[nagdu] Fourteenth anniversary

[Tracy Carcione]

Today is the 14th anniversary of my meeting with Echo.  I never had more
than 7 anniversaries with any other guide dog, so it's pretty amazing to
me.

On February 16, 1997, I walked into the instructor's room at GDB San
Rafael.  Echo came racing in from the outside dogrun, and immediately fell
over to have a bellyrub.  She was so cute, little and bouncy, with really
soft ears.  We had trouble for a while, because she was a sensitive
flower, and I wasn't used to that.  Mark the excellent Aussie trainer had
to come out to New York and fix us, but, after that, we were fine.  Well,
I say fix us, but really he had to fix me, mainly by adjusting the way I
was holding the harness in a tiny way. After our rocky beginning, Echo
worked until September, 2006, and has been enjoying a well-earned
retirement since.
Once at national convention, I met a GDB rep who had taken care of Echo's
mother, Chime.  She said "I bet she's real sweet, but with a wild streak."
 That's a great description of the Ech.  Mostly she's a sweet and
sensitive marshmallow, but then Demon Dog comes out to play.  I remember
when I first met Demon Dog.  I'd taken Echo out to the playpen, or corral,
at GDB, so she could run around a bit.  She ran off to the other side, a
ways away, and I heard ferocious barking.  I thought "That can't be my
sweet dog!" but it surely was, barking at some kids playing on the lawn. 
Then I tried to get her to come back to me, and she raced around like an
insane nut.  Even though Echo is really old now, Demon Dog still comes by
sometimes and gets her to run around and jump up and down, when I'm being
too slow to get her breakfast.  But I bet it was Demon Dog who gave Echo
the stuff she needed to work in the Big Bad City, so it's OK.

I don't really expect to get a 15th anniversary, so I wrote a lot about
this one.  Though I never expected to get 14, either.
Tracy and the irrepressible Ech