I admit it, I have guide dog fever. Ever since GDB accepted me on November 9, 2017 for training on June 3, 2018, I have had little else on my mind. I have read and re-read all the training material, created a packing list, bought some new dog equipment, and have kept a running countdown of the days remaining until training (thirty-five as of today). I’ve combed the web for GDB training-related blogs and joined guide dog groups on Facebook. I may be slightly obsessed.
However, this isn’t all that surprising. A guide dog has been a tool in my mobility toolbox for almost half of my life. In fact, I have used a cane for only ten years total, while I used a guide dog for nearly eleven. When I received my first dog, I blissfully believed that I would continue through life with a guide dog at my side until I was cold in my grave. As it happened, this rosy dream only lasted eleven years before it came crashing to a halt with the early retirement of my second guide.
As I have mentioned previously, this past year of white cane use has been hard, but also has been a time of self-discovery. I have come to the realization that I am a confident traveler with and without a guide dog. However, despite the roller coaster history I’ve had with them, I still prefer guide dogs over the white cane.
This past Wednesday was International Guide Dog Day. It is an annual day of celebration for guide dogs and those who raise, train, volunteer with, and work them. To all these people and dogs out there, thank you for all you do and happy belated International Guide Dog Day to you!
It is incredible to think that somewhere out there, there is a dog in the midst of its training that I will meet in 5 short weeks! To dog number 3, happy International Guide Dog Day! I cannot wait to meet you and for us to start our working partnership!
Of course, my new dog has a history of people who have loved, trained, and cared for him or her. To his or her puppy raisers, thank you from the bottom of my heart for all you have done to love and care for him or her. Also, thank you for laying down the basic skills he or she required to start guide dog training. As well, thank you for ultimately saying goodbye, and passing him or her onward in his or her guide dog journey. I am incredibly grateful for your sacrifices. I have informed GDB that they can pass my contact info onward to my new guide’s puppy raisers, so I am hopeful to hear from them after I am in training, and perhaps see them on graduation day (though I am aware that GDB only lets the puppy raisers know that their dog is in class with a handler several days into the two-week training period, so it can be difficult, both financially and logistically, for those who live further away to come to the graduation day). To my new dog’s puppy raisers, happy International Guide Dog Day!
I also wish a Happy International Guide Dog day to all the GDB staff, trainers, and volunteers who have worked hard to train and shape my new dog into the highly-trained guide I will be receiving. I am incredibly grateful, and I am very excited to meet some of you in June.
Obviously none of this would be at all possible without the generous donors who have raised and donated funds to support and train a dog from puppy-hood to old-age. Thank you, and happy International Guide Dog Day to you all as well!
I can’t end this post without wishing a happy International Guide Dog Day to all those who had a hand in raising and training my previous two guides. Trep set my life on an amazing new track, and I miss him desperately every single day, and Telus, though he is retired, continues to bring light and companionship to my life.
Finally, Happy International Guide Dog Day to all the working teams out there! I cannot wait to be among your ranks again!
Insight from the Shadows 