Long Over Due Update

Its been a while since I last posted, this blog was originally my training journal for when I trained with Shannon. Somethings have happened in the last almost six years so thought I would update. I came home with Shannon at the end of February 2010, Mufffin my retired guide dog got along great. They would play every afternoon when I got home from work. Shannon's work was great and the dog I hoped for. That year we went to my parents beach house, I went to work, and she was wonderful. 2011 was much the same until that October when we were both in a car accident thankfully no one was hurt but my car was totaled. After that I started noticing that Shannon started acting nervus on the city bus and sometimes she did not want to get into cars. It took some work but with some treats and allot of praise I got her past it and she was fine. 2012 was a great year not much out of the ordinary happened. In April 2013 Muffin ate allot of grass and got really sick, honestly I thought I was going to lose her but with a wonderful vet she made it and was just fine. She ate so much grass that it twisted her stomach and the only thing they can figure out is that when her stomach untwisted all the blood went to her heart causing her to have an irregular heartbeat that took the vet a while to get under control. That summer I went to Camp Dogwood which is on Lake Norman and its a summer retreat place where blind and visually impaired people can go hang out and have a great time. There are several activities but you can do as much or as little as you like. If you want to sit on the porch and rock all day its ok. I took Shannon and she did great! There was just one problem someone's dog got away from them came charging and barking at Shannon. She hid behind me shaking really hard and as soon as she could she took me back to my room really fast and hid out in her crate for the rest of the night. This started something that I have worked and worked on and can't fix. Everytime she sees another dog she barks, lunges, and growls. This is not good guide dog behavior at all. 2014 was a good year but braught many changes. I went to camp Dogwood that summer two times one of which I took Shannon one of which I did not my mom took her to the beach. That March my brother got a chocolate lab Alba and she loved playing with Shannon. I let my mom take Shannon to the beach to occupy Alba so she would leave Muffin alone and it worked great. That September I went to the mall with my friend Mariea and her friend Will. Little did I know Mariea had a plan to try and hook us up and it worked. From that day on we talked every day and then became a couple on October sixth 2014. Every weekend I was either at Mariea's, Will's, or Will was at my house. He fell in love with Shannon on day one because even though she was not trained to follow she followed him all over the mall. 2015 Braught many changes some good and some really bad. In January me and will moved into a town house in Charlotte. Every weekend for the first little while I wanted to go somewhere. Shannon had great work unless she saw another dog. I went to Camp Dogwood again two times and the first time I noticed something about Shannon. She would work ok for the first little while and then she would slow way down and stop. I could not get her going so I would have to use my cane. The fact that she did not want to work kept getting worse and worse as the months went by. Its to the point now when Will leaves for work she runs up the stairs and starts playing with her toys. This past July was the hardest month of my life. My three cats passed away at my parents house. The twenty ninth was the worst day of my life. Muffin had gotten into the trash two weeks before that and she was fine. Monday the twentieth she started acting like she was trying to throw up so Will took her to the vet. She was checked out given a shot and sent home. That afternoon she would not eat so wwe took her back the next day. They did x-rays and found something in her stomach. They had to operate and they normally will not because of her age. Her blood work and everything was perfect so that's why they were willing to do it. She came through awesome! That Friday we came to get her and she could not get up on her own. Something happened to her back end. We took her home and she seemed to be doing better. That Sunday I was going to Dogwood so she went to my parents. She was doing better there until Monday afternoon when she would not eat again. They took her back to the vet and she was running a fever. They tried everything they could and nothing worked. I came home from Dogwood on Tuesday night and that next morning I went and spent her last few hours with her. I braught her breakfast and told her I loved her over and over. It broke my heart but I knew I had to do it, I refused to let her suffer. I was there until the very end. Muffin was all most fifteen and I love her with all my heart. I know she is watching over me each and every day. I went back to Dogwood and that is where I started the healing process. It was the best thing I could have done. Since then its been really hard but I'm managing, Christmas was the hardest. After Muffin passed away Shannon's work kept getting worse and worse. I applied for another dog at Southeastern Guide Dogs, had the home interview, and was accepted for home training. I got the call, they found a dog, and I get her on Monday. Shannon's last day at work was yesterday. I am keeping her of course. This blog is now for my training with my new dog. Stay tuned!