Re: Service dog question

[Guest guest]

Gretchen,

Buck was trained for service by a National Center in upstate NY. My

neurologist wrote me a prescription for one when I told him in a few

choice words what I thought of a nurse care attendant to transfer me in

bed and to the bath. I am not known to mince words. I applied after a

month of trying it " my way " , and re breaking the knee and left leg

within 6 months time. The Center came to my home with a beautiful

golden retriever and I said cute dog but goldens are too friendly and

tend to be dumb. Well, that dog wasn't. I said I really wanted a

german shepherd and they tried me with a beautiful female but she sort

of treated me with " oh God, it's her again " type of attitude. When I

had them back down to my home about 4 months later they brought the

shepherd and another golden with them and Buck (the golden) fell in love

with me. My telephone rang and he without being told went and got it

and handed it to me and then laid at my feet and refused to take any

commands from the trainers.

He had been donated to the Center by a couple that had bought him

from a breeder in Norway. Buck is huge, solid muscle, 84 pounds, 32

inch neck and 36 inch shoulder width. He has proven his worth more than

once. He has made national headlines, when the pilot light on my

furnace cracked and I was overcome with carbon monoxide and he disobeyed

me and pulled me off the couch into my chair and drug me outside and

then pulled out my cats. I had less than 2 % oxygen in my blood and he

was near collapse also. He also has been with me in the operating room

when I have had surgery, the icu, and ccu - he is fantastic. He won

acclaim in 1997 from the Delta Society which I gave to the trainer since

they did all the work. In 1998 when my mother fell and broke her hip he

braced her for more than 20 minutes till the paramedics arrived. We had

a major ice storm that year and the roads were blocked bad. By the way

mother weighed close to 170 pounds and Buck never flinched holding her

up and steady. He knows his commands in 3 languages and though not

trained for sight and alert (deaf) he knows the danger signals and makes

certain I am protected at all times. He does more than 120 tasks for

me, no tricks though. Even without the harness he still remains on duty

as he knows I do need assistance. He is good and I wouldn't go to any

other Center to get another dog even if one was offered free to me. He

does not bark either and yes his vocal chords work.

Good luck with your dog. There are many training centers nationwide

to help with training and books for self training also. My demands were

many and I did not have the full ability to teach all the necessary

training skills so a fully equipped center was my choice. When I work

with Buck now on new tasks he learns them from a prospective of how I do

them adapted not the way another person may do them.

leslie

Oh October was 5 years together for us.

[Guest guest]

-----Original Message-----

From: Gretchen Glick <liliwigg@...>

egroups <egroups>

Date: Tuesday, January 09, 2001 2:55 PM

Subject: [] Service dog question

>>>>>>This is not about service dogs per say, but had to mention this. My

grandmother was blind, non CMT family side. They brought home a hugh german

shepard as a pup. His name was Silver, and as he grew, he would go over to

my Grandmother when she would rise out of her chair and wait. He was hugh

she was short 5 ft. and as soon as he saw the direction she was going, he

would nudge her and she would put her hand on his back and he would lead her

where ever she was going, very slowly. They had him 16 years, and the loss

of him was like that of a dear family member. My grandmother refused to

have another dog after him. ~>Becky M.