sad day for me

I know what you are going through Hear again. I will soon be retiring Jilli. She's been semi retired for months now. When I stopped being able to see anything at all in most lighting conditions she found it difficult because she is used to guiding someone with low vision.

They were hoping to retrain her but she's walking into busy roads so the guide dog association say that she will be retired soon.

I won't be getting another dog whilst Jilli is alive. I decided I'd stick with a long cane for now.
 
PuyoPiyo said:
No problemo :)

I can understand, taking the responibilitlies with the elder dogs was not easy. I was used to take care of my parents dog that have breast cancer, I have to help her to get on the couch to sleep, help her to go outside to pee, even I have to wake up at late night to help her, and others. It was not easy, but hope Tigger was not that tough like my past dog :)
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tigger is still agile enough to jump on my bed at night. she also eats very well. the only problem she has is having frequent accidents in my apartment.
 
dreama said:
I know what you are going through Hear again. I will soon be retiring Jilli. She's been semi retired for months now. When I stopped being able to see anything at all in most lighting conditions she found it difficult because she is used to guiding someone with low vision.

They were hoping to retrain her but she's walking into busy roads so the guide dog association say that she will be retired soon.

I won't be getting another dog whilst Jilli is alive. I decided I'd stick with a long cane for now.
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i'm sorry to hear about jilli, dreama. <hugs>

your story reminds me of what i experienced with my last guide dog, sugar. when she turned 8, she developed cataracts and started running me into things and walking me directly into the path of oncoming traffic.

by the way, how old is jilli and what kind of a dog is she?
 
I am sorry about to you . I don't know hard tell to you . I guess I tired. I am very difficult to tell to you Government to changelle to presentation to communication to what kind of law strict or what for about to help suggestion to try find information to you?
 
Hear Again said:
hi everyone,

as some of you may know, i have a 12 year old guide dog named tigger.

we've been together for the past 10 years and she has been a truly wonderful dog -- more than i could ever ask for.

unfortuantely, today i had to make a very difficult decision. i've decided to retire her from guide work due to severe carpal tunnel in my left wrist and the fact that tigger is experiencing "accidents" on a frequent basis.

since it will be at least another month before i train with a new guide dog, i've decided to "semi-retire" her so that i can still use her in public when i need to.

due to the severe carpal tunnel in my left wrist, my next guide dog will be trained to work on my right side. that's going to feel strange, but we'll see how it goes.

just thought i'd let you all know. :(
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Can you still keep Tigger as a pet? I know he is having accidents, but I think that as long as he is happy and not lethargic and stuff, he should be allowed to continue to have a life. What kind of accidents are they? Peeing/pooping on the floors? I'm not sure if they still exist, but I think there are diapers designed for dogs. They may look strange on your dog, but it might be worth the try.

If you can't keep her as a pet, please don't give her up to a dog pound or to the shelter, as they will most likely put her to sleep because of her "accidents". If she is still happy and not lethargic, I don't think that would be fair to her. Dog pounds and animals shelters often put animals that are less than perfectly healthy to sleep mostly because of not enough space at the shelter and not enough time or money to train the animal to adapt, etc. Try to find a home with someone who is compassionate and who can handle dealing with "accidents" on a frequent basis.

Will it be possible at all to train tigger to work on your right side? Just wondering. I still think you should be allowed to at least keep Tigger as a pet. If Tigger and the new guide dog gets along with each other, I don't think there would be problems.
 
HearAgain,
So sorry to hear of Tigger's health issues, but so glad she'll stay with you. My service dog, Travis, is nearly 9 and starting to limp a bit himself. I retired him from pulling my wheelchair about 6 months ago. He still loves to work, and is always happier when he has a job to do. I got him from Canine Companions for Independence, and they place equal numbers of males and females. I wasn't given a choice, they picked the dog with the best qualities to match my needs.

Travis is a 70 lb lab/Golden mix. Jiro, you'll be happy to know he doesn't have a tail to knock everything down. He had to have it docked because of a fast growing tumor. And I taught him the command "lick" so he always cleans his mouth after eating and drinking. At 8 years old, he CAN learn new tricks; he's learning ASL and doing great.

I know a man locally who retired his older dog and kept him while he brought in a new service dog. He had a lot of concerns about jealousy and depression with the retiree. Instead what he found was the older dog was perfectly happy to have the "new kid" do all the work, while he became king of the castle.

Best of luck with Tigger, Hear Again, and with your new friend. While he/she won't be Tigger, I'm sure you'll find your next perfect helper.
 
Hear Again said:
nope. i'm allowed to keep tigger even if i bring another guide dog home. if it turns out that my next guide dog and tigger don't get along, i could always have my sister take care of tigger.
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That's good to hear! I would really hate for you to have to give away/put down Tigger just because it's not allowed for you to have two dogs, one retired and another being an active guide dog. If that rule existed, I would think it would be a really stupid rule. I think you can train both dogs to get along if you work really hard at it. There are tons of information on the internet on how to train two adult dogs to get along. Tigger sounds like a lab, so if you get another lab, there shouldn't be much of a problem...labs generally get along very well.
 
