[NAGDU] Your Favorite Dog

[Cindy Ray]

Sherry, how neat. My favorite was a Golden Retriever, too. I will say more about him later. What kind of dog are you getting now? You did go for training, right?
Cindy
cindyray at gmail.com <mailto:cindyray at gmail.com>


> On Apr 10, 2021, at 9:35 AM, Sherry Gomes via NAGDU <nagdu at nfbnet.org> wrote:
> 
> It's a tossup, but for various reasons, I'd say my favorite dog was Stephie, a golden retriever from GDB. We were together from 1990 through 1999. Not only was she a fabulous worker, but she was also a sweet silly devoted dog at home. She didn't get into trouble at home, as my second favorite dog did. Stephie was also incredibly loyal. The dog I'd had before her liked me well enough, but he'd have liked anyone. We were never very well bonded. So, when the trainers asked me what I wanted in my dog during my Stephie training class, I told them I wanted to dog that was my dog, that the dog would like other people, but there'd be no question I was number one. The previous dog was also exceedingly stubborn, and I told the trainers I didn't want a daily battle with my guide dog anymore. Stephie never needed a leash correction, verbal praise or correction was all she needed. And she was bonded to me. Oh my. It took her a few weeks to turn over completely, but once she did she was completely mine. I could sit outside my apartment with neighbors, have Stephie offleash, and she'd never leave my side. I can see that my new dog, Shani from GEB, is turning out to be nearly a Stephie clone. Because I lived in a no pets apartment when Stephie retired, I had my mom adopt her. A couple years later, when I visited with my new dog, and Stephie had bad arthritis and was almost totally blind, as I picked up the harness to get my new dog ready to go, Stephie tried to put her head in it. I cried a lot over that. I had never wanted to give her away. Now I own my home, and no dog of mine will have to go away in retirement, unless I feel it's for the best. Stephie started my love of goldens, and I was terribly disappointed when Petunia was as completely unlike Stephie as it was possible to be. 
> 
> Sherry
> Sherry.gomes at outlook.com
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Cindy Ray via NAGDU
> Sent: Saturday, April 10, 2021 7:51 AM
> To: NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Cc: Cindy Ray <cindyray at gmail.com>
> Subject: [NAGDU] Your Favorite Dog
> 
> Good morning,
> I love to hear our stories about our dogs. So I have some questions. I will preface it by saying that once while I was training, probably with my first dog, my instructor said that he believed everyone had a favorite dog, and this would be true even if you truly love working with each of them. So tell me:
> Who was your favorite dog and why? This would include some of the little things that made his work so good.
> Did you train that dog? If not, from which school did it come?
> How long did you have her?
> Thank you.
> Cindy Ray
> cindyray at gmail.com <mailto:cindyray at gmail.com>
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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/sherry.gomes%40outlook.com
> 
> _______________________________________________
> 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/cindyray%40gmail.com