[nagdu] Wanagi

[Tami Kinney]

Oh, I am glad you have Wanagi still! And that you have survived the
threat of PE. Wishing you safety while you do your walking and training
with your clever gorgeous girl. /smile/

Tami

On Mon, 2011-08-22 at 21:46 -0700, Mardi Hadfield wrote: 
> Hi every one, My doctor told me recently that I need to walk as much as I
> can to prevent Pulmonary Embolism. I have survived this life threatening
> condition several times already and have been lucky.Now that Nala is gone, I
> don't have a dog that can walk slowly enough for me. Shaman walks so fast
> that I end up tripping over him. I don't really want to slow down his pace
> as he is perfect for wheelchair guiding,and that might confuse him. When I
> was training Wanagi to take over for Nala when she retired, she washed out
> because she could not keep up with my power wheel chair,due to an old hip
> injury.This does not seem to bother her at slower speeds, just at wheelchair
> speed. I have decided to retrain her to guide me when walking. I have to use
> a Canadian crutch when I walk to balance me and will teach Wanagi to counter
> balance me also.I can not walk long distances due to my spinal stenosis and
> arthritis. I must constantly find a place to sit down when I need to. Wanagi
> already knows how to find a seat when I ask her. She remembers to stop at
> all the right places from her training before I career changed her. She also
> will alert me to a pending seizure, should one occur.She is eager to please
> me and enjoys guiding me.When my friend Carla takes me shopping,my power
> wheelchair does not fit in her car. Some times I take the manual chair and
> use my cane.Some times I would take Nala and walk if it was just a quick
> trip.Now I can take Wanagi.Wanagi,pronounced Won  ah gee, is a beautiful
> white Siberian Husky with blue eyes. She is very sweet and loving and loyal.
> She reminds me a lot of my first guide, Lily. Wanagi was rescued from a
> shelter several years ago. I am glad I decided to keep her when she did not
> make it as a wheelchair guide dog.I miss my Nala very much and I still find
> it hard to talk about her,but Nala and Wanagi were best buds and it is nice
> that I can use  Nala's best friend  as a guide now.   Mardi and Shaman and
> Wanagi,GDIT.
>