2014-06-03 Guide Dog Retirement
Seminars@Hadley
Beyond the Working Years: Developing Your Retirement Plan for Your Dog Guide.
Presented by
Michelle Drulette
Moderated by
Colleen Wonderlich
Doug Anzlovar
June 3, 2014
Colleen Wonderlich
Welcome to Seminars at Hadley, my name is Colleen Wonderlich and I’m the director here for the For Sight Center for Employment and Entrepreneurship at Hadley. And I’m also joined by Doug Anzlovar. Doug, do you want to say a few…?
Doug Anzlovar
Sure. My name is Doug, and I’m the dean of Education Programs and Instruction here at the Hadley school.
Colleen Wonderlich
And I am a current dog guide user. I’m on my third dog. I’ve been working dogs for about 15 years now.
Doug Anzlovar
And I have had two dogs, and have had to retire both of my dogs through the years.
Colleen Wonderlich
So we thought this would be…we have a whole mixture of experience here, and of course on the phone we have Michelle Drulette. I’ll talk about, introduce everybody in a minute. We’re going to get started here.
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Okay, I’m going to open the seminar formally now. Welcome to Seminar’s at Hadley. My name it Colleen Wonderlich. And I am joined here on the phone by Michelle Drulette. Michelle is formerly with the counselling specialists with The Seeing Eye. She worked for 24 years at The Seeing Eye. 17 of those years she was counselling specialist at The Seeing Eye. She told me I’m allowed to say this, but she’s had seven dogs over a 40 year time span. So as she puts it, some of them worked for a long time, and some of them didn’t work out. We all know how that is when we’re working dogs.
That why we thought this would be a good title to developing a retirement plan for your dog guide beyond the working years, because sometimes those working years come up sooner than we think.
I’m going to go ahead now and turn it over to Michelle. Michelle has prepared a presentation for us. We’re going to let her get through all of her topic, then we will open it up for questions at the end. So, Michelle, I’m going to release the mic. Actually, I don’t have to release it. You’re on the phone. What am I thinking?
Okay Michelle, I’m not used to this. Michelle is on the phone with us, so go ahead Michelle.
Michelle Duvette
Hi everybody. It’s really a pleasure to be with you all this afternoon to discuss a topic that is difficult to discuss, especially when you’re working a brand new dog and hopefully you know you’re going to have that dog for years. So how can you just fathom the idea of retirement?
But today, what I would like to do is discuss variety of retirement options that over the years and working with graduates and students at The Seeing Eye, we discussed a lot of these issues and I also learned a lot from the students as well.
So we’re going to discuss the variety of options, some of the pros and cons of each option, because unfortunately I don’t think there’s no perfect way to retire a dog guide. Then I want to also discuss the adaptability of dogs, why their nature allows them to adapt quicker than we humans. And understanding this I think can help us move forward into that transition with the new dog. It’s not going to change how we emotionally deal with it, but it will help us.
Then we’ll open it up for questions.
So, retiring a dog guide for most people is often a painful and very difficult experience resulting in many months of emotional upheaval. During this time it’s very difficult for people to think clearly and epically to make such a decision as retiring their dogs.
So during this emotional upheaval time everything is overwhelming, and what normally would be something that you would deal with very easily that you would be able to cope with is suddenly impossible to do so.
So one of the things that I’ve always suggested to graduates as they begin working their new dogs is three or four years down the road you might want to consider developing a retirement plan for your guide dog. And you might want to think about having a couple of options because as you probably have known in the past, sometimes your option doesn't work out, peoples’ circumstances change or your circumstances change and you need to have a fallback option.
So be kind to yourself. By having an option, a potential option you’re much more able to deal and you can go forward and still be less emotional at that time.
What I’d like to do now is go over each option and to discuss the pros and cons in each.
I have identified four different options. The first one is giving your dog to a friend or a family member. And if that’s not possible, to utilize community resources to help you find a home such as dog rescue groups, your church, and/or your veterinarian.
Again, a lot of these people may have ideas and may help you find a home. And in this case, it’s going to allow more time. You’re going to need more time, because you really would like to introduce the people.
Next choice is to either keep your dog as a single person or if you have a spouse or partner and family, keep your dog as a pet. And finally if those options don’t work out, you have the option of returning your dog to the school where it came from. It’s always important to know that because sometimes things fall through and you’re in a panic.
Let’s begin by talking about retiring your dog to a friend or a family member. This to me is the best of both worlds if you can’t keep your dog because basically the dog is still in the family, so to speak. They most likely know the people they’re going with. They’re familiar with them. They’ve been to the home. So it’s a pretty easy retirement.
