My Hero Jacinda

Jacinda Smiling into the camera
Jacinda past away on January 3, 2009. I will miss her dearly. The picture above shows her loving smile and great personality that she shared with all of us throughout her life. I want to thank Fred and Kasey for taking care of her during the month of December for the last part of her life. Her death was a shock to all of us and she will be deeply missed.

Jacinda was probably the most playful of the three guide dogs I have had and she sure made sure she was noticed. She often wanted to be the center of attention until that harness went on. Once that was done her personality dramatically changed and for the most part it was down to business.

She always would make sure that she got what she wanted and even developed a way of talking to us in a special barking kind of way. She loved wearing bandanas. In fact, it was kind of a ritual to see her run into it every time. When she got sick of the one she was waring she would run to Keri jumping up and down and barking until Keri picked out a new one for her to wear. She would run to the dresser where we kept them and would point her nose at the drawer. If the drawer was open she would often pick one out. Once it was put on she would prance around the house wagging her tail and making sure she showed everyone that she had a new one on. Keri had a heck of a time getting it on. She always wanted Keri to pick them out for her.

Her guide work was awesome and she loved to serve with that wonderful wagging tail that she held up so proudly. I want to sincerely thank The Seeing Eye for the opportunity to work with such a great guide dog. Ralph (the trainer that trained Jacinda and worked with me with her) was a great person to work with and without him bringing us together we wouldn’t have had the 6 plus years as a team. Thank you Seeing Eye.

Jacinda, I will miss you and I love you very much. Click here to listen to a song that expresses this even more.

2 thoughts on “My Hero Jacinda”

  1. In the 4 years I have become close with you and Keri,I also got to know your Cinda Pup. Your description of her is very accurate. I will remember the good times, me, Darrell and my little Dougie Dog. They especially had fun together. She was great,and we too,will miss her. It was quite a shock and it still saddens me. Cinda love you and now your at peace in rainbow heaven with all our furry Friends.

  2. Hi Jeff,

    Thank you for sharing your experience at GDB. I’ve got several friends who have dogs from there.

    As for myself, my first and second dogs have been from The Seeing Eye. As a matter of fact, Ralph also trained my current dog, Boise. Ralph was a lot of fun to work with when I was there four years ago. That is why I am leaving my comment on this older post and not a more recent one.

    I truly appreciate how you’re documenting your experience there, especially adding the audio and photos. I hate to hear that you needed to change dogs during your training, but its better to work through that transition now than after leaving the school. Thanks for sharing and capturing this personal experience so well.

    Ron

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