[nagdu] question about ownership and retirement

[Tracy Carcione]

Hi Daniel.
Are you the Daniel with the wild Leader dog?  How's it going?

I have kept 2 retired dogs.  The first, Amba,  had to stop working because
she got cancer.  She lived only a few months after the diagnosis.  I could
have waited to get a new dog until she was gone, but I much prefer to have
a dog in New York City, and we kept hoping the treatment she got would
work, so I did not wait.  It did interfere somewhat with the bonding
process with the new dog, primarily because I was spending a lot of time
and energy caring for my sick dog, and spending time with her while I
could.  But after her passing, the bond between me and my new dog got
stronger, and everything was fine.  And, even before, we could work
together fine.

I also kept Echo (who was the new dog I was just talking about).  She
retired at age 11, and is still going strong 3 years later.  I had no
problem bonding with my newer dog, Ben.  My husband took over some of the
care of Echo, taking her for walks mostly, and she and Ben don't mind each
other.  They play sometimes, and steal toys from each other, but mostly
they ignore each other.  Sometimes Echo still comes to the door when I
pick up the harness, but really she seems happy to take life easy and let
the young dude do the work.

I think it really helps to have another person around when one has 2 dogs.
HTH.
Tracy


> Hello group,
>
> I am back on the list again because I missed all of everyone's helpful
> comments and suggestions in the past. I have a question. What is the
> earliest someone has retired their guide  which they received from a
> school?
> Upon retirement, did you keep that dog while returning to either to the
> same
> school or a different school to obtain another guide? And finally, was
> their
> any complications at home due to the fact that the new guide was replacing
> the previous guide when it came to developing a solid bond?
>
> Whew! I know it is a lot to ponder, but I figured since the conversation
> seemed to be around ownership issues, at least partly, I figured it would
> be
> a good time to ask.
>
> Daniel.
>