One of the hardest things a handler has to go through is retiring a guide dog. It’s one of those things that does not get easier the more times it’s done. This past weekend I visited my father, who has very generously given homes to both of my previous guides once they’ve retired. It was my first visit since retiring Yara and the initial introduction she had to my current guide dog, Uschi. I think we were all a little nervous about this, but our worries were completely unfounded because the girls got along wonderfully. This got me thinking about how the guides themselves react to their retirement.
From almost the moment they are born guide dogs have been treated in specific ways to help aid them on their potential journey to working in harness. Before being placed with families who will raise, train and socialize them, they are constantly being held by people and being exposed to new and different objects, sounds and smells. The idea is to help foster confidence and mold those necessary strengths that a guide dog requires. At home with their puppy raisers, their entire lives revolve around learning proper manners and being exposed to situations that might crop up in their working life. And, of course, throughout their training they are being shown exactly what will be expected of them as working guides. Basically, by the time a dog has become a guide, the idea of going out into the big, wide world with their handler is as normal to them as drinking water.
So, while retirement is certainly hard for a handler, it can be almost devastatingly difficult for the guide dog. Guides that are used to going everywhere and having a very active life are not always able to adapt to life as a lazy pet. Even more stressful for them is the very idea of being left alone for extended periods. My first guide dog, Dolly, seemed to fall into retirement rather naturally. She was retired solely due to her age, so I think it was a welcome treat for her to just lounge around the house, eat table scraps, and play with her toys. Since, she and I lived at my father’s for a good portion of her working career as I was in college, in essence it was like coming home for her. She didn’t even pine for me, though she did have some quirky habits that clearly developed during our years living there; for example, when going to bed, she would always walk into my old bedroom first and in fact she spent so much time randomly falling asleep in there that my father finally put a spare dog bed in the room. And while of my three guides she proved to take being left at home the worst — she’d literally get sick — she wasn’t fazed at all by the long hours home alone while Dad and Keith were at work.
Yara, on the other hand, was retired at five for a series of health reasons. Moreover, I think I can count on one hand the number of times she’d been at my father’s before being retired. And after falling so hard for Dolly, who passed away last year, I think Dad and Keith made a concerted effort to distance themselves from this dog. I really didn’t know what to expect of her new life and home. Before visiting, I had several conversations with my father over the last three months about how she was doing and everything seemed to be going smoothly. Most notably, her health was better than ever!
What’s probably more intriguing is how the dogs have reacted to my presence after their retirement. Dolly always seemed rather indifferent to me when I would visit. She’d greet me happily and she was especially obedient, but she was clearly no longer my dog. During this visit with Yara, though it was obvious she was trying to reclaim me. It was so profound that we had a running theory that Yara and Uschi had conversed and decided they were switching places because Uschi seemed quite attached to Keith! When I pulled out the harness in front of Dolly one time, she waddled up to me on her arthritic legs and dutifully stood there waiting but she clearly wasn’t enthused by the idea. However, Yara practically bowled Uschi over when I took her harness out. She got into her excited whining thing and basically justified everything I said above about the normalcy of going places. Dad said that she was a might peeved when I left with Uschi.
Not being a dog I can’t really say as to the specifics of why some dogs are able to transition into retirement so smoothly and others aren’t. But in terms of my two girls, I think age has a lot to do with it. Dolly was more than ready to be done with her life in harness, she was nearly ten when I retired her and she had slowed down considerably. She’d developed arthritis and I’m sure it was terribly painful for her and, as I said above, going to my father’s was literally like coming home for her. Not to mention he had been notorious for spoiling her throughout her lifetime. On the flip side, Yara was in her prime as my guide dog and were it not for the health issues I never would have thought to retire her so young. While she definitely enjoys her new sedentary life, she’s always been eager and excited to go anywhere and retirement certainly has not stopped that. So, it doesn’t surprise me that she’s always happy to see her leash (or my harness) being picked up and gets miffed when she’s left behind. I think some of it is also personality. I know there are a lot of days I get up and go to work more on autopilot and because I have to, you know, pay bills and eat than any real desire to go and actually do my job and I really do enjoy being in my career. I can’t say Yara ever had a day that she showcased this, even when she was literally wasting away from her EPI she was always happy and energetic about, well, everything. Dolly, however, always had a bit of a lazy start to her day. It was like she needed a cup of coffee to get herself going; I used to call it her “five block or fifteen minute rule” because whichever came first would be when she really started to work in earnest. And for a completely black dog, she had one of the most expressive faces on a canine I’ve ever seen. Very often it displayed a look of severe boredom or irritation, like she was just too good to put up with the menial task of making sure I didn’t walk into things. Really, I’m not speaking with hyperbole when I say she was vindictive; if she thought I’d wronged her in any way, I could pretty much guarantee my face would collide with something shortly thereafter. It’s one thing I definitely don’t miss about her.
