Disclaimer: How I wish the boys were mine. But no, they belong to someone else.
Thank you to grnfield for reading and fixing this up for me.
Hiya everyone. This story are just one of many things that's happening to many of us who uses guide/service dogs when we are out in public. Happy reading and please do remember to leave a review.
After I had shamelessly cried the day the trainers at Guide Dogs had taken my first guide dog away from me, I had begun a new chapter in my life with a new guide dog called Hula at my side. At first I feared that I would compare the second dog with the first dog and mess everything up. You see, Guide Dogs had warned me to not compare my new guide with the old guide because she would pick up on it and would never bond with me.
Now that was something I had to fight off every time my first guide dog's name was mentioned or came into my mind. A trainer had come to the town with me where I'm used to walking when I'm on the mainland and had helped me with the new dog, to get her use to the routes I used. There were a few days that we ended up stopping at least six or more times after taking little more than two or three steps because my poor guide had stepped on a thorn or two rendering one or two of her paws useless.
After two or three days of walking and stopping to pull out one or more thorns from my guide dogs paws, we had decided to put my first guide dog's shoes on and see how she reacted to having shoes on. At first we only had my guide walk with the two front shoes and then we added the two shoes at the back. The first time we had all four paws in the shoes I couldn't help but to laugh at the poor dog. She wasn't walking with them, oh no; she ended up doing some sort of tap dance with the lot. The poor dog didn't know what was going on with her paws.
After a week of training in the town the trainer had left, knowing that my new guide knew exactly what was expected of her, or so he thought. The first day I walked without the trainer I nearly took an unexpected embarrassing tumble down into a dried out ditch. I didn't feel angry at my new guide because I knew that she was going to search for the people she knew so well and not find them.
After walking with my new guide everyday without losing it along the way and breaking something, my guide dog finally realized that they weren't coming back, that I was her new daddy and that she was going to be stuck with me for a very long and happy time.
Within a week we were treated like celebrities at the shop I had been sitting at with my first guide dog for coffee. People were asking me about my new guide, what her name was, how old she was, where my first guide was, what had happened with her, how I felt about my new guide and if I missed my first guide dog. I could only hold my head high and tell those who asked that I was happy about my new guide and that it was something to get used to; inside however, I just wanted to cry.
A few months went by with no problems. I had gone home and had no problems with my new guide dog doing something in the house, okay not doing something but taking things from those who weren't to happy when it was found on my guide dogs bed.
Socks, shoes, brushes, combs, underwear which belonged to Tin-Tin, bowls, pot plants, pill bottles out of the infirmary, plastic bags and even Alan's cat's bowl was removed from my new guide dogs bed. I was embarrassed once when she came out to the pool from heavens-knows-where with one of Tin-Tin's bras in her mouth. At first we didn't know what it was she had hold of but, when I made her drop it I felt my face grow hot with embarrassment. That day I would rather forget. Hula had tons of toys that she had gotten from her puppy walkers and my family but, she chose to retrieve everything she could find, not that I minded but why she had to go for underwear I really didn't know.
It wasn't long before I got the chance to go to the mainland again and boy, did my guide get excited about that. I had been on my way to the shop for some coffee when I heard barking and growling on my left. Telling my guide to hup hup which means that she should walk faster we got past the barking and growling dogs, what I didn't see was that behind us these two dogs I'd heard had started digging a hole under the fence.
Coming back from the shop I suddenly found myself in the middle of a danger zone. First I had found my heart was starting to beat really fast and I thought that I was going to have a panic attack again which I had a very long time ago but, as I took another step I heard a sound which sent an icy chill up my spine. The dogs were out and heading straight for us. I couldn't see them and I had no idea how big they were. Before I knew it they were on to us. I couldn't let my guide run because if she did then a truck or car would have been the end of her life anyway. She sat down on the ground and wouldn't budge.
We were trapped on the side of a dried out ditch which was too wide to jump across and on the other side of the ditch there was the highway. This was all on my left. On my right and behind me, the two ticked off dogs were barking and growling. Each time I went forward they came for us. Stomping my foot and yelling didn't scare them. I only had two things with me, my dog's lead and a stun gun which could give quite a shock. Oh, then there was my body which could be something nice for them to take apart.
I knew that if those dogs got a hold of my guide I might end up losing her that day. The town had no vet to take my guide to. The nearest vets were about one and a half or three hours away. The hospital was also sadly unequipped to save my broken body if the dogs did get a hold of me.
By now I feared that the worst would happen. The dogs were so close to me now that one wrong move would be the end of my guide and me.
Calming myself down just enough to think, I got my stun gun out of my pocket and switched it on. In order for it to work it has to touch the enemy before it could do any harm to them. Not knowing how close I should go or how far I should move myself away from my guide, I pressed a small rubber button on the side of the gun and held my finger on it and held it low to where I thought one of the dogs might be. One of the dogs had run away and came back at me at full speed, barking and growling as it approached. The second dog was standing just a bit too far for me to reach, barking and growling. The first dog then changed its direction and chose to go for my guide who was still sitting on my left.
Realizing what the dog was going to do I crouched down and pulled my guide to me and held my left arm over her and the gun to my right still zapping away at the dog that was out of reach. When the dog who had gone for my guide ran off again I took my chance and got my phone out of my pocket, I had to call someone before I got outsmarted and became two dogs' dinner. I had a number of one of the owners at the shop who had told me that if I ever ended up in trouble I should phone him and he'd come out to help. Well, now was the time to phone him and hope that he'd keep his promise and come save my hide. I felt like I was going to die that day.
