Saying Goodbye

To say this has been an emotional week would be a gross understatement. 

On Monday, I graduated from Gardner-Webb University - a place very near and dear to my heart - and on Thursday, I gave Tucker back to Leader Dogs for the Blind. 

I was nervous about graduation because I was giving a speech and feared that Tucker might pick the most inopportune moment to act out.  Thankfully, he did a marvelous job, and made me very, very proud.  I was also concerned because I was somewhat afraid that he would see our special guests in the audience - Roy and Suzie Ferguson, Linda, and her Leader Dog "Disney."  He did much better with Disney than I had anticipated.  He still wanted to play, but he held it in better than he ever has before. 

Seeing Linda and Disney work together definitely helped when it came time to take Tucker back to Leader Dogs on Thursday, but I still miss him more than I can truly explain.  When you've had a little yellow shadow for 11 months straight, and then suddenly he isn't there, it's a big adjustment.  Dropping him off was made at least somewhat easier by the fact that he was excited by all the new sights and smells and didn't act nervous or afraid.  They said he would have his x-rays taken on Monday, and then, assuming he isn't chosen for breeding stock, would be neutered towards the end of the week.  Assuming his physical exam goes well, he is due to begin training on June 4th. 

Despite the pain of giving him back, I wouldn't trade this past year for the world.  I learned to have more patience, be less of a perfectionist, and put his needs before my own.  He taught Gardner-Webb about service dogs, and I think many of the students, faculty, and staff there will miss him more than they originally thought possible.  He was an excellent ambassador for Leader Dogs, and accompanied me to five different conferences - braving the airport for two of them.  Though I will miss him, I know that he has a higher purpose, and I can only hope and pray that his new handler will love him more than I do, and experience a new level of independence. 

The list is so long that I cannot begin to name everyone without leaving someone out, but please know that if you helped with Tucker in any way over this past year, that I thank you from the bottom of my heart.  (And a big thank you to my Dad who drove all the way there and back to help me turn him in.) We couldn't have done it without you. 

Enjoy the pictures.  I'll post updates from Leader Dog here as I get them.

Photo taken for the Gardner-Webb Magazine -Photo Cred - Mark Houser

From left to right: Dr. Tom Jones, Me, James Withrow, Derek Breakfield, Hillary Leonard, Matthew Lienberger (sp?), Hannah Riener, and of course, Tucker, front and center.

Me and Tucker post-graduation

Me and Tucker with our special guests - Linda and Leader Dog Disney, Suzie Ferguson, and Roy Ferguson

Spring Retreat Savannah

After Easter break, Tucker accompanied me to the Who's Who banquet.  I knew that I would be recognized for my inclusion in this group, but what I did not expect was for Tucker to receive a plaque as well. :)  Dr. Hunt, Dean of Students at GWU, created a plaque for Tucker that names him to the Who's Who Among Dogs list. ;)  I was really surprised and couldn't hardly stop laughing.  It was excellent.

Dr. Hunt reading Tucker's award.

Dr. Bonner after presenting Tucker's award.  When the President of the University decides to bend down and pet the puppy in jacket... you just call it training for the unexpected and move right along... ;)

Looks pretty legitimate doesn't it? 

The following weekend was my last spring retreat with the honors program.  We drove down to Savannah, GA and stayed on Tybee Island.  While Tucker did very well in jacket, he was a lot harder to handle out of jacket than normal.  As it turns out, the people of Savannah love dogs.  They're everywhere.  When you've got a dog whose biggest obstacle is dog distraction and they're so full of hormones that they can't see straight, this makes for an interesting outing.  He wasn't horrible by any means, but he did end up in the gentle leader a few times because he was killing my shoulder. 

Tucker also got to see horses up close for the first time because they had horse-drawn carriages everywhere.  He really disliked them at first (big ugly dogs?) but by the end of the day, he could walk past without getting excited.  He also had the opportunity to go to Paula Deen's restaurant.  How many dogs can say they've been to Paula's? ;)  Due to the age of the city of Savannah, we also had to learn to tackle a variety of new surfaces and stairs including really awkward cobblestone stairs that led down to the old cotton exchange.  He did a wonderful job.  On Saturday night we went on a ghost tour and the guide kept saying that if there was any ghost activity, that Tucker would probably react.  I had to laugh.  First of all, I'm what you might call a skeptic about ghosts - wasn't expecting to see anything anyway.  Second, I really wanted to say, "You don't know him very well, do you?"  This puppy has slept through an earthquake (a small one, but nonetheless), concerts, movies in the theatre, dormitory shenanigans, and take-off - I can pretty well guarantee you he won't be responding to ghosts. ;)  Sure enough, he proceeded to flop over on the pavement for a short siesta each time we stopped, thus disproving this woman's theory that animals are always sensitive to these areas of high magnetic activity...

