For dog lovers

[catwoman]

Well, I think any animal lover would enjoy these, too.

A blind reporter at the Fort Worth (TX) Star-Telegram recently retired her first Seeing Eye dog and acquired a replacement. A huge spread ran on this 1/4/09and there's also a video at the paper's website.

Enjoy!

Word of caution: Get out the tissues when viewing the video. A male co-worker got teary-eyed.

http://www.star-telegram.com/news/story/1118953.html

http://video.star-telegram.videos.vmixcore.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=2334179

 

[Bina]

What a great story! Bates and Gabe sound amazing.

Several years ago, a good friend of mine decided to adopt a seeing eye dog who had been retired at middle age due to his own eyesight failing rapidly. It was a chocolate Labrador who fit into her family right away.
This dog would habitually pause at the top of the stairs when the children were nearby and he had to re-learn that now he would be given a cue for new objects in his path. He responded to the "wait" and "careful" commands.
"Mars" would run around their back yard at great speed once he had learned the location of the swingset and sandbox that he needed to avoid. It was almost frightening to watch him, but I'm sure he was laughing the whole time.
A big thrill was when my friend brought him to the pet supply store where I was working and showed me some of his training.
He was a lovely milk chocolate colour with lighter frosting on his muzzle, much like my darling Cleo.
Marsha, thanks for the memories!

 

[Wise]

Marsha, thanks for the link to the wonderful story about Liz, Bates and Gabe. You were correct in that tears would be flowing. We watched the video and teared up. We starting reading the article and have put it on hold, we both became too tearful to endure it; we'll finish later.

Guide dogs are first of all dogs and the same connection anyone has to their pet exists with the guide dog owner (I'd say there are few exceptions). All of the love that is shared between the guide and the master is exceptional to say the least.

We were going to see Marley & Me today, but, for now, we'll delay that. We're such sops!!

 

[catwoman]

Wise:

I knew you'd be attracted to the article and video.

Grab a box of Kleenex and watch it later......

 

[VikiVix]

That was beautiful and yes I'm crying. What a touching story! I'm a cat person too but I love dogs also. I'm hoping and praying that I will be able to get a dog one day soon. I have a cat and love animals too.
Thank you for this wonderful post!

 

[AgilityDog]

Oh, that was lovely.

I've been experiencing a bit of that with my retired dog, Tank. Working dogs are special, and their bond with their handler is very tight. Tank got me through my first surgery, and back on the agility field in early 2007, but told me he'd had enough this past spring. Tank only works now when he wants to, which is less and less. When Jet and I leave for classes, Tank goes to the bedroom and hops up on the bed, instead of trying to come through the door with us. He only comes along if invited, now. It's a little (ok, a lot) sad to watch my working dog, first agility dog, and truly best buddy fade into retirement. Oh, and he's 9 years old, too. I can certainly relate to the reporter's feelings.

 

[Lisa in Katy]

Definitely a tear jerker, but a sweet story. I can't imagine giving away any of my dogs, but I also can't imagine how a working dog would handle watching another dog do his job. I'm not sure that dogs understand retirement.

I saw Marley and me this weekend. Marley was definitely NOT a working dog, but he still had a purpose in life. It was sad, but still a good movie. Weddings and animals - the two things that affect me!