[NAGDU] retiring guides

[deafblindhope at gmail.com]

I kept Joey, the one you knew, and it was fine. Yes, there was a transition, but he would have been heartbroken if I gave him away. We took him with us “working” in a lot of places for a long time. People here knew and loved him, so they wanted him there. I made sure I loved on him and my new guide. Of course, my husband didn’t have a dog, so we only had the two. My husband is autistic, so he actually needs a dog, so Joey helped him a lot. Since Joey’s death, Nala has actually taken up specific tasks to calm my husband when he has problems. She still guides me fine, and alerts me to know that Scott needs help. We are a team. Anyway, I know and understand that some have no choice but to re-home their guides, but I don’t have that problem now. I know many have said giving their dogs up worked out fine, but all have said their guide suffered from some grief and depression. I want to limit that as long as I can by keeping my former guides in the pack. I just work hard to help them know they are still loved, wanted, and needed. 



In The Shadow of Christ, Master Teacher,
Renée K. Walker
www.deafblindhope.wordpress.com
www.wynfield.wordpress.com
Sent from my IPhone with braille display

> On May 18, 2018, at 10:41 AM, Nancy VanderBrink via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> Hi folks,
> My husband and I have been accepted to guide dog school and we'll be going in November. 
> The more I think about it, the more concerned I feel about keeping my current guide, Doc.
> We've thought about keeping my husband's guide also so they won't be alone but I'd like to hear from folks who kept their retired guides.
> How did they handle the transition?
> Did you still take them on walks? I guess I mean where they worked? 
> Did you try to keep them then decide not to after-all? 
> I'm feeling conflicted and sad, when I thought I'd be excited. 
> Thanks for any guidance you can give. This is my first time retiring my guide due to old age. My first guide’s retirement was in college because have had medical issues.
> Many thanks,
> nancy 
> 
> Please forgive the typos as this message was most likely generated using voice dictation
> Nancy Irwin
> 
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