October 27, 2021

A Tribute to Galahad (2007 – 2021)

Galahad and his trainer Graham show Pat the ropes on the streets of the New York City suburbs.

It is with a heavy heart I share the news that Galahad, my guide dog and great bud, recently passed away. Surrounded by his family and friends, Galahad crossed the rainbow bridge in late July. He was fourteen years old.

I’ve been trying to think of the best way to honor and celebrate my good pal since then. Mostly, I just miss the big guy. The house feels emptier. I’m used to having two guide dogs living in my house on Capitol Hill. Galahad officially retired in 2018 but, like a true friend, stuck around to keep me company and teach the ropes to my current guide dog, Hogan. The three of us roommates had a lot of fun together, with Galahad and Hogan often joining paws to play jokes on me. We shared a special bond.

Hogan is doing his best to keep me active and busy. I know he misses Galahad too, though. The other day, I found him snoozing on Galahad’s sofa. He had pulled out a few of his friend’s old toys from who-knows-where and was cuddled up between a dinosaur and a squeaky ball.

I like to think Hogan looked up to Galahad as a mentor after the two were introduced three years ago. I imagined them sharing notes of their adventures as guide dogs, with stories like, “How to Keep Pat out of Harm’s Way” and maybe even “Flirting 101: Tips on Introducing Pat to Women.” Galahad was especially talented at staging chance encounters with women. He would sometimes follow ladies for a block or two until he got an “aww, what a handsome dog.” In addition to being a terrific guide dog, he doubled as the world’s best wingman.

It helps to remember all the good times the three of us had together. Mostly, it’s the little things that come to mind – those funny moments that happen when you’re hanging out with a dog 24/7. You form really close bonds when spending nearly every waking minute with a dog, especially one who also acts as your eyes. So perhaps the best way to remember Galahad is by sharing some of those stories with you.

Let me start by describing a dream I recently had about Galahad. People often ask about how the visuals work in my dreams with being blind. Mostly, it’s bigtime audio with a few images and colors (growing up I had a bit more sight). When Galahad visits me in my dreams, it’s an outline of a yellow dog, but I always know it’s him.

One early morning a few weeks ago, I woke up abruptly at 5 a.m. In his later years, Galahad had conditioned me to get up before sunrise for his morning walk. It was either that or risk a bathroom accident in the house, but I never minded – I enjoyed our walks together. This time, of course, the house was quiet except for a snoring Hogan. I got a glass of water and headed back to bed.

I quickly fell asleep again and the dream unfolded: I was in the kitchen making a smoothie while Galahad lobbied for a piece of banana. (The big guy loved bananas. Once on the Metro, he snatched one right out of a little boy’s hands). But in this dream, Galahad was young, maybe 4- or 5-years old. He was hopping around, and I could just make out his glowing yellow coat.

I turn to him, “You need to go to the backyard?” Galahad is bouncing, like he’s getting ready to sprint out of the kitchen. I reach out for a quick pet.

I can hear Galahad’s voice. He’s saying, “Hey, Pat, I’m happy and feeling good...heading out if you don’t mind.” He takes off running for the front door. He stops to assure me he’ll be back soon and then he’s gone.

I woke up at this point and started thinking about when we first met.

Twelve years ago, Galahad and I were introduced at his training school, Guiding Eyes for the Blind. I remember the day vividly. It was late August of 2009 and I was sitting in my upscale dorm room at Guiding Eyes. I was a bit impatient because Galahad was about 30 minutes late. You are always so excited to meet your new guide dog and hug them for the first time.

Staff let me know he’d be there soon, so there was nothing to do but sit and wait. Suddenly, a large and very wet dog bounded into the room with Graham, Galahad’s excellent trainer, in tow. Galahad and I connected instantly. He sat down on top of my feet and wouldn’t let me stand. I could sense him saying, “I’m here to stay. It’s you and me, bud.” I found out later that on the way to the introductions, Galahad led a kennel break with several other dogs to the school pond. I like to think the big guy wanted one more romp with his training mates before he got his working papers.

Galahad spreads love and lots of licks during one of his daytrips to the Capitol Hill Club.

After our water-logged introduction, Galahad and I undertook an intense two-week training session at the school. I soon discovered that Galahad could be a bit distracted by other dogs, so we worked on that together. He and I both really liked grooving around the New York City suburbs. On the last day, we said our goodbyes for DC and headed for the train station. When Galahad took off on an all-out sprint to make the final boarding call, I knew this was a focused pup. We arrived back in DC and 90 pounds of Labrador bounced around my small apartment. It was his way of woofing, “This is home!”

Galahad quickly learned the routine. He loved our daily commute to the office and soon picked up my quick walking pace. This at times concerned his trainers, but Galahad was always there under his breath saying, “C’mon, it’s what my bud wants. Don’t worry, I can totally handle it.” The big guy kept me safe for the next nine years, through thousands of street crossings and many outings around DC.