Hear Again said:
thanks, jillio. <hugs back>

one thing i'm trying to remind myself is that she is still here with me and that this isn't a matter of having to put her to sleep. at the same time, i can't help feeling as though i've lost a part of myself. tigger and i have been a team for the past 10 years, so we've had alot of memories together.

as for making the right decision, tigger comes first. as difficult as it is, i need to do what's best for her. after providing so many wonderful years of devoted service to me (and saving my life on several occaisions), it seems only fair that i do this for her.
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I have an idea. Now that you are going to retire Tigger...you can begin to "spoil" her like a pet...know what I mean? Think of it that way.
 
Jiro said:
dang it... now I must run off for my doctor's follow-up appointment... I NEED MORE PROVIGILS! :mad2:

meanwhile - cheer up, Hear Again! <bark bark>
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Do you have narcolepsy? One of my ex-roommates has narcolepsy, and she takes Provigil.
 
Hear Again said:
tigger is still agile enough to jump on my bed at night. she also eats very well. the only problem she has is having frequent accidents in my apartment.
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Well, if you are able to, and if you are willing to take on the responsibility of cleaning up after her, then I do not see a problem with keeping her.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
That's good to hear! I would really hate for you to have to give away/put down Tigger just because it's not allowed for you to have two dogs, one retired and another being an active guide dog. If that rule existed, I would think it would be a really stupid rule. I think you can train both dogs to get along if you work really hard at it. There are tons of information on the internet on how to train two adult dogs to get along. Tigger sounds like a lab, so if you get another lab, there shouldn't be much of a problem...labs generally get along very well.
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Lucia - Hear Again already said previous in this thread that if Tigger and her new guide dog do not get along with each other well... she will give Tigger to her sister.
 
Hear Again said:
thanks, puyo. <hugs back>

yes, i think tigger will be happier as a "semi-retired" guide dog. she's getting older now and it's difficult for her to control her bodily functions, so i need to take care of her and make her feel as comfortable as possible.
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yes... it's a sad fact that we dog owners have to face with... I want to suggest that you might want to "old-dog-proof" your home for time being. Because well you know... as you said - when dog gets older... he/she will have a difficulty in controlling bodily functions... which means it will get quite messy to clean up at home. So perhaps you might want to cover up your sofa/floor/etc. with a cloth or plastic wrap.

My friend's old dalmatian was just walking to him while my friend was playing game. All of sudden, the dog sprayed the shit all over tv and game. and my former neighbor has this old cocker spaniard. he could not hold his pee long enough to pee outside so he urinated all over the hallway carpet as soon as he gets out. I had to complain to management office a couple of times to steam-vacuum it cuz it was reeking bad. the neighbor was very apologetic about it and I was apologetic about her situation too. This time - she carries a big bowl in case her dog couldn't hold it anymore.

so yea.... hang in there!
 
Jiro said:
yup. To be more specific - mine's Excessive Daytime Sleepiness.
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Oh. My ex-roommate was supposed to take (if I remember correctly) 3 or 4 Provigil pills a day, but she would only take one in the morning and nothing for the rest of the day...she just was not med-compliant, and as a result, oftentimes, whenever we are out and about and are at a place like a cafe or a restaurant or whatever, she would automatically fall asleep. We would have to do stuff like pinch her really hard to wake her up, and then make her get up and take her home right away because she never takes her medications with her. She was also Bipolar and a Type I diabetic, so she didn't take her Bipolar and her insulin medications, too...and boy, that was NOT fun....glad I don't have to deal with her ever again...I will never forgive her for the things she did to me. There was just way too much drama. Ugh. I hate her now. Sorry for being a bit offtopic.
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
Oh. My ex-roommate was supposed to take (if I remember correctly) 3 or 4 Provigil pills a day, but she would only take one in the morning and nothing for the rest of the day...she just was not med-compliant, and as a result, oftentimes, whenever we are out and about and are at a place like a cafe or a restaurant or whatever, she would automatically fall asleep. We would have to do stuff like pinch her really hard to wake her up, and then make her get up and take her home right away because she never takes her medications with her. She was also Bipolar and a Type I diabetic, so she didn't take her Bipolar and her insulin medications, too...and boy, that was NOT fun....glad I don't have to deal with her ever again...I will never forgive her for the things she did to me. There was just way too much drama. Ugh. I hate her now. Sorry for being a bit offtopic.
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WTF!! 3-4 provigils a day!?!? whoa... that's a SERIOUS case of narcolepsy! thanks god I don't have that. Mine's just a relatively moderate case of narcolepsy. 1 pill a day (200mg) and I'm good to go for a whole daytime.
 
Jiro said:
WTF!! 3-4 provigils a day!?!? whoa... that's a SERIOUS case of narcolepsy! thanks god I don't have that. Mine's just a relatively moderate case of narcolepsy. 1 pill a day (200mg) and I'm good to go for a whole daytime.
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Are you able to go to bed at a decent hour at night? My ex-roommate couldn't. She takes Provigil to stay awake during the day, and then she takes Klonopin or Ativan to sleep at night. Go figure, huh?
 
LuciaDisturbed said:
Are you able to go to bed at a decent hour at night? My ex-roommate couldn't. She takes Provigil to stay awake during the day, and then she takes Klonopin or Ativan to sleep at night. Go figure, huh?
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yup easily. first few weeks on provigil - i was usually knocked out by 11pm-1am. right now - my sleep cycle is messed up cuz of that 9-days holiday break last week. :mad2:
 
Hear Again said:
tigger is still agile enough to jump on my bed at night. she also eats very well. the only problem she has is having frequent accidents in my apartment.
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Did your vet say if anything can be done about the accidents?
 
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