The hard part here is giving up ownership of that dog. Now, as you know and I’m in this too, feel the same way that no one can take care of my dog the way I take care of my dog. Again, pet dogs, as beloved as they are, their role is different in the world than guide dogs... therefore we handles are taught a different way to treat our dogs or to handle our dogs so that they can go into public places and they’re clean and they’re well-behaved. That’s very crucial.
And our dogs are an integral part of our lives and expect every aspect of our life when we don’t have them. Whereas pets have a different role again. It does not affect the day to day functioning of the people who own the dogs.
So they might be treated differently, but the dogs will still be happy. As an instructor always told me in the past, you know, we have a very standard as handlers, but dogs, all they care about is getting their daily needs met, to have love and play time. And that’s it, and they’re very happy.
So it’s always good to know that when we don’t agree with the way someone might be handling our dog. For the most part, they are very happy.
For some graduates they need to establish some visitation rights to go see their dog. Once the graduate comes home with their new dog sometimes it really helps them to see their dog behaving and happy in the new home. I kind of see this as a way to heal your soul through and through. Being able to see your dog happy helps you move forward.
Many graduates used to tell me that they would go visit their dog and then be standing their sobbing their eyes out while the dog is running around really happy. We humans tend to grieve a lot harder. We’re different. And that’s just the way it is. But the dog just kind of goes through it and accepts what is. They know you, but they’re very happy where they are now. That to me and for many people is a good way to be able to move forward and focus on your new dog.
When you give your dogs to a friend or family member sometimes it’s a lot easier to transition to your new dog because you have established closure with that partnership emotionally and psychologically and intellectually. Therefore you are able to move forward. Also, the fact that the dog is not physically with you, you’re not distracted by loyalty issues or torn between your beloved dog and try to get to learn and understand your new dog. And as you know, in the beginning it is very difficult to start out with a new dog. It works out, but it’s difficult as first.
Another thing, I’m not sure if I mentioned this, the ownership stuff, it’s really better to give up ownership of your dog because you don’t want to have to have any responsibility after. It’s really better to move forward.
Now, for those people who are using community resources, this is a very successful way to find a home if you don’t have a friend or family to help you to give your dog to. I’ve known people who’ve used dog rescue groups for various breeds. And also their veterinarian, as well as church groups and any community organizations they belong to.
Again, this does require a lot more time because you're going to have to interview the people. You might go through three or four different families before you decide on the one you want.
Then once you do, you might want to have the people over to visit or you might go over to their home and allow the dog to play in their yard. I’ve known of people who have allowed the dog, they’ve established play dates. And the dog goes over several times before the final time. And even has planned sleep overs so that the dog spends a couple days there and then comes back to you. Then when the final time comes, I believe it’s a lot easier for both you and your dog.
Normally in this case the dog is going to run out, wagging its tail, not even looking back at you. Although that’s hard at times, it really is a good thing for the dog. And in the end you’re going to feel so much better about that.
At this point the graduate might continue to establish communication with the people. Or sometimes they may choose to just let it go, knowing that their dog is happy.
The next option is returning the dog to the school. Now, this is a very difficult thing to do for many people because they just cannot find a home or their plan fell through and there’s no other way that they can do this.
The difficulty here is that you, I’m speaking for The Seeing Eye now; once you return the dog to the school you lose total contact with that dog. And the only thing you know is that the dog was retired to a home and that’s it. For many people this is hard, but some people like it. They trust in the school and they are comfortable with the fact that their dog has moved on to a new chapter in his life and will be well-treated.
And I have to tell you that’s absolutely true. People, there are a lot of people out there who really wanted retired guides because they’re well-behaved, they’re seasoned and mostly just sleep and relax. They do have a wonderful life.
The disadvantage I think for this that was one disadvantage, but the other one is that many people will return their dog to the school on the day they come into class. This is extremely difficult, and you don’t realize what you’re getting into until you do it once. You haven’t allowed yourself enough time to come to terms with the separation and dealing with the emotions and the grief issues. But all the sudden, they take your dog away that first day that you’re there and you’re dealing with a lot. You know your dog is up in the kennel. You’re wondering if it’s playing for you. And you’re so focused and distracted on your own emotional upheaval that it is very difficult for the first week or so to focus in on your new dog who’s looking for love as well.
So I would say that is the biggest disadvantage of brining your dog back like that. But if you can do so, plan ahead and maybe have the school pick up your dog sooner, maybe a week or two before you go back to school so that it allows you time, it gives you space between dogs so that you can work through some of your emotional issues, so then when you go to the school you can focus totally on your new dog. That really will be helpful for you. And also, when you’re using a cane, I don't know about anybody else out there, you realize how much your dog needs you when you have to go back to a cane. It’s very different. There are more frustrations out there to deal with. So you're going to be more than ready to go back for a new dog even though you’re still missing your last dog. Just so you can resume your normal lifestyle then.