As I prepare for my 14th year of teaching, I can anticipate one major change: my guide dog York will not be walking beside me. After 11 years of incredible service, it’s time for him to retire.
I met York on June 24, 2014, and it’s no exaggeration to say that he has completely changed my life. Since I brought him home, we’ve rarely spent more than a day apart. He has guided me through my daily routine, but he has also seen me through some extraorrdinary experriences. York guided me onstage for my TEDx Talk in 2016. He walked with my barbershop quartet at our regional competition. He helped me feel safe and confident moving to two different high school campuses. We have visited sick friends in the hospital, where he was regularly mistaken for a therapy dog. We have spoken to veterans, disability organizations, sororities, and puppy raisers. York has laid at my feet while I read my poetry in public. He has helped me navigate many stages.
I doubt I could write the tribute York truly deserves. His presence has healed scars I didn’t even realize I had. His wagging tail and eagerness to work have helped me feel adventurous and bold.
With a white cane, I traveled safely but cautiously forward for 10 years. With York, I was still blind, but I became brave. I knew he would take care of all the little things that weighed me down — walking in a straight line, seamlessly moving around other pedestrians, finding doors and seats and counterrs. He kept me safe in a larger way, because he was better at judging oncoming traffic than I ever could be. But in an equally important way, he told me every day that I was valued and loved.
No one can force a dog to work, and no one can force a dog to guide. Training is not what makes a guide dog excel. The dog needs to want and enjoy the job — and love the blind person that comes with it. If York hadn’t chosen me, I would not be writing this post today.
So I thank York for our wonderful life together. Though he’s retired, he is still my puppy, and I’ll see him when I come home each day. York is happy and healthy, loving the leisurely pace of his new life. I’ll use a white cane again until I’m ready to let another guide dog into my heart.
I’ll carry York’s confidence with me. We’ve hung up his harness for good.
Acknowledgements
- York is a graduate of Dogs Inc, formally Southeastern Guide Dogs. Thank you to everyone who brought him into the world and helped him learn to be my guide dog.
- York’s puppy raiser is a wise, kind woman named Melissa. She let York into her life for a year — and into her heart forever. She has been an incredible support and fellow York enthusiast.
- Thank you to Chelsea Whiteman who took fabulous photos of York and me in 2019. Her pictures inspired this poem.
- Thank you to the family and friends who have supported my journey with York. You’ve helped us adjust to new routines, vacuumed up tons of dog hair, stood up for us when we got kicked out of stores, picked up poop, and cheered us on.
On the Blink 
Dear Emily, What a generous and loving tribute you have written for York, your companion for so many happy years while he helped you in many different ways. Enjoying a sense of real independence, gaining the confidence to pursue any goal you wanted to achieve, teaching you patience since York had his own needs and wants too. You also had the almost spiritual experience of basking in the unconditional love that dogs give so freely to us often unworthy human beings. I’m also sure that you and York inspired people around you and probably influenced anyone who knew you both to find the courage to face and find answers to their fears and challenges. Now your companionship with him will be on a different level, but the love between you will continue as he becomes a different kind of friend. Long Live York in his retirement. May he and you enjoy this new relationship. I sincerely hope that others reading your tribute will make a positive step to help support guide dog training schools, inspire dog lovers to become involved in a selfless gift to all who need them by raising and training these wonderful creatures that give so much to humanity. With affection and admiration for both of you,
Lois Gray
Hi there
I just had to reply, your words hit me in a deep place.
âI doubt I could write the tribute York truly deserves. His presence has healed scars I didn’t even realize I had. His wagging tail and eagerness to work have helped me feel adventurous and bold.
â
Oh, yes, since the death of my second (retired) dog, Bailey in 2024, Iâve felt similarly.
Expressing the impact of these dogs will never be accurately conveyed, we are way too imperfect for it.
Best,
Annie and Iowa
Ann M. Chiappetta, MS
President, Friends In Art, Inc.
Kudos to York, a noble creature and friend to a fine person.
Hello Emily,
I am Paul Utter. I was the one that sponsored and named York. Since he was my very first, he has been on my mind. I am so thrilled to hear he is healthy and happy. I am still raising money and naming puppies. Last winter for the first time, I re-submitted the name York as I was thinking about your York. The name was assigned to a beautiful yellow Lab puppy who is currently in a puppy raiser home.
I lost my first Veteran Service Dog, Ellie, 3 years ago next month. I never thought I could find room in my heart for another one but I moved forward with another one. I have now had Louie for 3 years and discovered there was still lots of room in my heart for this successor dog. I look at them as apples and oranges–two very different dogs with nothing but love to give.
I wish York a very long and healthy retirement.
God Bless,
Paul Utter and Louie