectations for behavior, which is entirely different than  
being stern.

Just FWIW.

Rox and the Kitchen Bitches
Bristol (retired), Mill'E SD. and Laveau Guide Dog, CGC.
"It's wildly irritating to have invented something as revolutionary as  
sarcasm, only to have it abused by amateurs." -- Christopher Moore
pawpower4me at gmail.com

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