Saturday, November 5, 2011

A Partnership ends

It is very difficult to write this, especially after reading about the amazing class experience I had, and how well Jimmy and I did through class.
On Tuesday, November 1, 2011, Brian Francis and I made the difficult decision to retire Jimmy. We were concerned that the screet crossing issues and excitement would never go away, and that no retraining would really fix them. He thought that it was the safest and best thing to retire Jimmy and let me start the application process for a new dog.
Jimmy has a good home with one of my coworkers, and is happy in his new role as a pet by all accounts. It is so strange being dogless. Every day, I think I hear paws, and miss my dog coming to sleep on his bed, right as I go lie in mine. Every morning, I go to feed him, only to remember he isn't here. It's strange and lonely, but I'm doing the best I can. I've submitted my retrain application, and should get a new dog sometime in the spring.
I just can't believe that something so great went so wrong! I will keep you updated as I get a new dog, though will probably have another blog when I start training again.