Celebrating the life of Nater Tater, Guide Dog
By Nate and Louise Johnson
My name is Nate and I was born on November 22, 2002 at Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) California Campus. I joined my puppy family in February of 2003 and enjoyed my time there. I was very well loved and learned a lot from my puppy family.
I arrived back at GDB’s California Campus for my formal training in February 2004. My trainer was Darren Walsh who was an apprentice at that time. I learned slowly, but I never forgot what I learned. My training at GDB was longer than for other guides. I became ready for class when I understood what was required of me as a guide dog.
The first time I was partnered in class, it didn’t work out for my human handler because they decided the guide dog life style was not for them. So I went back to the kennels to wait for my perfect match. This time in the kennels was special, as many different humans, like trainers, staff and volunteers, spent countless hours with me. They played with me in the paddock, took me for walks, spent time grooming me and gave me the love and support I needed.
On January 12, 2005, I was taken back up to the dorm to meet my new partner, Louise. The circumstances of her life hadn’t allowed her to travel to class sooner. So, I became known as “Nate Mate You Ain’t Too Late.”
Nate wasn’t the only one experiencing those first days together. Louise remembers it this way:
My name is Louise, and I left for Guide Dogs for the Blind on January 9, 2005. For the first few days, I wondered what dog I would receive and how they would become a part of my life and fit into my family. On January 12, I received Nate, a black lab, and my life took a turn for the better. I remember picking up the harness handle for the first time and taking the first walk. It felt both wonderful and scary, because I knew that I had to put my trust in Nate. Over the next three weeks, training was very hard, but very rewarding. On the last Thursday afternoon before graduation, I didn’t really know if we were ready to face working at home.
The following story, which stands out in my memory, is hard to explain, so please close your eyes and feel my nerves, and try to imagine what happened that afternoon on my mile and a half walk.
I was dropped off, and it was a straight walk back to the downtown lounge. “Should be an easy walk. We can do this. Forward,” I said to Nate, and off we went.
Walking down the sidewalk, it was a wonderful feeling, and I had joy in my heart. We were about halfway back when something happened to us. Guide dogs are trained to walk in the centre of the sidewalk. Nate, however, had a tendency to walk further to the left. He had moved over and we went up a little ramp. It wasn’t steep at all, so I didn’t realize that there would be a problem. He stopped about ten steps later and wouldn’t move. I didn’t understand why, so I continued to try to get him to move forward a few more times. Finally, I put down the handle and looked around. A few minutes later, one of the trainers came up to me and asked if I wanted any help.
I did, but I said, “No thank you. I have to figure this out for myself, and I know there is a simple answer.” Standing there for the next few minutes, I was wondering what I had done wrong. I was crying and I wanted to go and hide. I thought, “I don’t deserve this wonderful guide dog, because he doesn’t want to work for me.”
The trainer came back and asked, “Can I give you a hint?”
I replied, “Yes.”
Then she asked, “Where is the traffic? Listen for the cars.”
I turned and listened for the traffic and realized that it was further away from my right side than it should be. I turned to the trainer and said, “I am too far to the left of the road, and I am too close to the building. I should move closer to the road.”
The trainer asked me how I could do this and I looked around and said, “Maybe turn around. I could go back and see if Nate and I can figure out where we went wrong on the last part of the walk, before the problem.” I turned around, picked up the handle and said: “Nate, forward!” He moved and joy filled my heart. We started walking down the little ramp and I knew what to do. I told Nate to go left, and we went and found the curb. Then I told Nate to turn left, and off we went. I found out later, back at the lounge, that I had been standing about two feet above the sidewalk, and Nate didn’t want me to step off this wall.
When we arrived at the next crossing, the trainer came up and checked up on us. She made sure that I was okay, and I asked her, “Please stay nearby. I feel shaken, but I still want to finish the rest of the walk.” She gave me a quick hug and off we went on the rest of the route. That crossing was okay, but at the next crossing, Nate did not cross straight, so we redid it, and then off we went again. We were in the last block when he decided he wanted to stop in a doorway. I had to encourage him and tell him that we weren’t stopping for a bagel. So off we went again, turning into the lounge.
As we walked inside, the cheers went up. My classmates had been informed of what was taking me so long, and the praise and cheers were wonderful. The class supervisor came up and congratulated me and said, “I believe you are ready to go home with Nate.”
