I may have to hire a trainer to help Shaman get over his attack!

Shaman has been negatively affected by his attack. He growls and barks at every dog that gets with in 3 feet of him.He does not lunge at them or try to fight with them but he will not tolerate them in his space. I had been working with him by bringing him to PetsMart and he was much better with other dogs,but now after being attacked by that Pit Bull,he has gotten worse.I may have to hire a trainer to help with this problem. Nick can't help as he is in school pretty much full time now.Carla is going to ask a trainer to work with Foxy,the new rescue dog as she has bitten me twice now.I may ask this trainer if she can work with Shaman also.I hope I can get him over this problem. I don't want to go through finding a new dog and start over with the guide training.Shaman's guide work is good,and he is less distracted now.I would hate to have to retire him for this problem. To be continued.................

Shaman got attacked by a pit bull today !

Shaman and I went to my doctor's appointment and then to pay some bills today.I had to cross Oracle road at Wetmore, which is a very busy crossing. Twice,cars cut right in front of me as I was in the middle of the cross walk.Shaman stopped both times as the cars cut us off. I have the right of way when I am in the cross walk,yet I was cut off twice. These people just don't care.I have been working with Shaman, trying to get him more dog desensitized.I have been bringing him to Pets mart and he has been doing much better. The last time we went, He only growled at one dog that came right up to him and sniffed him.He did not growl or bark at any of the other dogs that walked passed us. Shaman was so good today. I was thinking that he is finally settling in as a guide dog and I am getting used to him.On the way home, I told the bus driver that I needed to get off just before Grant road, in front of the church. The driver missed my stop and let me off on the opposite side of Grant and Stone. I don't use this stop because of the side walk. I had a hard time getting on the sidewalk,through the gravel. This side walk has some uneven parts and some major drop offs.And then I have to cross the busy street during rush hour. I was not happy to say the least! I finally got on to the side walk after much trouble.I made a call to the bus company to complain about the driver missing my stop and then being rude to me.As I was talking to a man at the bus company,this dog was running loose in the street and all over the place. The dog almost got hit several times. Then the dog, a Pit bull,came right toward Shaman and me.As the dog approached us, I told Shaman to "leave it" Shaman did not growl or bark. He was distracted but we were not moving as I was still on the phone. The dog passed us and then turned around and attacked Shaman. I quickly pulled out my cane and hit the Pit bull several times and he ran down the street.The man on the phone with me could hear the commotion. There were people all around us and no one did any thing to help.Only one person said he thought the pit bull belonged to the black couple walking down the street before the dog came by. He said that the dog had no collar.If indeed,the dog belonged to that couple,they did not call their dog off of Shaman. I did not bother to call the police or animal control as they have never done anything before when my other dogs got attacked.I just went home.I was very glad to get in the house and relax as this was very stressful for the both of us. Shaman has a small cut on the side of his face. I cleaned it off and put some peroxide on it. I hope this attack has not undone the work have been doing with Shaman. To be continued.......................

The ice cream store was closed

I went to the bank on Thursday and Shaman and I always stop for ice cream on our way back. Shaman knows exactly where the ice cream store is and will pull me towards it in anticipation of his treat of a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.The store was closed much to Shaman's disappointment.He did not want to leave as I tried to explain to him that the place was closed.He finally got the idea as I showed him that the door would not open.Shaman rarely gets treats of human food,but I have always given my guide dogs a small(very small) scoop of vanilla ice cream as it does help to cool them during the hot weather of Summer.It is only once or twice a month,so I don't think it is so bad for them.They do enjoy it.Any way, Shaman was very disappointed,so we went somewhere else, and I gave him some yogurt and he did enjoy it. To be continued.................