A New Dog

Because I’m rapidly approaching “geezerdom”, and aging like an antique…. I have a number of medical issues. Now I won’t go into an explanation of these, but suffice it to say that a few folks a lot smarter than me decided that I would benefit from a service dog.

Yep, an actual trained registered service dog.

Ryland the dog

I just got her yesterday and this is my first time getting her out into the woods for a hike today in between rainstorms. We hiked a short distance and she only picked up 3 ticks. Ryland is her name and she is a 2 year old yellow lab. I’m getting used to her being around, and she responds to 45 different commands. She’s probably smarter than I am, so I’m still bumbling my way through the tricks she’s capable of.

Ryland’s sponsors

It was about a year and a half, and a number of stops and starts for me to get my new best friend in the world. The sponsors are the union at Bath Iron Works — those folks in Maine who build US Navy warships, and haul US Marines to far flung places to kill America’s enemies, destroy their real estate, and generally cause mayhem, hate, and discontent. A job I used to have once upon a time. USMC artillery. You yell, we shell… heavy metal 24/7/365. Just dial 155-0811.

The dog was trained and placed by a non profit in California who provides service dogs for veterans and other folks who’s lives are improved by a dog. These two organizations teamed up to bring me and Ryland together. I can’t possibly thank them both enough.

Here is the link to their agency:

https://www.guidedogsofamerica.org

Here is the link to their agency:

https://www.guidedogsofamerica.org