The Retired Lady

By Nancy Dewar

Though the average age of retirement in the US is 65, this special lady worked a few years beyond and retired at 70…in people years, that is! Lady, a beautiful English Labrador, worked for ten years as a dedicated guide dog to her beloved human, Jean Shiner of Exeter. As is with most professions, proper training was essential before Lady embarked on her important career.

She spent her first 18 months with her devoted puppy raisers, who donated their time and love to housebreak her and teach her basic commands and manners. Puppy raisers have to be commended for their selflessness. Imagine having a little one around for 18 months and then graciously relinquishing them to head on to their next chapter in life.

Lady completed her professional training at the Guide Dog Foundation located in Smithtown, New York, where she spent three months learning the intricacies of her new job. Jean then joined Lady on campus for their in-person team training. Jean explained, “Getting a guide dog is similar to learning how to drive. Drivers have the skills but need to practice. It’s the same with dogs. They need to learn the specific cues and get more comfortable with their new human.”

Jean and Lady’s training included footwork, turns, traveling together into the city, riding public transportation, going to a mall and more; together experiencing different situations they would encounter in real life. “It’s a bit exhausting when you first get a new dog because of the learning curve. You are learning a new dog, and they are getting to know you…both working together to develop trust.”

Jean, who has been blind since birth, got her first dog when she was 24 and has had one for nearly 40 years except for a brief hiatus when she had to wait for a broken ankle to heal following a bicycle accident while riding tandem with her husband Vic. She said that all of her dogs had special quirks. “Lady loved to find seats and benches when we were out and about. She would stop and I’d have to tell her… no, we’re not going to sit down now! My new dog Brook sometimes just stops on her own in front of familiar places…like Sea Dog Brewing Company!”

Jean and Vic have been together for over 20 years after meeting on a bike trip in Massachusetts. Though Vic didn’t grow up with dogs, he wasn’t the least bit fazed when he joined Jean’s household which included two kids, a family dog and a guide dog! They have called Exeter their home since 2005.

When Lady turned ten, Jean felt that it was time to let her retire. “She was picking up some quirks, getting some noise sensitivity and it was hard on her working in the heat of summer. It was time for her to simply enjoy life,” Jean said with a tender smile. Lady was well known in the community and among their church congregation. Fellow church members Peg and Rich Aaronian often had Lady come for sleepovers when Jean and Vic went out of town, and without their actual request, eventually became Lady’s designated new family!

Peg laughed when she said, “Jean just kept telling everyone that when Lady retired, she was going to live with us! So, of course we were delighted and welcomed her with open arms!” Rich had recently retired following a wonderful 49-year teaching career at Phillips Exeter Academy. The Aaronians had planned to do some traveling upon retirement, but it was 2020 and life had come to a bit of a halt…so getting a dog was an unexpected gift! Lady’s retirement in June of 2020 was celebrated with an outdoor going away party complete with refreshments and lots of other dogs who played the day away.

Both Peg and Rich marvel at how easily Lady adjusted and fit into her new life. “She was so well trained, as her job had been keeping her eyes on Jean to keep her safe. She’s so smart. She knows left and right. We tell her to wait and she does! And she’s so polite. She waits for us to go through the door before she will,” Rich explained. “She’s also very regimented and has a clock in her. She comes to us at 11:00 for her daily glucosamine pill and dinner is at 5:00…so around 4:00 she just starts staring at us and waiting!”

I laughed when Peg and Rich told me the story of Lady and the Ted Lasso show. She had been trained to come with a whistle which was always followed by a treat. One night there was whistling on the Ted Lasso show, and Lady came bounding into the room, wagging and waiting for her treat!

While with Jean, Lady knew she was off-the-clock the minute her vest came off. Now she is off-theclock full time and fully enjoying retirement. After breakfast she usually will grab a toy and at night will bounce a ball and chase it one time…simply to get a treat! “She loves to sniff (because now she can) which makes walks take forever. Peg says sniffing is dogs way of Googling! When we stop to talk to friends, she just lays down and patiently waits. And she loves to go to the park or go birding with me,” Rich said.

Other benefits of welcoming a well-trained retired guide dog into your home? They come fully trained! Lady doesn’t eat people food. She doesn’t get on the furniture. She doesn’t bark; not even when neighborhood dogs are barking. She was trained to ignore them.

After Lady’s retirement, Jean welcomed her new guide dog, Brook, into their home; and Lady often visits…going to her old usual places in the house and is all over Brook. But then she is happy to go back home with Peg and Rich, who adore her. “We got a loving dog who was perfectly trained and who is so adaptable. What surprised us the most is that we have a non-swimming Labrador! When we go to the beach, she simply wades in the tide pools or lays down in a few inches of water…that’s it!” But hey, I guess when one is retired after years of dedicated work, it’s their turn to call the shots…and the Aaronian’s wholeheartedly agree! Lady is most certainly…a retired lucky lady.