Scarey man and dog !

A few nights before Christmas I was awakened at 2:30am by the outside dogs barking and howling and carrying on. I opened the front door to find out why they were barking and was shocked to find a man and a Bull dog type dog at my front gate. I asked what he wanted and he did not answer.His dog was making my dogs go nuts. At that hour,I am sure that my neighbors were cursing me for all that noise. I kept asking the man what he wanted but he refused to answer me. I was about to call the police when he said "Merry Christmas" and just walked away.I did not call the police as it was now almost 3:00am and I just went back to bed as the dogs quieted down. Well, today I was on the computer reading the Nagdu list (my guide dog list) and the dogs began carrying on again. I went to the door and the same man and bull dog were at my front gate again.He had no right to come on to my property and I asked him to Please leave and he refused. I threatened to call the police if he did not leave. I called them and he then left. I explained to the officer what took place and he agreed that the man had no business coming on to my property.The officer left to go look for the man and his dog. I hope this does not happen again. It is very scarey,especially because I can not see very well. Shaman was outside at that time and the bull dog was fighting through the fence and the man refused to tell me what he wanted and refused to leave when I asked him to.Very scarey indeed ! to be continued...............

Shaman worked without distractions today

I went shopping today and Shaman worked without getting distracted.He was excellent.I love it when he is like this. Of course Carla was not with me so he wasn't looking for her all the time.Carla was thinking she had ruined my dog but it is not Carla's fault that Shaman likes her.She just took care of him for me when I was in the hospital. He will get over being distracted by her if I just keep reminding him that he is working for me.He is just a very friendly dog for a shepherd.I know he is capable of working perfectly with out being distracted. to be continued...........

More distractions at the grocery store

Shaman was very distracted when I went to the grocery store yesterday. He is very fixated on my friend Carla. She took care of him when I was in the hospital this summer. He did not used to be so distractable but ever since the hospital situation, he goes nuts when he sees Carla. He was whining and not listening to me so I gave him a verbal correction but he was still distracted.I then gave him a leash correction. This woman came up to me and told me I was being cruel to my dog.At first I just ignored her but she kept interfering. She said the dog was not right for the job he was doing and that maybe he had to go to the bathroom. I made sure he was relieved be for we went in. The dog has been a guide dog for over 2 years and has worked well. He just has to remember that it is me he is guiding and not Carla. He never acted like that until she took care of him for me.I hate when People interfere when they know nothing about how guide dogs are trained. Her interfering made the dog even more distracted. I finally told her to leave me alone and that unless she was a certified guide dog trainer, she was interfering with the dog doing his job.This Man stopped and was watching the whole situation and told the woman to leave me and the dog alone and that I knew what I was doing. I thanked him and he said he used to train police dogs. After the woman went on her way,Shaman settled down and was much better while we were shopping. I wish people would just mind there own business. The dog knows his job and enjoys working. He just got to know Carla when I was in the hospital and he really likes her. He just needed to be reminded that he was working and the leash correction did that.He was fine the rest of the time out. to be continued................

Shaman is still distracted

I went to lunch down town with My friend Rachel the other day, Shaman was doing well until He saw Rachel. He realized that her guide dog Rhett was not with her. Rachel held on to the back of my wheelchair and I went slow enough so she would not trip up. We went to the farmers market on the way to Baggans' but neither of us had money to spend there.But I scraped up 67 cents to buy some apples for My Bearded Dragons.Shaman kept looking back to check on Rachel.We did get our lunch and it was good. Going back, Shaman still kept looking back to check on Rachel. He even whined as she got on the van to go home. He kept looking back at the van until it left. Then and only then would he proceed to go forward. He was ok the rest of the way home for me. I find this distraction very annoying.To be continued.........

I went to the Reptile Show with Shaman

Last year I did not use my dog when I went to the Reptile show.I used my white cane. This year I decided to use Shaman. He was not bothered by the animals at all,but was very distracted by the crowd of people. He would stop frequently as if he were looking for some one.At times he refused to go forward and would turn in the wrong direction.This is one of those times when I really miss Nala. She would have been perfect as she always was. She never got distracted in crowds. I guess I will just have to work on this with Shaman. He did get better after a while but still got distracted some and of course people just had to pet him so that did not help matters any. To be continued...........

