[nagdu] So long to my best friend

Tue Mar 27 23:20:24 UTC 2012

Steve,
Sorry to hear that Misha is retiring so soon, but I hope that she will have
a happy life with her new family. Great to hear you got a class date with
the trainer you trust.
Hugs, Hannah

----- Original Message -----From: Steven Johnson <blinddog3 at charter.net>
To: "'Nagdu Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'"
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>,
Date: Tuesday, Mar 27, 2012 05:14:03 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 y...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 99light 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 y...x'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
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> nagdu mailing list
> nagdu at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
nagdu:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/hleigland%40bresnan
> .net

_______________________________________________
nagdu mailing list
nagdu at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/nagdu_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for nagdu:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/nagdu_nfbnet.org/sparklylicious%40gmail.co
m