[nagdu] So long to my best friend

[Jessica Pitzer]

I don't write much on here, but I do read, and I just want to say my
heart goes out to you. I can't imagine this horrifying experience. I
pray that you and your new partner work out wonderfully, and that
Misha has a long happy retirement.
Jessica

On 3/27/12, Steven Johnson <blinddog3 at charter.net> wrote:
> 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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