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RUTH!

“Heather, I found the perfect dog for you.  She flunked out of guide dog school,”exclaimed Mike Sergeant, Southern Regional Manager for the Guide Dog Foundation.  I think I replied with an intellectually, stimulating “Hunh?”

An individual applying to receive a dog through the Guide Dog Foundation goes through a face to face interview so that certain obvious living habits can be identified so that a comfortable match between dog and person happens.  In my case, Mike had observed my anal attention to detail and my willingness to control my surroundings.  
 
In the simplest terms, a dog trained to accompany an individual with a visual impairment must be a leader.   The dog has to be the persons’ eyes for them, leading the person through  daily obstacles.  On the other hand, a dog trained to accompany an individual with a mobility impairment (such as myself) needs to able to take orders.  Ruth (my service dog) was originally in training to be a guide dog but there was a problem.  Ruth would routinely stop to preen herself (anal attention to detail) or stop to sniff a  bush, tree, wall, trash, etc. (control her surroundings) which caused a problem when she was leading someone with a visual impairment.  However, she took orders to come, heal, sit, stay, and retrieve specific items well.  Ergo, Ruth “flunked” out of guide dog school and became a service dog.

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