On the island, Tucker discovered Spanish Moss.  Though I tried to keep it out of reach, there's still no telling how much he may or may not have ingested.  He also taught Dr. Jones a valuable lesson in puppy containment.  Sunday morning, as I was trying to get ready, Dr. Jones decided to take him for a walk (I was told by other students that Dr. Jones was tyring to educate him along the way, ie, telling him the scientific names for all the plants he ate or peed on).  When they returned, I was still getting ready, so Dr. Jones decided to tie Tucker to a post.  Although I tried to tell him this wouldn't work, he proceeded to try to secure Tucker's leash to this post using a stick.  That's like trying to tie a person's hands with a nerd rope - not happening.  Almost instantly, Tucker had removed the stick and freed himself.  As he dashed happily back and forth between our beach houses, I tried not to freak out so he would come back to me instead of thinking it was a game.  Thankfully, we had him back in short order.  Lesson learned - you can't restrain a puppy with anything made out of wood... We went to the First African Baptist Church that morning and Tucker did so well that there were several church members who didn't realize he was there until we left. 

Since that weekend, Tucker has been to two awards ceremonies with me.  Of course, he always waits until we're in the middle of the room or stage to stretch so it looks like a bow.  He also tends to cheese it up for the camera man. :)  We've also been to an elementary school in South Carolina.  My honors professor's wife is their librarian and she invited us to come.  Over the course of two hours, Tucker saw almost 200 children (second and third graders and a few special needs children).  He did an excellent job staying calm and being gentle when we did take the jacket off so they could pet him.  I'm very thankful to Miriam Ash-Jones, their librarian, for reading them books about service dogs prior to our arrival, because that meant the kids actually asked good questions!  I mean, there's always the occasional, "Does Tucker have a girlfriend?" or something similar, but for the most part, they did a really good job. 

TUCKER'S BIRTHDAY IS TOMORROW! 

Picture time:

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Oh, and we also went to Derek's Psi Chi Induction.  Note the bow tie. :)

Also, this is what Tucker thinks about his gentle leader... he knows he's in trouble. lol  Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Tampa Time

Tucker and I attended our last honors conference the week before Easter in Tampa, Florida.  He was a champ, as usual, and did much better with our 12 hour van ride than I anticipated. ;) 

I let Tucker off his leash in the van so he could move between the seats without getting stuck, and I'm pretty sure that meant he slept on everyone's feet at least once.  At one point, while we were discussing when the next stop might be, I said something about needing it to be around 5 so I could feed Tuck.  One of the girls asked if he would really know what time it was.  I laughed.  Sure enough, at 5:00 on the dot, Tucker came crawling under the bench seats to the front of the van and sat straight up beside me.  The internal clock of a hungry dog is quite amazing. ;) 

I served as a student representative for the SRHC (Southern Regional Honors Council) this past year, so Tucker and I had several meetings to attend during the weekend.  He did wonderfully at each of these, and during the presentations.  Despite the fact that I announced at the meeting last year in Little Rock that I would be training a Leader Dog for the Blind and the fact that his jacket says "puppy being raised for..." I was still asked by one of the professors on the council if I could see... and this was after we had been in meetings for the past day and a half.  It never ceases to amaze me.  Even so, we only had one real issue in Tampa: it was hot.  Tucker did so well with the heat in Arizona last semester that it didn't even occur to me what was wrong when he started begging to stick to the shadows on one of our walks.  Once I realized the pavement was too warm, we stuck to the shady parts and hurried back to the air conditioning of the hotel. 

GWU scheduled the Senior Pinning Ceremony for the Sunday we were supposed to be driving back from Tampa, so the majority of the seniors were allowed to take a van back early so we could make it in time.  This meant we had to drive half of the way Saturday evening and the rest of the way Sunday morning.  Late Saturday night, we were attempting to locate a hotel when the GPS took us to the middle of a wheat field.  There were no lights whatsoever.  One of my friends suggested we were about to be in a real life horror movie.  It was obvious, however, that she missed the mark a little.  We were clearly about to enter an episode of Scooby-Doo.  Think about it.  College kids, a big 15 passenger van, and a dog.  Scooby-Doo. 

Thankfully no masked villains jumped from the rows of wheat, and once we asked for directions in a McDonald's drive-thru, we were able to make it to the hotel without incident.  We made it back in time for Senior Pinning and Tucker did a lovely job there as well, sleeping through most of the ceremony and posing for pictures afterwards.

This past weekend was Easter break, so we went home to Hendersonville.  Tucker played hard with Mattie's puppy Kalli all weekend, except when I made him go shopping with me for a formal dress.  (He doesn't really enjoy shopping, and he has a nasty habit of creeping on the people in the dressing room next to me... )  Even so, he was very professional.  Monday morning, as we sat in the parking lot of the mall, I noticed that Tucker's bottom right canine tooth was chipped.  That night, after I returned to school, Tucker and I went to my friend Derek's house for a cookout.  Tucker played with his Australian Cattle Dog, Buddy, most of the evening (and went for a somewhat unplanned swim in the pool).  I thought everything was fine and dandy until the next morning when I let Tucker out of his crate.  Whereas he normally gets really excited and picks up "glow ball" to carry around the room while snorting, he picked it up and dropped it.  It was strange, but I didn't think much about it until it happened again after he ate.  He had eaten very delicately, which if you've ever seen a lab eat, doesn't happen very often, so when he dropped the toy for the second time, I decided to check his mouth.  To my astonishment, the top of his lower right canine was missing - I could see pulp.  Long story short, we went to the vet, they gave him antibiotics and pain killers, and then we went to Walmart to buy "broken tooth approved" toys (aka, soft rubber toys).