Whatever the reason, though I’m glad that my girls have had the opportunity to have a “dog’s” life after their years of in harness. I think it’s a well deserved treat for them and from what I’ve seen they would no doubt fervently agree.
This post was written as part of the Assistance Dog Blog Carnival. This third carnival’s theme is “Reactions” and further information can be found here on the founder’s blog.
In addition to age, it may also be a matter of the difference in breeds. The GSDs that I’ve known love to work, and a lot of them like to compete with each other.
I specifically did not mention that because I didn’t want to get into an inadvertent debate about whether guide dogs of any breed want to work. For the record, while she was far more sedate about it, my lab was always eager to jump into harness. By the time she retired we both knew it was time.
Oh sure, I can understand that, and . I just know what my girls have all been like. My retiree, Nora, turns 10 this summer, and she’s more active and puppy-like than my 6-year-old.
Whoops, fragmented a clause there. Meant to say “…I can understand that, and wasn’t suggesting that labs are lazy :-). “
I didn’t take it offensively at all, Matt. And I would be the first one to admit the differences that breeds present, which is one reason it infuriates me that so many schools — and handlers — seem to be under the impression that because labs are so adaptable they’re a fine match for everyone.
I’m also only comparing my dogs, who have a very active and busy working life. While I can’t speak to the opposite from lack of experience or exposure, I’d expect a retired guide from a less active handler might well react very differently to retirement.
Also! Awesomely cute pics of the two ladies together.
Thanks! I realize now that I chose photos where the girls are both out of harness. Oh, well.
That was a great post. I have had my first guide dog Ushi for 7 months now. I hope retirement is a long long long way off!
I leave Ushi at home usually once a day, so that she gets used to it, and also because I collect my little brother from school and Ushi would be far too exciteable around young children. (she loves them). Maybe when she is older I might consider taking her. She doesn’t care about being left and just goes to bed.
I think retirement for a dog is probably like retiring for humans. You get some of us who just want to laze around, and some who aren’t ready to give up yet!
Take care,
Torie and guide dog Ushi.
Thanks, Torie!
I know a lot of handlers try to avoid developing separation anxiety, but for me I don’t have the time or inclination to work on it since I’m generally very reluctant to leave my guide at home unless it’s a situation that is unsafe for her. And, oh boy, I can so relate to the child distraction; my last guide dog, Yara, was super distracted by children!
I definitely agree that sometimes it’s personality, too. I know I go to work many days and don’t really want to and I’m sure there are guide dogs that have the same situation. Not that they don’t love their jobs, but sometimes you just want to crawl back in bed, you know? I think retirement is a bit like that for them, too. But in the end, I think having a dog’s life is a worthwhile end cap for the service they provide us.
I love the picture of Uschi lying in your arms with her tongue hanging out! That is one stressed-out looking dog — not!
This was a really interesting as I don’t have the experience of retiring my SDs to live with someone else. My first SD, Jersey, overall really liked retirement, except for one major thing: Gadget, my second SD. LOL.
Actually, she liked him just fine, she just didn’t like sharing him with me. She didn’t like getting less attention, and I did not do as good a job as I should have of making her feel special and included. She definitely was happy to lie around and be a pet, she didn’t miss the work except missing earning treats. I think age definitely is a factor, as she was older when retired and lived to be 13. However, it is also personality, as she treated it like her job, not her career.
Gadget was a different story. He would not have been happy to retire, but he didn’t, because he kept working till a month before he died — when he was finally feeling sick. But before that, he chose it. I tried to retire him when he was diagnosed with cancer, and it lasted less than 2 days. He just got bored and grouchy, and started offering behaviors I didn’t ask for.
He was 8 when he refused to retire, and 9 when he died. If he’d been older, he’d probably have been more accepting of it.
Hi Sharon! Not sure how your comment got thrown in the mod queue, but anyway, thanks for dropping in!
I’m quite partial to that photo of Uschi because it so captures her personality. She’s just a cute, happy girl.
I actually was very concerned with how Yara would take to her retirement because she is so young and she desperately enjoys to work and be active. I think she would have had a much harder time if she stayed with me, which was very close to a reality at one point simply because I couldn’t find anyone to take her. I think she and Uschi would have had a lot of trouble with one another, too. But being at my father’s and having a whole new routine has definitely eased the transition for her. And thankfully, she’s always been able to keep herself occupied if no one else will.
Jersey sounds a lot like Dolly. I think if I had kept her, she would certainly have lorded herself over Yara. Especially since there was an almost two-year gap between my first and second guides. (Long story, though, it’s pretty boring so you aren’t really missing out.) Dolly was definitely one of those dogs that didn’t think I was the master so much as she just knew the whole world revolved around her. She really had m parents wrapped around her paws when she retired and went to live with them. It was pretty entertaining, even if I personally wouldn’t stand for it.