I own two adorable short-nosed, snorty, bug-eyed Boston
Terriers, affectionately referred to as “da boys”. Everything about them would not be suitable
for the job that a guide dog does. They
snort loudly (would not be good for an office-setting job), they fart (again,
not good for an office job), they are under 25 lbs so clearly not suitable to
effectively guide a handler, and their
fur does not provide adequate protection in the cold and they easily overheat
on hot days.
I enjoy socializing them in the public and taking them to
stores that allow dogs (Petco, Petsmart, Home Depot, Lowes, etc).
While driving home from work one evening, I remembered I
needed to make a quick stop at Home Depot for a painting project. Still wearing my Guide Dog jacket and treat
pouch, I decided to take my Bostons in with me for the socializing aspect. Might as well.
Many shoppers would stop and pet the boys or make comments
on how adorable “the twins” were. Some
saw my guide dog logo on my jacket and struck up a conversation about my line of work.
As I cruised down one aisle, I passed a father with his approximately 3
year old daughter; she clearly couldn’t decide whether the dogs were exciting
or a little bit scary to her, so he picked her up. Just as I was almost out of ear-shot, I heard
the father say, “Look, Sarah…she’s training those dogs to be Guide Dogs!”
Clearly he was putting two and two together. Lady with a guide dog jacket on, with two
dogs. Totally makes sense right? All I could do was turn the corner of the
aisle before I doubled over laughing.
Boston Terrier Guide Dogs?
Dear Lord.
