Tuesday, as in three days ago, marked two months since Fergie's passing. Since that time, I've done a lot of thinking, and I've come to some very steadfast conclusions that I'm putting here not only for all of you to see, but so that I have them on record to reflect on when the time comes for me to think about getting another dog. Now, don't get me wrong, the conclusions that I'm about to list are not meant to pick on anybody specifically, but rather things that I won't go without having when I begin the journey to get my next dog. Who knows when that will be, but the things I'm about to list are deal breakers at this point, and will remain that way for quite some time, maybe forever, but for sure until I decide that they don't need to be any longer. Without further ado, here they are in no specific order:
- I won't go to an agency that doesn't have more team training time before we're left to our own devices out in the "real world"-although I think that the time that was spent with the dogs of HSDM by the puppy raisers and even the field trainers was phenomenal, I feel like the time spent getting to know one another in the training facility and in public for that matter was far too short in retrospect
- I won't go through another agency that I feel like doesn't have enough trust in the team they're creating-to some degree, I always felt like HSDM was not completely confident in the team they were creating in Fergie and I. Now for those of you who are going to say "yeah, but don't you think that was because you guys were such a new team, and they needed to make sure that you were going be a good fit on all levels before they started trusting you, let alone trusting your implicitly?", and I'm pretty sure there will be some of you out there, yes, I do agree with that whole heartedly! However, and this is a big however, how were we supposed to grow and earn their trust if the feeling of trust wasn't there to begin with?
- I won't go through another agency who expects me to pay all of her medical bills once we become a certified team, but then also expects to be able to reserve the right to take her away at any given moment within that first year after certification-I don't have a problem with any agency maintaining ownership within that first year after certification, because after all, they are placing a dog, and they need to make sure that the dog and I are going to be a good fit because neither the agency nor I want a dog that will either not work for me, or be put in danger somehow. I also understand that there comes a point where you need to be able to take responsibility for the dog in all aspects of the dog's life. I really truly believe though that if the agency expects to maintain ownership for that first year, or however long it is, they should also take care of all the expenses during that time. If they don't want to do that, I firmly believe that they should sign over all rights to me and officially make her my dog because if she's not officially my dog, then why should I be expected to pay for any of the costs related to her care?
- Lastly and most importantly of all, I will not go through an agency that doesn't allow me to put her on a retractable leash-way back in the beginning before Fergie and I even became an official team, I asked them to let me put her on a retractable leash so that she had more freedom, and I had more independence because I wouldn't have to ask somebody to help me put her on the leash every time he needed to go outside, or take her off when we came back in. However, they said no because "it was too dangerous". Okay, to some degree, I can see that because I've seen it happen with Chan and Yanni multiple times before, and I'll probably see it multiple more times before their partnership is over. The way I see it though, HSDM's approach on this issue, like many others looking back, goes back to trust. I realize that working with a retractable leash can take a little getting used to, and a lot of practice in my case, but I still don't feel that I should've been told no right from the start. I feel as though I should've at least been given a chance to prove them right or wrong about how dangerous they really were before the decision was so ultimately and finally made! I do by all means take responsibility for making the decision to have her off the leash on that fateful day, but I also feel like if they would have given me the opportunity to at least try to use a retractable lead before telling me no, there's a good chance that I never would have felt the need to have her off a leash at all because I could have had somebody put her on in the morning, and hypothetically she could've stayed on all day long, therefore giving us the independence to go outside whenever we wanted without having to make sure there was someone here to put her on. Last time I checked, having a service dog was about gaining more independence, and where exactly is the independence in having to ask someone to help you put her on a leash four times a day or more depending on what the weather is like?!?!
I know I said at the to of this that ALL OF the above bullet points were deal breakers, and to an extent that remains true. However, as I reread through this so as to get it ready to unveil, I'm going to revise that just slightly: ALL POINTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE UPON IMPRESSION AND MY GUT INSTINCT, EXCEPT THE LAST! I will GIVE UP the amazing opportunity to have another service dog before I budge on this! I won't sacrifice my aforementioned independence, and I WON'T put my dog in danger for even a fraction of a second to make sure I don't!