Wanagi is working out well as a guide dog

Carla and I have been working with Wanagi and she is doing great. I am now using Nala's harness on her and it fits her perfect. I have used her both walking and with the manual wheelchair and she is working well.I still miss Nala very much.I think the other dogs miss her as well.We also lost Aurora,one of our rescue dogs'.She had a brain tumor and there was nothing the vet could do.We lost one of the dogs' that Nick was fostering to Distemper and Pneumonia.The vet said he was too far gone before we got him out of the shelter and he could not be saved. I am fostering his sister Junau. She also has Distemper and Pneumonia and was not expected to live either but, she has managed to over come the Distemper. We are still battling the Pneumonia. She is starting to get some what better, but is still on a lot of medications. I hope she makes it.We are trying to raise money to get a prosthetic leg for Freckles. She was born missing her back paw and part of her leg.She is such a sweet little dog. Rescue work can be very rewarding but it can also be heart breaking. To be continued...........

Wanagi is in training to be a guide dog

I have decided to train Wanagi to guide me.I need to walk as much as I can to prevent pulmonary embolism. I have been lucky enough to have survived this condition several times already.I can not walk fast or for a long period because of my spinal stenosis and arthritis, so I must use a dog that can walk slow enough for me.I also need a dog that can lead me from a manual wheelchair as my power chair does not fit in Carla's car.Shaman walks to fast for me when I am walking and also when I use the manual chair.When I had Nala,I could always use her. Now that she is gone, I must find another dog for this.Since Wanagi has already had some guide training,I decided to try her. She could not keep up with my power chair,but her old hip injury does not seem to bother her at my walking speed.Carla has been taking her for walks and she remembers to stop at all the right places. Yesterday,I added a handle to her training harness and both Carla and I worked her.She did very well.I think Wanagi will workout well for this job. She is very eager to please me and seems to like working. I am so glad I kept her even though she could not make it as a wheel chair guide.Shaman works very well as a wheelchair guide for my power chair.I miss my Nala so much. It is still very hard to talk about her without tears. She was a wonderful dog, the best guide dog I ever had...To be continued...........

Sad news:Nala passed away

I am writing this in the wee hours of the morning. Nala passed away last night. It was very sudden and unexpected.We got her to the emergency vet clinic but there was nothing any one could do for her.She was perfectly fine in the morning and ate her breakfast as usual but she did not eat her dinner. I thought is was because it's been so hot and when it is hot,sometimes the dogs don't eat well.I went to let the dogs out like I always do at 10:00 pm and Nala did not come.I went to check on her as it is very unusual for her not to come when I call her. She did not respond and was just laying there in her usual spot.I called Carla and we got her to the emergency vet but it was to late. My beautiful Nala was gone.The vet said she had a tumor on her spleen and it had burst. She said that a lot of dogs get these tumors and they don't show signs of illness but when the tumor grows too big,it bursts and the dogs die very quickly.Nala never showed any signs that she was sick.I am heart broken. Nala was a very special dog and I will miss her very much. to be continued.........

Shaman got attacked by a dog when we were down town

Yesterday was my birth day. I had to go down town to pay the mortgage and the water bill and get my bus pass.I got the mortgage paid but the city had a furlow day so I was unable to get the water bill payed and get my bus pass. This annoyed me that the city would close down after already having a day off from the holiday. Now I will have to go down town again another day. It is too hot for this!Even with his boots, cooler collar and cooler jacket, Shaman gets too hot to spend all that time working out side.We were on our way back to the bus station,crossing the street when some one walking a dog was coming toward us. As we passed the person with the dog,it suddenly attacked Shaman! I yelled for the owner to control his dog and I got Shaman out of the way.The person never said any thing and just went on his way.There were other people there,but no one offered help or even said any thing. Are Shaman and I invisible? This is not the first time a dog has attacked Shaman and no one did any thing to stop it or help us. They just acted like nothing happened.Shaman was not physically injured but he was clearly upset. I hope he does not have any dog aggression problems again like the last time he was attacked.It took a lot of time and work to get him over it.What is wrong with people????????? At least the rest of the day was Pleasant.Carla and I went to Olive Garden and had a nice dinner. Shaman was good and spent the entire time under the table as usual.He is such a wonderful dog! To be continued..............

Toy helicopters flying in the mall

After my doctor's appointment, Shaman and I went to the mall to get some lunch. After lunch, I asked Shaman to find the elevator. On his way, a low flying toy helicopter swooped down right in front of him and he took me around it without missing a step! Some people standing near the toy were amazed that he could do that.I told Shaman he was a good boy and stroked his head. I was surprised that he was not frightened by the flying toy as this was the first time he had experienced anything like this. He really has become a great guide dog! Got on the elevator and went off to pay the phone bill and then home. To be continued.................