This blog entry is a bit of a departure from what I usually write. I'm writing to help draw attention to a friend's blog to help get her husband's canine partner retired. July works in Saint Louis as a bomb sniffing dog. Her human partner is retiring at the end of this month. Initially, they thought July would retire with Herman, but a couple of months ago they found out that July was not going to be retired, but reassigned to a new partner.
Her family is devastated. They have been trying to find a way to contact someone who can help them in their plight to get July retired. At this point, word of mouth might really help them, so if you can contact people, suggest people to her family that might be able to help, or just to spread the word about July, her family would be extremely grateful. They aren't expecting that July would just be retired early and that all the money that went into her training would be forgotten. Her family is willing to pay part of the expense that went into her training to buy out her retirement. So, during the holiday season, while we're all in the spirit of giving and looking forward to time together with our families, be they human, canine or other, if you could help to be July's angel it would be most appreciated.
Posts
I think my problem with this is she is not a pet. It is more than money that went into that dog that got her where she is. It is not only going to be expensive, but extremely time consuming to not only train another dog, but to rack up all the experience she has gained in her 6 years of life. She is a working dog, and she should stay one. It is part of her ingrity and I think her quality of life would decrease significantly if they took her job away.
ReplyDeleteJMO :/
I'd be far more concerned about the anxiety the dog would suffer being separated from her partner. Working dogs retire often, and I don't think a slightly early retirement is out of line. I wish them luck!
ReplyDeleteShe has dedicated many years of her life to a highly risky job with a partner that I am sure she shares mutual respect and love. I say let her retire.
ReplyDeletePlease let us know if there is a petition we can sign or someone we can email.
Beth (the Mama)
The most important trait a working dog carries is that of good work ethic. This dog is far, far too young to be looking at retirement. To force her to stop working is to take away her reason for living. Working dogs are first and foremost all about work and they respect and like the humans who make that work possible.
ReplyDeleteTurn her into a pet with no job, no responsibilities and she will not be happy and will not thrive. It is much easier for a working dog to change humans and keep their job than it is for them to be forced to give up their work before their time.
What I know is that she's lived with this family for several years, and I do think that she is very attached to her partner. The family is experienced with retiring bomb dogs as two previous partners were retired and spent the rest of their lives with them. Just because she retires from this job doesn't mean that she has to retire from life and become a neurotic basketcase. There are lots of things that she could do to stay sharp and engaged, agility, schutzhund, and therapy work all come to mind. All of my greyhounds had a job before coming to me and they adjusted to retirement quite seemlessly. The ones who still had a strong desire to run got the chance to do that, and the ones who weren't interested didn't get pushed to do what they didn't want to. We did find things for all of them to do to keep them active and engaged, whether it was obedience, lure coursing or nursing home visits. I don't see retirement as a terrible option. I understand that the agency has put time and money into training, but in all fairness, they asked for an older dog and he was given to someone else. They're trying to make the best of a tough situation.
ReplyDeleteI will just say that if the dog had been a member of your family for the past three years, you might feel differently. It's very easy to look at it from an analytical position when your own heart isn't involved. I know if it were me in the same postition, I'd be very heart sick.
I'd be willing to offer her a earily retirement package. Which could include some parttime work and benefits of treats and/or a reward ball.
ReplyDelete