[nagdu] A New Chapter Begins to Start

[Marsha Drenth]

Buddy, what a major and wonderful undertaking. I'm sure that you'll do wonderfully at training your new puppy. It would be very interesting to hear how this all goes. Do you plan on blogging or podcasting?
Keep us updated,

Marsha drenth  
email: marsha.drenth at gmail.com  
Sent with my IPhone  
Please note that this email communication has been sent using my iPhone. As such, I may have used dictation and had made attempts to mitigate errors. Please do not be hesitant to ask for clarification as necessary. 

> On Jul 1, 2014, at 6:17 PM, 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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