By: Penny Reeder
President, Guide Dog Users, Inc.
A man holds a cane and his dog’s harness
Have you struggled with trying to determine whether your dog might be ready to retire?
Has someone else wondered aloud whether your guide dog has reached the time for retirement?
You, the handler, know your particular dog better than anyone else does. You are the one who has lived and worked with your guide dog 24/7 for whatever length of time it has been.
It is understandable for a handler to face the prospect of retiring their guide with reluctance and a certain degree of sadness, because of the team’s mutual attachment to one another, and because of a handler’s awareness of the time and effort that goes into forming a comfortable working team. People who have not worked with a guide dog are unlikely to be able to truly appreciate this.
Sometimes, though, the handler and guide dog closeness can get in the way of making the difficult decision of when to retire a guide dog. If you are trying to evaluate whether your guide is approaching the time for retirement, here are some things to consider:
Do you find that you are choosing to leave your guide at home more and more often, rather than working with him/her?
Does your guide seem to struggle with certain aspects of your day to day routine?
When our guides begin to slow down, it’s helpful to be observant to assess whether they’re in physical or mental discomfort. Stress can slow a dog down, as can physical issues like arthritis. Slowing down might not necessarily mean that a dog needs to retire, but it is a good idea to evaluate the safety of the team. These are some things to consider as you assess your dog’s physical condition and his/her stress-level.
Are you having trouble crossing very wide streets quickly enough with your guide?
Does your guide have difficulty getting on and off busses, in and out of vans or SUVs, or up and down stairs, or does he/she seem reluctant to do these things?
Does your guide demonstrate a reluctance toward his/her harness?
Another thing to consider is your own stress-level. As stressful as it is for many handlers to think about training with a new guide, the stress of coping with a guide in need of retirement can be an even bigger burden for that handler and those around him/her. Remember to be good to yourself and to have confidence that you’ll work with a subsequent guide at least as well as you have worked with the current one, if not better, because you’re even more experienced now.
Have you ever had to think about retireing your guide dog? Did you have considerations that were not listed above? Share those in the comment section below because you just may help someone thinking about this.
P.S. When you, as a handler, come to the point of thinking about retirement for your guide, it may be a wise decision to take a look at the various training schools for your successor dog. Review the GDUI Guide Dog School Surveys to offer information so you can make the right choice for yourself.