[nagdu] So long to my best friend

[Brenda]

Hi Steve
I am so sorry for what you and your Dog have gone through with the 
tornado that has forced Miss Ha into retirement.
I look forward to hearing good things in the future with you and your 
new Guide and perhaps some happy stories of Miss Ha basking in the sun 
as you visit her in her retirement home.
brenda

On 3/27/2012 7:12 AM, Steven Johnson 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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