New guide dog replaces his injured predecessor
It’s been a difficult four months for a blind Regina woman whose guide dog had to retire in June after a traumatizing incident.
But thanks to a new program created by the CNIB, Ashley Nemeth has her independence back in the form of a black Labrador retriever named Danson.
“It feels amazing to have it back,” Nemeth said. “There’s no real words to explain what it means to have a guide dog by your side. There’s just nothing else that compares to that.”
Nemeth’s previous guide dog Rick, a yellow Labrador retriever, had to be retired in June after a cyclist hit his side and ran over his paw. The cyclist was trying to squeeze in between Rick and a building in downtown Regina.
A veterinarian deemed Rick physically OK after the incident, but he was too traumatized to fully focus on his work with Nemeth.
As a result, Nemeth lived without a guide dog from June 28 until this past week.
“It made things like navigating a grocery store or the mall or travelling independently for work ... a little bit harder,” Nemeth said. “(It) made it so that I had to rely on people more and that’s always hard because I’m not a child and I like to be as independent as possible.”
Now she has her freedom back with Danson by her side.
“It’s been going good,” she said. “He’s adapting well and doing well with the winter and my routes and my normal day-to-day life.”
CNIB Guide Dogs was launched about 18 months ago and after months of extensive training, the first fleet of six dogs, including Danson, have been partnered with individuals from across the country. The graduation of the inaugural class was announced by CNIB on Friday morning.
“I’m really, really excited for our CNIB guide dog program,” said Christall Beaudry, executive director of CNIB Saskatchewan. “This is a real milestone for them.”
Beaudry said the program was developed partly in response to a shortage of guide dog schools in Canada.
“What we were finding was that nine out of 10 of our guide dogs are coming from an American program,” she said. “They ’re not even coming from a Canadian school because the wait lists are so long.”
Beaudry said the program will focus solely on guide dogs and will not train any other type of service dog. The other five dogs have been partnered with individuals from B.C., Ontario and Halifax.
According to CNIB, the program offers training tailored to the needs of each guide dog partnership and is at no cost to the user.
“It’s amazing,” Beaudry said of seeing Nemeth back with a guide dog. “I was with Ashley when she retired her former guide dog ... The very next day her and I were on the road together and the level of confidence completely changed overnight.”
Beaudry said for Nemeth, the loss of Rick and the need to rely on others was difficult, because she is used to being so independent.
“This week, getting to see her with a dog again and that level of confidence and independence back, is just really miraculous to me,” she said.
As for Rick, who is back living with the people who trained him, Nemeth said retirement is suiting him just fine.
“Rick will always a hold a special place in my heart. He was my first guide dog so we definitely miss him, but he’s enjoying retirement and he’s very happy,” Nemeth said.
“He’s loving life.”