The tears started falling, and I cried very hard and said to her, “How can you mean this, as this was the worst walk we have ever done?”
She replied, “No it was your best one, as you figured out how to solve your own problems.”
I was scared but happy at the same time, and was glad others thought we were a team. This story is something I always will remember, as it taught me so much about myself and what a guide dog can do for us, and especially for me.
For Nate, graduation day brought another emotional reunion.
On February 5, 2005, Louise and I graduated from GDB, and my puppy family came to see me. I was so happy to see them and saw many tears of joy that day. I was sad because I was not able to visit longer with them and I loved them very much. I flew to my new home that evening with my new handler. Her youngest son, Dylan, was going to celebrate his seventh birthday the very next day. I was his birthday wish.
Over the next few weeks, I settled in and became part of Louise’s family. I enjoyed having kids around to play with. I enjoyed watching them play ball hockey outside and thought the tennis balls should be mine. Mom worked with me out there many afternoons, as I would not listen all the time. She practiced obedience training with me out there, and many times she even had to turn our backs to the tennis balls as I just wanted them. It took mom most of that spring to get me to walk by the hockey and not want the tennis balls. My family could not ever leave tennis balls in the house where I could find them. I did find one here and there and would chew them up.
Mom likes to tell the story about me and two other guide dogs, three boys, and a slide. Yes, three dogs taking turns going down the slide, and you know, we all behaved so well! The boys would take us up the stairs and then let us slide down the slide. I was the youngest dog there and really enjoyed myself.
Louise remembers some more emotional moments:
My two oldest sons were in a 10K run, called the Vancouver Sun Run, that spring and we went to downtown Vancouver. Nate did a wonderful job in the crowds that day. We went again the next year to support the boys. Nate was my only guide to attend the run. We worked as a team throughout that spring and summer; there were good routes, but there were hard ones also.
That fall, on Nate’s third birthday, we traveled to Vancouver to pick up Dylan’s new glasses. Dylan thought that was very special and still remembers Nate doing that with him.
I only had Nate for that one birthday and bought him a new bone. Nate loved bones and chewed up Nyla bones in about six to eight weeks.
On New Year’s Day of 2006, we went to a baseball field that was closed in, and we all had fun. There were two guide dogs and Dylan running around, and Nate could have played longer. Nate had been there many times when we had an hour or so without rain that fall and winter.
That spring, Nate’s health went downhill, and for six weeks he just worried me as he wasn’t getting better. I knew something was very wrong. Despite being unwell he alerted us to my husband, Dave’s oncoming seizure and didn’t leave his side until he left for the hospital. In the emergency, Nate did everything he was allowed to do to comfort Dave, a sign of Nate’s new future calling. He left to go to see Dr. Patty, a GDB Vet, in Oregon, on May 18, 2006 with the belief that they could find the health problem and send him home. Less than three weeks later, he retired due to inflammatory bowel disease.
That June, on Father’s Day, Nate returned to his puppy raiser family. I went to visit them at their home before going back to Guide Dogs in August that year. Nate came to graduation for my other three guides, Hercules, Hawk and Kiara. I also had a visit from him on one Sunday when in class with Hawk.
Nate lived a full life with his puppy family, and he became a therapy dog for Loving Animals Providing Smiles [LAPS], in Napa, where he encouraged many people. Nate gave so much to all he knew and never stopped taking care of people throughout his life. On August 21, 2015 Nate went over the rainbow bridge, and he is not in pain anymore.
You will be missed, Nate, as you were full of life, and kept all of us on our feet. You could play for many hours and bring a smile to all around you. I will always remember you had so much energy that was fun to watch you figure out how to use it.
Thank you, Nate, for being a special part of my family. You gave so much to me over the 15 months I shared my home with you. You worked very hard to learn what places we needed to go. You and I were figuring out many things during this time and you taught me so much that today I am a better person for having you in my life.
Rest in peace my special Nater Tater.
Will love you always.
Want to read more guide dog stories? Follow Louise's journey with another dog in Journey Number Six: Louise’s Path from “Mystery Dog” to Kiara. Look back on the special bond between guide dogs and their handlers in Tribute To My Guide Dogs, or discover how puppies are trained in From Puppy to Partner: How Guide Dogs Are Trained.
