[nagdu] Gucci's devotion

[Wayne Merritt]

Gucci does well around horses. She really doesn't react much. She
might try and check them out, but not too much other than that. While
doing freelance last fall at Seeing Eye, I went with Ralph and another
student to a nearby farm to expose the dogs to their horses. AS it
turned out, they had very large draft horses. Both dogs, separately,
had times when they stepped up on one of the rails of the wooden fence
to sniff the horse. At the same time, the horse was lowering his head
to check out these much smaller creatures. It was pretty funny. That
was one of those moments I wish I had a picture of, to see two
different species stretching to sniff and check each other out.

Glad to hear Gabers is working out well.

Wayne

On 5/10/09, Nicole B. Torcolini <ntorcolini at wavecable.com> wrote:
> Lexia has never been up close to a full size horse, but she has seen a
> miniature one.  The last day of training, on of the instructors brought in
> her miniature horse.
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Elizabeth Campbell" <batescampbell at charter.net>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>; "gsdguides" <gsdguides at yahoogroups.com>
> Cc: "doggie-den" <doggie-den at yahoogroups.com>; "NAGDU Mailing List,the
> National Association of Guide Dog Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Sunday, May 10, 2009 6:31 AM
> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Gucci's devotion
>
>
> Hi Wayne,
>
> That was a great story about Gucci; it's wonderful to see how our dogs
> become so devoted to us.
>
> How is Gucci around horses?
> Gabe is very curious about them. Our police department has a mounted patrol,
> and the officers ride through our downtown on occasion. The first time Gabe
> saw a horse passing by us, he tried to move toward the horse to take  a
> sniff.
>
> I thought he would be afraid, because of the horse's size, but that wasn't
> the case.
>
> Gabe is also working out beautifully.
>
> Take care.
>
> Liz and Gabe
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Wayne Merritt" <wcmerritt at gmail.com>
> To: "gsdguides" <gsdguides at yahoogroups.com>
> Cc: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users"
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>; "doggie-den" <doggie-den at yahoogroups.com>
> Sent: Saturday, May 09, 2009 10:04 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Gucci's devotion
>
>
>> Hey all. Haven't seen many posts on these lists, so thought I'd share
>> the following event and reflections from today. Enjoy.
>> Wayne
>>
>> Greetings. I got a glimpse into Gucci's devotion today. I'm sure she's
>> shown me other signs, but this was one of the few that have been
>> noticeable by me, for whatever reason. It happened during my horseback
>> riding lesson, after I had dismounted and was collecting the horse's
>> lead rope and her leash and tryign to get things organized. I was
>> still feeling a little dizzy. (Refer to the entry on today's lesson
>> for more on this). And I didn't have a good grip on her leash. Sure
>> enough, it slipped from my fingers. Other dogs, when the pressure from
>> the leash lessened like that, might have darted away to have some
>> personal sniffing time. Thinking back, I'm not sure that Gucci did
>> this. I just remember calling her name in a slight panic, since as a
>> blind guy and guide dog owner, you never let go of the leash or
>> release the dog from the leash, unless you want something
>> unpredictable to happen that is. In reality, Gucci might have just
>> turned slightly to look around, but when I called her name, she turned
>> back and took a step toward me, well within my space. I had a hand on
>> her instantly and then one of the riding volunteers handed me her
>> leash. I can't help but think back to that moment of panic for me
>> though and hear Gucci saying in her own doggie way, "I'm here, don't
>> worry." She likes being near me in my apartment, likes being in the
>> same room and not too far away. She'll even follow me if I go from one
>> room to the other in her attempts. She enjoys being near me in my
>> parent's house, after she's done a patrol that is and determined the
>> house to be safe. But this morning's experience  was just another
>> indication to me, even more so upon reflection, of that good old
>> German Shepherd loyalty. Or, perhaps it has nothing to do with her
>> breed. All that matters to me is that she was right there and had this
>> attitude of, "I'm here, don't worry," verses running off like other
>> dogs might have done. Thanks Gooch, I can't tell you how much that
>> meant to me.
>>
>> --
>> My blog:
>> http://wayneism.blogspot.com
>> My websites:
>> www.wayneism.com
>> www.whitecaneday.org
>>
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>
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-- 
My blog:
http://wayneism.blogspot.com
My websites:
www.wayneism.com
www.whitecaneday.org