[nagdu] could have, would have, should have

[Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)]

Dan,
I am so sorry.
A couple things to think about.
First, why do you wish you'd listened to us? What would that have done for you?

I think of your situation like a bad romantic relationship. You can love someone, you can want to make it work, the other person may love you, but may not want to make it work or be in a position to do that.

You know a lot more now then you did three years ago.  None of us could have taught you what you now know now.

I'll also say that I think the adage of "making it work" is overused, because it doesn't tell you when to rethink things.

It reminds me of something someone told me when my daughter was going through some severe sleep problems. The mom told me "the days are long, but the years are short".  I remember thinking "Yes, but if the days are too long, then we have a problem". Turns out, my daughter had chronic fluid in her ears making it painful for her to lie flat, meaning it was painful for her to sleep, which then lead to a bunch of other issues, because we all need good quality sleep.
So, I don't think you did anything you shouldn't have done. The school admitted they were wrong. You now know what not to do which is just as useful as knowing what to do.



-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of DJS
Sent: Sunday, February 26, 2012 3:16 PM
To: NAGDU Mailing List
Subject: [nagdu] could have, would have, should have

Hello all,



I don't know if some of you remember me, but I was a participant in the list
about 3 years ago. I had the guide dog, Scout. He was the one who ran me
into my pond, crashed me into the grocery cart and busted my tooth, etc.

I had 2 trainers out from the school to work with me, but his behavior never
really got above about a "c". I still kept working with him, because I just
loved him so much, and he was such a loving dog.

I always looked past running into an occasional doorway, or a post here and
there.

The final straw came last month when we were walking and a truck backed out
of a driveway on a very busy street and knocked us both out into the street.
The dog suffered no injuries thank goodness, but I suffered a concussion and
several bruised ribs.

As usual, he was not paying attention to what he was doing.

To make a long story short, the school came and career changed him about 2
weeks ago.

I am pretty much devastated.

I know, and most of you at the time I got him, told me I should return him,
but did I listen? NO.

I so wish I had. I feel I have wasted so long a time. I really thought I
could make it work.

The trainers kept telling me to work on different techniques, and I did. I
wanted it to work so badly. Of course when they picked him up, they told me
it was a total mis-match from the beginning, and that I should never have
left the school with that dog.

A lot of good that does now - over 3 and a half years later.



This has been such a bad experience from the beginning, I don't know if I
will ever want to go through the experience again.



I guess I am looking for some words of wisdom from you guys, and some help
to go through this grief I am feeling at losing my best friend, even though
he was not the best guide dog.



You can be critical of me too, just please not to hard just yet, because I
am so sad.  I only wish I knew then what I know now.



Thanks for any support.



Daniel

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