Two Plus Four Equals One: Celebrating the Partnership of People with Disabilities and Their Assistance Dogs

by Kathy Nimmer

Kathy Nimmer is an award-winning teacher, author, and motivational speaker from Indiana. In 2006, she won first place in the Helen Keller International Memoir Competition and published a book of poetry called Minutes in the Dark, Eternity in the Light. She received the Butler-Cooley Excellence in Teaching Award in 2004, is a two-time recipient of the Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship, earned National Board Certification in 2003, and was presented with the Golden Apple in 1998. In 2009, she was named a Lilly Distinguished Fellow, giving her the opportunity to pursue a lifelong dream, the fulfillment of which is Two Plus Four Equals One. Blind due to a rare retinal disease, Nimmer looks to her faith, family, and friends as cornerstones in her life. She enjoys working out at the gym, reading mysteries, following sports, adding to her perfume collection, and going for long walks with her third guide dog Elias.

True, vibrant, honest, and emotional, eliciting compassion, joy, sorrow, and love, promoting understanding, acceptance, awareness, and hope. Here are over 100 stories and poems written by or about men, women, and children, all either with disabilities or connected to people who have disabilities. Joining them are Labradors, German Shepherds, Poodles, Papillons, Goldens, Shelties, Chihuahuas, and many other breeds, all trained to assist their disabled handlers. From blindness to deafness, from mobility issues to psychiatric needs, from diabetes to autism, the array of disabilities showcased in this unforgettable book is as vast as the tasks performed by the canine partners. Your eyes will be opened to the strength, competence, and potential of both the human and canine participants in an alliance where neither partner is perfect but both together add up to an equation where two hands/feet/eyes/ears plus four paws equals one magical union.

Genres: Disability

268 pages, Paperback

First published October 21, 2010

Reviews

[Khanh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the pieces written by the original authors were OK. DeAnna Noriega and Kristeen Hughes were my favorite. The rest were kind of mediocre. Then again, I'm probably not the target audience for this kind of book. I do really like the title, though.

[L-Squared · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a collection of short stories and poems organized into chapters that span the lives of assistance dog teams. There are over 100 pieces by or about puppy raisers, assistance dog trainers (both program and owner-trainers), assistance dog handlers and friends of assistance dog teams from around the world.

I must admit that although I have read a number of assistance dog-related books (mostly books about and/or written by guide dog handlers) because I am a guide dog handler myself, I don’t normally enjoy them. I typically find such books either too sickly-sweet or rather condescending, which is why I had been hesitant to read this book. However, I eventually decided to give it a try anyway, because I “know” (through blogs, Twitter, etc.) a hand full of the assistance dog teams who are featured in the included stories.

Unfortunately, I was more than a little disappointed to discover that most of the pieces included were not actually written by the raisers/trainers/handlers themselves, which was the incorrect impression I had been given by the call for submissions for the book and from friends’ brief mentions of it after the book came out. Most of the stories included were instead a re-telling of events by the book’s author. This seemed strange to me, especially because several of the people whose stories were re-told are excellent writers themselves.

Also, I know there are handlers who choose to allow their dogs to greet others and be petted (which is fine, if that works for them), but I was surprised at just how much social interaction between the public and the dogs was portrayed in some of the stories. I guess I’m just a big grump – a.k.a. a handler who has had overly-friendly guide dogs – but I have always felt the need to discourage such gratuitous public interaction with my dog when he/she is working. And most of the assistance dog handlers I know also discourage such behavior. So, I have to wonder if this was something the book’s author chose to include, and really emphasize is some of her re-tellings, for some specific reason (like in an effort to portray a more positive, friendlier image of assistance dog teams), or if the great majority of assistance dog handlers really do allow and encourage so much public interaction with their dogs.

Nonetheless, on the whole I did enjoy this book full of stories spanning the cycle of birth, raising, training, matching, successes, love, loyalty, retirement, loss, and moving on. Yes, there were some stories that made me frown and shake my head (or gag!), but there were also some great stories that I could very much relate to.

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short, sweet read. Rating because some of the essays could have benefited from a good editor.