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From: William.Wilson@p0.f89.n129.z1.fidonet.org (William Wilson)
Newsgroups: misc.handicap
Subject: Re: guide dogs
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Date: 20 Sep 90 16:00:58 GMT
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[This is from the Blink Talk Conference]

 TG> I went through the change from one dog to another about a year 
 TG> ago.  It is not easy because the first dog had made things so 
 TG> easy for you that you don't have to think about much as you 
 TG> walk along.

Tom,
    Yeah, Gary and everybody else I've talked to about this tells me
that indeed, the second dog is the toughest!  This makes sense to me,
because I remember how amazed I was by the mere fact that Strider could
walk me down the sidewalk without crashing into anything, and since it
was an overwhelming learning experience for me at my initial trip to
Seeing Eye, I'm not sure the reality of the situation even dawned on me
till much later.
     Now, with more than a few miles under my belt with my companion,
however, I expect it will be natural for me to expect what comes so
naturally with Strider to be there from day one with the new dog.  I
know this just can't be the case, and that whole subtle communications
that occurs between dog and person on the dumb end of the harness will
take a while to develope, but do me a favor and remind me of this a
couple of months from now, will ya?
     Vixen, I know how excited you are, going after your first dog and
not quite knowing what all to expect, but trust me, even after 11 years
of harness holding, it is not without anticipation that I am pondering
my return to Morristown!  I just got my plane reservations yesterday,
and frankly, I'm a little scared!
                                                        Willie
     

... Like a bat out of Bellevue!

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