Warning, this is a long post and for those receiving this via email there is a video. Sorry so far I still haven’t found something that allows videos to play in the email version.
April 1, 2014 was a day I will never forget. It was the day my previous guide, my white golden Prince Noah was put to sleep. Today marks the first full year without him and thanks to my new best furry pal Luna it’s not as bad as it could have been.
I received Noah shortly after I moved to Ottawa from Canadian Guide dogs and boy was he *huge* I remember when I got him wondering how in the world this big dog would fit anywhere, but he did! He could curl up into the smallest ball that shocked me even at times.
I sadly didn’t get to write much about Prince Noah and his funny ways because I didn’t start writing until August 2012 so missed out on some great memories.
But I’m so glad I have ones like telling Noah not to dance and most certainly the very first time I decided to dance with him
A great shout Sister Choir story:
So one night we were doing a show and sometimes my lovely Noah sits between my feet and sometimes he lays down, either is fine with me since he’s a good boy. We had this one song called ‘Lay Down” hahahha, the first few lines of the song are of course “lay down” So before we started the song my Noah was sitting up and nice and proud in his black shirt and we began to sing, *snickers* “lay down, lay down, lay it all down” You guessed it, the command lay down and over 100 people singing it Noah let out a loud groan as to say “alright already, I’ll lay down” and he plopped on the ground. Talk about funny. All of us had a hard time trying not to laugh and sing at the same time!
Unlike my current stubborn mutt Luna who would just grumble and snort at me if I had the nerve to leave her at home the vindictive Prince Noah got his revenge! Oh yes, he would find things to run me into like *huge* snow piles or *big* cold puddles of water to make me walk through and he’d be wagging his tail the whole time!
i remember during training Tim our trainer and I trying really hard one lesson to get Noah to not jump over or walk around a puddle, but he was having none of it. He refused to get wet if he could help it, lol.
Here is how Prince Noah got the title of Prince:
This one happened when we were actually still in training. We were walking down a busy downtown street, loads of people, tables, chairs and all those lovely obstacles that jump out at you in downtown areas *chuckles* Noah and I get about halfway down the sidewalk when he slams on the breaks. I put my foot out to see what’s up and see nothing, hold my hand out, nothing. Reach down check my dog and he’s looking off to the side. I’m now like completely puzzled and tell him to hup hup. Noah says nope, not moving. He then shakes himself and then looks back off to the side..not happy with whatever it is and shakes himself again even harder, then looks back off to the side. By this time my instructor has reached me and is laughing his head off and tells me what Noah is looking at. We came across a store front that had a window that reflected your reflection back at you like a mirror. I couldn’t help but to laugh and during this Noah gives one last big shake, looks off to the side and is finally happy with his appearance and off we go, bouncing down the street as nothing is wrong, lol.
On March 14 our partnership abruptly came to an end and then I had no idea how I would recover. To this day I still wish I could have made it all better and i panic if Luna seems even slightly out of tune. That part will probably never change, the worrying and wondering what if or could I have.
April 1 will always be a day to remember and a day of celebration!
Prince Noah
may 13, 2009 to April 1, 2014
I will comeback here soon.