(no subject)
On February 6, 2006, I was called down to a common room at the Seeing Eye, clipped my leash to a bouncy 3/4 lab-1/4 golden retriever and was told to bring her back to my room and get acquainted. Still a bit gunshy after the circumstances around retiring her predecessor I wasn't sure if I was ready for this new creature in my life. She, in no attempt to reassure me in the slightest, stood by my dorm room door and whimpered piteously every time she heard the voice of her trainer, Brian, in the hallway.
I still remember sitting on my bed, with her at the very end of the leash trying to leave, and thinking I didn't know if this was going to work.
But we made it through training, including the NJ blizard of 2006, my becoming so sick I couldn't get out of bed for almost a week, her tossing her Nylabone against a wall and breaking it (the bone, not the wall, but even that was impressive).
And here we are at 3 years. I'm pretty sure she likes me now. And her work, all over the country, has been great. From Salt Lake City to New Orleans, she's always done agreat job. And there is nothing like being able to depend on your dog to find the elevator, the restaurant, and which room is yours early in the morning in another time zone. (My brother still comments on the time he visited me in DC and saw
Pepper sniff the entire perimeter of my hotel room. I now sometimes ask her to confirm that we are free of bugs ... or whatever it is she's looking for.)
And I can't imagine my life without this smart, curious and mischievous beasty around. I mean, it might be a little easier with a dog who didn't stealthily balance plastic bottlecaps on the middle of her tongue, "Wha? I don' ha' any'hing! Bo'lecap? Wha bo'lcap?" or who ambushes her "nemesis" in an icredibly tactical (but highly inappropriate) way, or inserts her presence into a play, or any of the other stories I have, but that would be so boring! And as long as she still guides me through and around complicated places, and attentively keeps me from getting squished by cars (which she's done a couple times), I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thank you Snuggly Warmdog/a.k.a. Pepperous Opstreperous for three years of work, companionship, and entertaining stories. And, btw, you have ears!
(I promise, the next thing I post will not be about the dog.)
I still remember sitting on my bed, with her at the very end of the leash trying to leave, and thinking I didn't know if this was going to work.
But we made it through training, including the NJ blizard of 2006, my becoming so sick I couldn't get out of bed for almost a week, her tossing her Nylabone against a wall and breaking it (the bone, not the wall, but even that was impressive).
And here we are at 3 years. I'm pretty sure she likes me now. And her work, all over the country, has been great. From Salt Lake City to New Orleans, she's always done agreat job. And there is nothing like being able to depend on your dog to find the elevator, the restaurant, and which room is yours early in the morning in another time zone. (My brother still comments on the time he visited me in DC and saw
Pepper sniff the entire perimeter of my hotel room. I now sometimes ask her to confirm that we are free of bugs ... or whatever it is she's looking for.)
And I can't imagine my life without this smart, curious and mischievous beasty around. I mean, it might be a little easier with a dog who didn't stealthily balance plastic bottlecaps on the middle of her tongue, "Wha? I don' ha' any'hing! Bo'lecap? Wha bo'lcap?" or who ambushes her "nemesis" in an icredibly tactical (but highly inappropriate) way, or inserts her presence into a play, or any of the other stories I have, but that would be so boring! And as long as she still guides me through and around complicated places, and attentively keeps me from getting squished by cars (which she's done a couple times), I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thank you Snuggly Warmdog/a.k.a. Pepperous Opstreperous for three years of work, companionship, and entertaining stories. And, btw, you have ears!
(I promise, the next thing I post will not be about the dog.)