Shelly,
I'm sorry things didn't work out. Retiring a dog is never easy, even when
there are clear issues that aren't being resolved.
I will pray for a new dog that will work better for you as far as not
barking, etc.
JulieMelton
visit me at
www.heart-and-music.com
Keep smiling!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Shelly Pryor" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2005 7:01 PM
Subject: about my guide dog
> This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_01F4_01C54C1C.3DDB3AA0
> Content-Type: text/plain;
> charset="Windows-1252"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> Last August I attended southeastern guidedogs in florida where I was =
> matched with my first guide a rough coat collie named Radar. We did =
> fairly well in training, but when we returned home we discovered many =
> problems in our team. I knew from training that Radar was stubborn, =
> loved people and other dogs, but what looked like managable issues in =
> class became more and more difficult to deal with. Radar's movements =
> were very subtle and I had difficulty following him. But the most =
> frustrating issue we dealt with was barking and sometimes growling. At =
> first this occured only out of harness, but as time past it began to =
> happen in harness as well. I had 3 different trainers out to help with =
> the various issues. Things would go well for a while and then we'd go =
> backwords. And the barking got owrse. I live in a apartment buidling and =
> my home was right by the entrance door. He began barking every time =
> someone walked by my door. So, not only was he barking on relieving =
> trips outside and in harness if we were in isolated situation, but now =
> he barked at home. And I just got to a point where I had enough. People =
> in the building were complaining to my manager and I was concerned I =
> might be asked to leave. So, in march I decided to retire him. I think =
> if we had had only guide work issues I could've continued working him. =
> He wasn't an easy dog to work, but we were doing well especially in the =
> last 2 months I had him. But I just had to stop. It was one of the =
> hardest choices I've ever made and several times over the 6 weeks =
> between notifying the school and his going to texas to live with his =
> raiser I nearly talked myself out of it. in many ways we were a perfect =
> match. he had nearly perfect personality pace, and pull. He was a =
> wonderful companion and I miss him more than I can describe. =20
> I've got to head to chior practice, so will write about the new dog =
> possibility later.
> Shelly
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_01F4_01C54C1C.3DDB3AA0
> Content-Type: text/html;
> charset="Windows-1252"
> Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
>
> <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
> <HTML><HEAD>
> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; =
> charset=3Dwindows-1252">
> <META content=3D"MSHTML 6.00.2800.1498" name=3DGENERATOR>
> <STYLE></STYLE>
> </HEAD>
> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Last August I attended southeastern =
> guidedogs in=20
> florida where I was matched with my first guide a rough coat collie =
> named Radar.=20
> We did fairly well in training, but when we returned home we discovered =
> many=20
> problems in our team. I knew from training that Radar was stubborn, =
> loved people=20
> and other dogs, but what looked like managable issues in class became =
> more and=20
> more difficult to deal with. Radar's movements were very subtle and I =
> had=20
> difficulty following him. But the most frustrating issue we dealt with =
> was=20
> barking and sometimes growling. At first this occured only out of =
> harness, but=20
> as time past it began to happen in harness as well. I had 3 different =
> trainers=20
> out to help with the various issues. Things would go well for a while =
> and then=20
> we'd go backwords. And the barking got owrse. I live in a apartment =
> buidling and=20
> my home was right by the entrance door. He began barking every time =
> someone=20
> walked by my door. So, not only was he barking on relieving trips =
> outside and in=20
> harness if we were in isolated situation, but now he barked at home. And =
> I just=20
> got to a point where I had enough. People in the building were =
> complaining to my=20
> manager and I was concerned I might be asked to leave. So, in march I =
> decided to=20
> retire him. I think if we had had only guide work issues I could've =
> continued=20
> working him. He wasn't an easy dog to work, but we were doing well =
> especially in=20
> the last 2 months I had him. But I just had to stop. It was one of the =
> hardest=20
> choices I've ever made and several times over the 6 weeks between =
> notifying the=20
> school and his going to texas to live with his raiser I nearly talked =
> myself out=20
> of it. in many ways we were a perfect match. he had nearly perfect =
> personality=20
> pace, and pull. He was a wonderful companion and I miss him more than I =
> can=20
> describe. </FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>I've got to head to chior practice, so =
> will write=20
> about the new dog possibility later.</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>Shelly</FONT></DIV>
> <DIV> </DIV></BODY></HTML>
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_01F4_01C54C1C.3DDB3AA0--
>
|
