My little red tether is my anchor in running with my friends. A beautiful guide dog has been my tether/anchor in mobility and independence for 17 years: 1. Pantera 2. Cricket, and now my beautiful 3. Georgina (Georgie). A life of family and friends is my joy and anchor in life.

The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it. CC Scott

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

In Style

Cricket and I love fashion :).  Cricket wasn't a fan of shopping in the beginning.  It seemed to be something she learned to accept was spending time in a dressing room.  I just ordered her a beautiful orange collar with the engraving:  Cricket:  Proud to be a retired guide dog from guide dogs for the blind.

Thanks for all your sweet emails, comments, and calls in cheering us on in this next phase of our journey.

We are transitioning her to our beloved retired guide and increasing her bond with Steve.  How?  Now that Cricket is not working, Steve has begun to feed Cricket.  Generally, as a working guide the handler is the one that feeds the guide so up until Sunday I fed her each day.

She has accompanied me to my office the past two days.  Tomorrow I have a shorter day at work so I will leave her home to begin to get her used to a little more alone time.  I think she would be fine no matter what ... this transition is probably more for me.

I received word that I will be returning to GDB for my next guide in April!  This will give Cricket and I the time to make this transition and our hearts will be open and ready to greet Sweet Guide 3 when this time comes.  In the meantime, we are transitioning and will always celebrate my amazing Crickers!

5 comments:

Raiser Erin said...

I can't lie and say that I wasn't a little sad to see that the name of your blog had changed. What a wonderful girl Cricket is. I hope she enjoys the retired life!

I'm so glad for you that you have a class date all set.

* said...

Which campus are you headed to?

Becky Andrews said...

Agree ... not easy and want to continue blogging so a name change to incorporate our next chapter seemed good. We'll see :) love cruisinwithcricket! I will be going to San Rafael class on April 20th!

L^2 said...

Your steps in transitioning Cricket to retired life brings back so many memories for me of going through this with Willow a few years ago. Hugs to you both. And Congrats on your class date for guide 3!

I also wanted to let you know that I'm hosting the Assistance Dog Blog Carnival again this month which has the theme: Opportunity. I would love to include a post from you, if you have time to write something. HERE is the call for entries.

Becky Andrews said...

L2. Oh yes, you can relate! Thanks for letting me know -- I would like to write for the blog carnival - will do!