Dialing the number I held the phone to my ear and listened to the ringing on the other side. While I was waiting for the owner to answer his phone I nearly fell over face first when my guide shifted and bumped against me to get away from the dog who had come back for round three. Jumping up I bent myself over and held my right arm out with the gun to get the bugger once and for all. I knew that I might get my arm bitten off but, I didn't care anymore.
Running past me the dog joined its partner who was still barking and growling just out of my reach, making me turn and causing me to step on my guide dog's back paw. Shifting again my guide pulled her paw from under my shoe, leaving her own shoe still under mine. Stepping to the side I felt the ground give way under my feet and I knew that we were on the edge of the ditch. Stepping back to the right I pushed my guide halfway down the ditch with the hand that still held my phone in an attempt to try and protect her from what I feared was about to happen.
As I turned to face the two dogs again the guy answered his phone. Taking a shaky breath I had told the guy that I was in trouble, that two dogs were trying to get to my guide and that I was unable to get away. Without missing a beat the guy had asked me where I was and I then told him that I was just a few meters away from the hotel's entrance. Hearing the guy end the call I somehow got the phone back into my pocket. Feeling a tug on my left arm I realized that I had somehow tangled my left arm into my guides lead and, even though there was no way for me to untangle my arm from it, there was no way I would do that anyway to let my guide go.
Turning myself to the right again I crouched down and leaned forward. I gave a silent hoop of joy when I heard the yelping of one of the dogs, I knew that it was the dog who had been running this way and that to get to my guide. I had finally zapped the bugger. When its partner saw what had just happened to its friend it ran off to the fence where it had come from. A car came past behind me and something told me that it was the shop owner. When the dog who got shocked saw the guy get out of his car it ran off to have a go at him.
The other dog who had gone back to the fence came running back to me and just as it was about to either jump or bite, a stone made it run back to the fence. The shop owner would have none of it and was now chasing the two dogs back into their yard, also telling me as he went to get up and move. I couldn't move because my guide wouldn't budge no matter what I did to get her going. That's when I remembered that I had to find my guide's missing shoe.
Getting up, I told the shop owner who was now closing the hole in the fence that my guide had one shoe off because I had stepped on one of her paws and that she wouldn't move until she got her shoe back on. Once the owner had closed the fence he came over and gave the missing shoe to me. As soon as my guide had it on and I got my arm free from my guides lead, my guide had gotten up and had run over to the guy and thanked him.
Pulling myself up from the ground I called my guide to me and started walking the last few meters to the hotel. My legs felt like they were about to buckle at any moment. The guy had asked if I got bitten and if I was okay to walk on my own to the hotel. I had told him that I was okay and that I didn't get myself bitten by those two dogs, I didn't want to tell the guy that I was scared shitless and that I felt like crumbling into a heap.
I made it back to the safety of my room and for just a moment I ended up sitting down on my bed. Yes, we're used to adrenaline rushes but, this was the first time I had been attacked by dogs. My guide dog is my eyes and my other half, so to let her go to save myself wasn't an option. I'd already had to say goodbye to one guide dog and I wasn't prepared to say goodbye to another guide so early in the first chapter of our lives together.
Getting up from my bed I had called my guide over to me and had hugged her close, praising her for not running away or trying to fight the dogs off while I was still holding on to her. She had behaved so well, and I couldn't have asked for more from my new guide.
A week or so had gone by with no more bad luck or that the dogs had come out of their yard again, until one cool afternoon. We had to walk past the fence again since it was the only way to get to the hotel. I had heard the paws of the two dogs running alongside the fence like they had done since the last time. Telling my guide to hup hup I tried my best to push the sudden panic aside one more time.
Suddenly I was aware of frantic digging and the squeak of the fence, Something told me that I was going to end up in trouble again within the next few seconds and I was right about that. Barking and growling came from behind me and to my right, forcing my guide to move over to the side of the ditch, we were both slipping on the side but, we kept on walking as fast as we could.
My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when a sudden growl came from behind me. Something was different about that growl, something told us to stop which my guide had done. I was frozen to the spot, I couldn't think straight. My guide had turned with her back to one dog and sat down in front of me facing the dog at the back. When it came closer my guide jumped up and started to lick at my left hand which still had her lead, as if she was asking me to let her go. I just couldn't comply.
Seeing that I wasn't going to let her go my guide pushed her head between my legs and forced her body through but not to far, just enough so that I was standing over her. My eyes as blind as they were, were fixed on the dog in front who was close enough for me to see. I couldn't turn my head around to see how close the dog was behind me. Again I got my phone out and the gun, again I switched the gun on and held it out to the dog in front, again I phoned the shop owner and managed to tell him that the dogs were out of their yard again. I couldn't understand what was wrong with me, why I was panicking again, I should know how to handle it.
It didn't take the shop owner long to show up again. This time the dogs came for me and went for the shop owner at once. Getting a stone from the ground the owner sent it hurtling to the dog which was almost on top of me, it had hit its target and the dog ran back to its yard, yelping as it went. When the shop owner walked over to the fence he told me that they had come out under the fence again.
Again I had thanked the guy and walked back on legs that had lost all their strength. The shop owner had called after me and told me that he'd go have a word with the owners of those two dogs and warn them that next time those dogs came out of there and bit either me or my guide they would have quite a few problems on their hands to deal with.
Back in my room I had thanked my guide again for been such a good dog. Lying down on my bed I thought about what my guide had done that day and why she had done it. What did my guide have in mind?