Those times out on the town often led to some amusing encounters. One winter night, we were heading home from a restaurant downtown. It was late, so I grabbed a cab. (I may have had a beer or two). People are usually pretty curious about guide dogs and the cab driver was no exception. He had a lot of questions: How long have you been together? What does he actually do for you?

I’m always happy to answer questions and we had a pretty steady conversation on the ride home about everything Galahad does to help me. When we got to my house, I pulled out my wallet to pay. I usually use cash with cabs and had just grabbed a twenty when the driver asked, “How do you know that I’m giving you the correct change?”

I thought this was a little odd but decided to have some fun with it. I answered, “You know how Galahad can do all sorts of impressive things?”

“Yeah?,” my new driver friend responded.

“Well,” I said, “Galahad can read money. You’ll need to show him the bills.” The driver, astonished but totally convinced, turned around and slowly counted out the change in front of Galahad’s snout. Galahad played along and bobbed his head twice in approval, as if to say, “Let’s spend that on some extra treats!”

As I walked up my front steps, the cabby rolled down his window and called out, “I will never forget the day I met the amazing money-reading dog. I’m going to tell everyone I know!” We waved and wagged and headed inside.

I could go on and on with stories about our adventures. Like the time Galahad accidentally took me to an exotic DC dance club instead of happy hour at the bar next door. At least, I think it was a mistake, maybe the goof was just trying especially hard to find me a new friend. It took me a few minutes to figure out the mix-up, all the while Galahad lapped up the extra attention. To give him credit, the nice ladies were quite curious as to why a blind guy would want to go into a strip club and had several questions for me.

I’ll write more about that in a future blog entry but I’m pretty sure Galahad was sending me all kinds of messages that day, hinting, “You better get your act together, buddy, or this is how it’s gonna be for a very long time.”

We had a lot of fun throughout the years, but we also shared some tough times together. Part of our deep bond stems from those times. In late 2014, in the middle of Galahad’s guide dog service, a serious health issue put me in the hospital for three weeks. Thankfully, I’m feeling fine these days, but it took several months for me to get back on my feet and a few years to fully recover physically.

Throughout this time, my family and pup were always there for support. My parents, brother, and brother’s family visited often to help. Galahad spent practically every second at my side. His unconditional love and devotion were instrumental to my recovery. Many mornings when I didn’t feel like getting out of bed, Galahad would playfully run up to the bed and start licking my face, putting a paw or two on me to check if I was awake. If I didn’t respond, this hoss of a dog would come flying through the air and land on top of me. I know he wanted breakfast, but I also think he was trying to get his good friend up and moving for work. The big guy was patient, loving, and above all just there for me.

Hogan, left, joins Galahad on his sofa after a day of guide dog work. The portraits in the background feature Galahad and Pepe, Pat's second dog. (Photo by Pat with assistance from AIRA)

Galahad had health scares too. He was a three-time cancer survivor or thriver. We definitely grew closer during the weeks he was recuperating from surgery. The big boy was always upbeat, though, and usually tried to play and guide sooner than the doctor wanted. I once caught him humping a pillow just a few days after surgery. Although fixed and you would think past this funny business, Galahad liked his pillows. Sometimes, when I had company or even more interestingly a date over, Galahad would grab his pillow and start up his frisky antics. Yeah, wouldn’t you know it, guide dogs just wanna have fun too.

In retirement, Galahad kept up a busy social life while I worked at the office. He made frequent trips to the Capitol Hill Club where he spread a lot of love and licks as resident Club Pup. Members, Capitol Hill Police, and the always amazing Club staff eagerly waited for his Friday visit. They pretty much adopted him during those puptastic days.

On Tuesdays, he spent the day with our good friend Dottie down the street, checking out Dottie’s cats and trying to steal their food at any opportunity. Galahad also made appearances at the local American Legion, hanging out with his dog walkers and making new friends wherever he could. And he regularly vacationed at my parents’ house in suburban Maryland to enjoy some bonding time with his grandparents.

We had a pact, Galahad and I. He helped me get through the challenging times, and I did the same for him. Since our very first meeting, we were always there for each other.

In honor of Galahad, I’ve been working on starting a blog about him, Hogan, and my other guide dogs. I’m hoping it’ll be a place to share some of our adventures, both past and present. Hogan will be woofing-in often with stories from his perspective. After all, he’s running the house these days and the jokester is eager to brag about all the pranks he pulls on me.

Speaking of which, I’m pretty sure he’s preparing to steal one of my shoes again. Every great guide dog needs a hobby for after-work hours, and Hogan prefers a good game of keep-away to humping pillows. What can I say? The wild and happy Hogan enjoys egging me on while I tail him around the house. I try to tell him that this particular form of play is not so convenient for his blind pal, but he enjoys the chase.

We’ll be talking all about the good times and especially those small-but-important moments that make up everyday life with a furry sidekick. Thanks for reading and please check out guidedogtales.org fur more stories. We hope you visit again.