Retirement and New Days

Some seven years and nine months ago in early 2011, I wrote in this blog about my return to The Seeing Eye for my third guide dog. As many can recall reading about, or perhaps have seen over this time, I was matched with a yellow lab named Navajo. He brought some semblance of a closure to a tough chapter in my life, bringing me independence once again after retiring my second dog Phil due to his health issues. Navajo has been everything I could have hoped for--smart, loyal, playful, serious, calm, dedicated. For the last seven and three quarters years, he's went everywhere with me--work, the beach, conferences near and far, Disney World, baseball games, boat rides, airplane flights, meals with famous and not so famous people, shopping, hikes, crossings of thousands of streets, the list goes on forever. There was rarely a moment that he wasn't by my side and me by his. Loyalty was a trait that is never questioned about Navajo; As Josh Billings so nicely put it, "A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself." No truer words could ever be said. I write this post today reflecting on our partnership together, and as I look forward as to what is to come. With a tinge of sadness in my heart and yet a smile on my face of the good times we have had together, I made the decision around June to prepare for Navajo's retirement. There comes a time that all handlers know. I can't point to just one thing; it wasn't just him slowing down, or the loss of his pull into the harness, or the fact he was over nine years old; no, more so, I could tell that his loyalty was undying yet his body was ready for a less strenuous life, I could tell that while he would be loyal to the day he couldn't walk, I had a responsibility to love him more than this; it was his time to have some rest. I had always known that I wanted to retire my dog’s around ten years of age to give them time to finish their life’s journey in relaxation, but while this was some months before that milestone, a dog that has had an amazing working life, deserves their days to relax and be shown the love that they have shown us. First things first, I had to assure Navajo had a place to retire. Somewhere I could see him regularly, that he would be unquestionably taken care of to the degree that I would accept, somewhere that he would be happy, and most of all someone that would understand the endless gratitude that these dogs deserve after their lifetime of service. I was lucky; I had endless request of people more than willing to take Navajo. However, I had already had these conversations with my mom before; would she take Navajo, would she be okay with him being an older dog, ETC. A long story short, the answer was generally always yes. The decision was easy, when the time came, Navajo was going to my parents in Alabama when he retired. This started the process to reapply to The Seeing Eye. I will not bore you with the details, but one must get on a waiting list to get a successor dog. I completed my application around July and was given a tentative date of 22 October. It was a waiting game. As we neared the date, I was in contact with the school. It became clear that there was not a dog ready for me for the 22 October class. Life has a way of working itself out and the next class started on 26 November. and It was a waiting game again. Luckily this wait didn't last to long and on 22 October, I was called and confirmed into the 26 November class. They have a dog for me. This was relieving, scary, exciting, sad. I would be able to go on long walks without worrying about if Navajo could handle them; I would be able to get places quickly again; I had to face the retirement of Navajo face on. Navajo is still going to work with me every day right now; He mainly sleeps under my desk and enjoys the attention of my coworkers when the harness is off. The vet has confirmed that the cause of his slowness is arthritis in his hips and thus he can't hold up to real long walks. Outside of his slowness and the like, he's still in relatively good health and I'm sure will enjoy putting the harness on to go to work until the last day. Retiring a dog is one of the hardest things in life. Its like losing a part of myself to only have it replaced by a 'new' piece, that will work different and have its own unique behaviors. Each dog is different; each dog brings its own challenges and successes. Most of all though, they bring a blind person freedom. Most of all, we will learn to love each other just as much as Navajo and I love each other. I will learn to trust this dog with my life, he or she will learn to trust and respect me as part of their pack. Navajo will ultimately thrive in retirement, I truly believe this; however, change isn’t easy, it was never meant to be. He may be sad, I will be sad. New rules will be established, a new pack formed. Yet one thing will always remain; no one, nothing, not even time, will take away the last seven years and nine months of independence, of conquering life, that Navajo and myself unleashed on the world. I will fly to Alabama on 20 November for Thanksgiving to retire Navajo and take that harness off one last time. It won’t be easy; frankly, it will probably be sad. But for both of us, as one door closes, another one will open. I intend on blogging about my journey at the Seeing Eye again starting on 26 November, I find it enriching and informative to some, a time capsule of what has been and what is to come. Feel free to follow along and take in the journey with us.