[nagdu] A New Chapter Begins to Start

[Darla Rogers]

How exciting, Buddy; I know **you** wound never underytaqke something
like this lightly, and I hope I'm speaking for most, when I say your
journey will be interesting to read about, if you care to share.

What breed of dog do you want to train?
Darla & Handsome Huck

On 7/1/14, Buddy Brannan via nagdu <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Well, been talking about it for years, and now I've decided I'm jumping in.
>
> I've decided that I'm going to train my next guide dog.
>
> First, I want to make one thing very clear. I have nothing but the utmost
> respect for guide dog schools. This isn't some anti-authoritarian down with
> the establishment thing. In fact, I may never do this thing again after the
> one time. Or maybe I will. No one knows, not even me. This is just a thing
> I'm doing because I want the experience of raising and training my next
> guide dog, simple as that. I'm under no delusions here; I don't, for
> instance, think that I'll do as thorough a job with traffic training as the
> Seeing Eye does, but, and meaning to cast no aspersions, I don't think
> *anyone* does as thorough a job of traffic training as Seeing Eye does. I
> do, however, believe that I will do a safe and adequate job of it,
> otherwise, I won't pass my dog out of training.
>
> In this case, and for my purposes, this is more about the journey than it is
> about the destination, important as that destination is. Whether I take two
> years or three, or even whether I (and my dog) am/are successful, I will
> have the experience, and I expect to learn something valuable from it.
>
> I'm in no rush. Leno and I are coming up on our fourth anniversary at the
> end of August. That means, if he holds to pattern, I've got at least two
> more years of working with him, and he's showing no signs of slowing down.
> Even if I started with a puppy today, I don't anticipate being done any time
> before dog's second birthday, and probably later, and really, I'm *not*
> starting with a puppy today.
>
> I'll be visiting with a breeder on Saturday. I'll be surprised if I have a
> new puppy in much less than a year from now. This is a thing I'm nervous
> about, excited about, and looking forward to. Also perhaps dreading
> slightly, if for no other reason than puppy parking in the middle of the
> night. Still, it's exciting stuff, albeit a really, really large undertaking
> that has an uncertain outcome.
>
> So that's my bit of fun. I fully expect to be bending the ears of the owner
> trainers here, because, well, I'm going in on new territory. Fortunately,
> Leno will be around to help me through it.
>
> --Buddy
>
>
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