When we got home, I decided to let him have his "freezer toy" (a rubber toy filled with frozen dog food) because the vet said the cold might actually help numb the tooth.  Unfortunately, he was still hurting too badly, and refused to play with it.  Being me, I decided to try to put Orajel on his tooth.  I totally underestimated the speed with which his tongue would be able to take the gel off, and soon my couch and I were covered in dog drool.  Thankfully, once the pain meds really kicked in, he was at least able to lick at the freezer toy without hurting too badly.  In fact, the meds have made him really mellow, which is kind of amusing.  At least he doesn't seem to hurt as badly as before.

Despite his injury and the fact that his meds may have made him a bit loopy, we went to the YMCA today for an AX service project which had the theme of reading to pets (aka, Tucker).  We talked to the kids about Leader Dogs and then read them books about dogs, and finished up with a nice puppy petting session.  Tucker loved it and he was so very, very good.  The Y librarian was very impressed with his poise around so many small children who all wanted to hug his neck.  

Senior Pinning - Photo Cred: Mark Houser

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Okay, so let me just explain what's happening in this photo.  Tucker and I have the same routine every time we put his jacket on.  I tell him to wait, I drop the leash and step on it, and then I put his jacket on.  He stands perfectly still for this almost 100% of the time.  This day (as we were driving to Tampa) was not one of those days.  As I leaned over to put his jacket on, he lunged and pulled the leash from under my foot.  We were in a parking lot (as you can see) and my immediate fear was him getting loose or getting hit by a car, so I instinctively reached out to grab him.  As it turns out, I was slower than I thought, and instead of grabbing him by the scruff, I grabbed his tail.  So, before I really knew what was happening, I was hanging onto his tail pulling him back towards me.  Beth Anne, ever watchful, saw the whole thing and snapped my reaction to having pulled my puppy by the tail. :) 

Getting ready to go to the block party in our tie-dye.  Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington - Once again, Beth Anne realized what was happening before I did and snapped this lovely photo.  This is what Tucker thought about sitting in presentations all day.  :)

Photo Cred: Beth Anne Kington.  Well, I look ridiculous, but the puppy looks good!  Presenting "The Furry Side of Service Learning: Future Leader Dogs and the University."

"Now, what is the girl's condition?"

*Disclaimer - I wrote this blog in February but Blogger didn't actually post it... so none of this was recent.*

"Now, what is the girl's condition?"

She loves puppies, that's what. 

Yes indeed, this question was directed at my Provost several times over the weekend while he, my friend James, Tucker and I were attending the Emerging Issues Conference in Raleigh.  Apparently, several times when I left our table, people would lean over and ask Dr. Leslie and James what my "condition" might be.

I was constantly amazed at how many times this question was posed.  Not only were these supposedly highly intelligent people, but I'm pretty sure his jacket says "Puppy being raised for Leader Dogs for the Blind"...  Granted, the people at our table may not have been able to see the jacket, but I still feel like there are better ways to ask that question.

My other favorite moment of misunderstanding came when I took Tucker out for a walk one day.  We had gone a block or two from the convention center and as we were coming back, I decided to put his jacket on early instead of waiting until we got right next to the building.  As we began to cross the last street to the center, the driver of the car that was stopped at the red light looked at me, looked at Tucker, and popped his car into reverse, backing a good ten feet or so behind the crosswalk.  I guess he was afraid that the blind girl was going to run into his car?  I wonder what he thought Tucker's job was...

Regardless, the conference was good and Tucker was excellent.  He sat through endless hours of meetings and presentations and even helped me introduce one of the speakers.  We were accident free and he did a pretty good job walking around the city nicely during our free time, though he would get really excited when he saw grass.  I will say one thing, Raleigh doesn't make it easy to find a place for the puppy to go "park."  He was forced (though it is good for his training) to use the concrete sidewalk a time or two, and even a flowerbed once.  No one in the hotel gave me a hard time (kudos to you, Sheraton) and Tucker did pretty well with finding the room and the elevator. 

Per usual, however, he did have his moments, though they were always away from the public eye.  At one point I stepped out of the hotel room briefly (literally for a second or two) and when I opened the door, he wasn't waiting for me to return as I expected, but sitting atop the queen mattress with my shorts in his mouth. ;)  Little stinker. 

The last day of the conference, the students put on a flash mob.  Again, in typical Tucker fashion, he not only made it on a video recording of the flash mob, but is stretching, which makes it look like he's taking a bow.  :) 

As I was taking this picture, I heard some ladies behind me say, "Oh my gosh look at that puppy!  I can't believe he's just sitting there posing!"  :)