[nagdu] So long to my best friend

Natalie nrorrell at qwest.net
Tue Apr 3 03:29:03 UTC 2012


You're welcome, Steve.  The big R or S, as in severance, is never easy.  I'm 
glad to hear Misha has so many friends and followers.
Best,
Nat and Liam Joshua

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Steven Johnson" <blinddog3 at charter.net>
To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2012 8:56 PM
Subject: Re: [nagdu] So long to my best friend


> Hi Natalie,
>
> Thank you, and the rest of the friends here on the NAGDU list for all of
> your support.  I am very fortunate that I have had between 15-20 persons 
> now
> interested in Misha, and in fact had two more persons step forward tonight
> while keynoting at a Lion's 60th anniversary celebration.  She has a lot 
> of
> friends and followers, and now it is time to narrow it down to where she
> will be with for her forever home.  I have at least 3 finalists so to 
> speak,
> and will be sad, but happy for her once she can be in a place where she 
> will
> be loved, but still be able to serve in a different capacity.
>
> Regards,
>
> Steve & Misha
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf
> Of Natalie
> Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2012 7:16 PM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] So long to my best friend
>
> Hi Steve,
> I'm so sorry to hear you have to retire your faithful partner, Misha. 
> I'll
> be praying for you, and please know that if you need total, we're here. 
> It
> is such a sad thing when the fears overtake them, but you did everything 
> you
> could to help her.  Praying for you, and if I could pass Liam through the
> computer right now so you could get a labbie fix, I most certainly would.
> But, he sends labbie wags and kisses telepathically.
> Best,
> Nat and Liam Joshua
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steven Johnson" <blinddog3 at charter.net>
> To: "'NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 27, 2012 5:12 AM
> Subject: [nagdu] So long to my best friend
>
>
>> Dear NAGDU friends and peers,
>>
>> It is with great sadness, that I announce that my current Leader Dog,
>> Misha,
>> will need to retire due to severe anxiety/panic/fear issues.  Although we
>> were assessed a little over a month ago, and we thought that we could
>> minimize the anxiety by avoiding certain situations, it came to a head
>> while
>> traveling to a recent District Lion's convention when her apparent fears
>> really grabbed my attention.
>>
>> A little more background information for you...last May, our house took a
>> direct hit from an F-2 tornado, and as I rushed to get into the basement,
>> I
>> was yelling for Misha at the same time to come to me, but she instead ran
>> upstairs, probably thinking I was scolding her.  Needless to say, as the
>> devastating tornado rolled in, it started to rip the roof partially off 
>> of
>> my home...right up where Misha had just gone.  It also knocked part of 
>> the
>> chimney off which is located near her bed, and it was one of the most
>> terrifying things I went through in my life, and cannot even begin to
>> imagine what she felt and heard as it was so incredibly deafening and
>> violently shaking the neighborhood.
>>
>> Over the past few months, her fears and anxieties continued to show
>> themselves outwardly, and after the weekend away, and while traveling on
>> an
>> over the road bus to and from home, she outwardly demonstrated her fears.
>> She was so afraid, not only of the bus shaking and rocking, much like the
>> tornado did, but she was afraid to go up and down the stairs into the 
>> bus.
>> We had also gone to a live NPR radio production on that Saturday evening,
>> and she would just tremble during the applause.  I immediately contacted
>> Leader Dog the following day, and discussed this with her trainer who 
>> with
>> myself, made the decision to formally retire her as soon as I could get 
>> in
>> for a replacement guide.  This all took place on the weekend of March 10,
>> the call to LD on that Monday the 12th, and I submitted my application on
>> that Thursday.  My application was reviewed last Tuesday, I was given a
>> class date on Thursday and they have already been able to find a very
>> solid
>> match for me.
>>
>> Misha will be retiring to a home with a loving family, and we are still
>> working on the final details of this.  I am able to still work her on a
>> *light duty basis* avoiding the situations where she might potentially be
>> exposed to things that might cause these symptoms.  I have been scheduled
>> to
>> go back to LD on April 29 for home and away training in which I will go
>> there for a couple of weeks and then come back home where they will
>> conduct
>> a follow-up a couple of weeks later.  The expedited process by LD was
>> amazing, and I have been so fortunate to have an agency that understands
>> me,
>> my needs and took everything into consideration that I have expressed.
>>
>> I have been very blessed to have had 3 wonderful guides through LD in the
>> past 20 years.  Unfortunately, we cannot control how acts of mother 
>> nature
>> affect us, or in this case, our dog friends, and it is with great sadness
>> that I will be parting with my Misha after almost 4 years of faithful,
>> dedicated and amazing work that she was able to give me.  She also gave 
>> me
>> something that I initially realized just shortly after working with her,
>> and
>> that was not to micro manage, be a good master, have fun, and the
>> realization that your guide will do amazing things simply because they
>> love
>> you...it's that simple.
>> I look forward to being matched with my new guide, but hold a special
>> place
>> in my heart for Misha and have requested visitation rights...of course:)
>> She will be going to a specially selected home where she will never be
>> kenneled, have access to many activities throughout the day, and always 
>> be
>> loved.  I am even more thrilled as the trainer on this team, is the
>> trainer
>> who trained my first 2 guides, both who were equally amazing and 
>> wonderful
>> as Misha, and I can only believe that the next match will be as
>> successful.
>>
>>
>> With a lump in my throat, and a slight emptiness in my heart,
>> Steve & Leader Dog, Misha
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
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