[NAGDU] Retiring your dog: how you know when it’s the right time

[Tracy Carcione]

In my experience with 7 dogs, knowing when to retire can be tricky.  Sometimes it's obvious, but often not.  One day I'll be thinking it's definitely time, and the next everything is fine.
I retired my last dog Ben when he started slowing down significantly.  He was 10, and I could hear him saying he'd rather be hanging out on the couch.  I retired Echo, the dog before Ben, when she was 11.  She slowed down, and she didn't seem to be enjoying her work anymore.
And then there was Nestor, who was having stress issues I was trying to work through.  I gave up when he fell off the edge of the subway platform and someone had to grab him out of midair.  Definitely time to quit.  And, once retired, he was a much happier dog.
Tracy

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Tara Briggs via NAGDU
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2018 12:53 AM
To: nagdu at nfbnet.org
Cc: Tara Briggs
Subject: [NAGDU] Retiring your dog: how you know when it’s the right time

 Hi all, on a different thread the topic of dog retirement has come up a little bit. Apparently, there are schools who have a mandatory retirement age. I was just wondering about a few things. First of all, how have all of you known when it was the right time to retire your dog. I do feel like they have ways of letting us know. From my first guide it was a walk to the mailbox. She walked to the mailbox fine, but then she laid down while I was getting the mail  and when it was time to come back home her attitude seemed to be why don’t you just carry me home. I just knew it was time. I recently retired my current dog. I knew it was the right time for when we went to my part-time job on the Saturday and she just didn’t perform up to her usual amazing standard. I was also wondering about those of you who’ve gone to schools where there is a mandatory requirement to retire your dog a certain age. What is this been like for you? How have you dealt with it? Thanks for any information!
Tara

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