[NAGDU] Retirement

[Bernice Bird]

It sounds like a good decision. My Octane had a similar situation. I need a
nice steady pull because I have balance concerns. He was poking along. I
wondered if it was his eye sight, but it wasn't. When a trainer was in town,
she took him for a walk, and he kept up with her fast pace. I think he was
telling me that he was done working. There was also a theory that he felt I
was fragile because of some past health problems. The long and short of it
was that he wasn't walking fast enough for my needs. I retired him to a
loving family, and he was happy as a clam with the family, their many birds
and cats. I trained right away with my adorable Lolo. Also, I've had guide
dogs for 51 years and it never gets easier. I believe being without a dog
for as short a time as possible helped me to literally move on.
Bernice

-----Original Message-----
From: NAGDU <nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Tracy Carcione via NAGDU
Sent: Sunday, August 1, 2021 10:21 AM
To: 'NAGDU Mailing List, the National Association of Guide Dog Users'
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Tracy Carcione <carcione at access.net>
Subject: [NAGDU] Retirement

Krokus is my 7th dog.  You'd think I'd be totally able to deal with
retirement decisions by now, but no, it doesn't get any easier with
practice.

A few weeks ago, we Seeing Eye graduates got an email from Admissions,
advising anyone who thought they might need a successor dog in the next year
or so to put in an application, so Admissions could plan and manage the
waiting list.  Krokus is 8 and a half now, so I started the application
process, with a hold until some time next year. 

He's always been "Poky Krokie", and I've always had to remind him to keep up
a decent pace, but now I'm reminding him a lot.  He was OK yesterday, when
we went somewhere different, and he was great when we were in a familiar
place we hadn't been in for a while, but, when we got into an unfamiliar
place, he got hesitant, and wanted to follow my husband.  When I have to
wait a couple minutes for a traffic signal, especially if I miss a turn and
have to wait again, he lies down, even if it's not hot.  

He's always been somewhat hesitant and prone to mysterious stopping,
especially in unfamiliar areas, which makes me crazy, because I have to
figure out if there's a reason like a curb or big obstacle just out of
reach, or he's looking for someone to follow, or he wants an unscheduled
relief stop.  I hate it.  It confuses the heck out of me every time.  He's
also very likely to creep up to curbs and exits, often stopping feet short
of a door.

I think he still enjoys working, but mostly if it's not hard and it's not
long.

So I guess I'll take the hold off my application.  

He'll be bored not working, though.  He can go for walks with my husband and
sniff as much as he likes, which he will enjoy, but then Jerry will have to
worry about him scavenging something he shouldn't, another thing he tries a
lot.  Oy.  I hate retiring a dog.

Tracy

 

_______________________________________________
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/bernice.j.bird%40gmail.co
m