IQALUIT
Noah Papatsie went on Facebook last month to say nakurmiik -- thank you -- to his friend Xeno.

Noah Papatsie stands with his seeing eye dog Xeno. Noah Papatsie went on Facebook last month to say nakurmiik -- thank you -- to Xeno, who has retired to Ottawa. - Stewart Burnett/NNSL photo

His golden retriever guide dog retired to Ottawa and Papatsie says he's already missing him.

"Thank you for giving me back my independence," he wrote on Facebook, posting a picture of he and Xeno posing on a hill overlooking Iqaluit.

The former councillor lost his sight after an accident in 2005.

"I was really off balance when I lost my vision. I wasn't sure what steps to take at the moment because all my life I could see."

Four years later, Xeno arrived, the first guide dog in Nunavut. Papatsie says it was a long process to receive a guide dog from Canadian Guide Dogs For The Blind.

The pair spent a month in Ottawa, learning to work together. Later, Xeno's trainer from the Canadian Guide Dogs For The Blind visited Iqaluit to see how they both were adjusting.

Papatsie says that the nature of Nunavut and Iqaluit meant that they both had to undergo special training for the climate and terrain.

"We worked together to check and see what we can do. I had to learn in two places, I had to learn within the city and outside of the city, where there's snow and gravel. So it was a pretty neat experience for him and I," he said. "He's very used to the city and the learning process within the tundra was very good too! He learned very much -- he was good at it, actually. We were a good team."

Before receiving a guide dog, he'd learned braille and was using a cane to get around. But he says Xeno made that mobility a lot easier.

"We did quite a bit -- went to the meetings, going to all the sites, the gym, the meeting places, we went to schools, whatnot. He met a lot of people, him and I," he said. "He was a very happy-go-lucky dog. He likes being petted very much, he's a very friendly dog. The first time I met him, that's the only time he barked. He was a great dog."

That friendliness could be a problem however, when people would pet Xeno, despite the sign he wore indicating he is a working dog. It distracted him.

"It was frustrating for me because people tried petting him while I was working. That was part of the information I wanted to give out," says Papatsie.

He took Xeno to schools, working with the Nunavummi Disabilities Makinnasuaqtiit Society to help educate people about guide dogs. "It was great for students to meet him."

But Papatsie says children were not the worst culprits when it came to illicit snuggles.

"It's kind of funny too, the elder people were the ones who weren't listening," he said. "It was the younger ones who were."

For Papatsie, having Xeno wasn't just a way to get his independence back -- it was also a way to advocate and educate people about disabilities.

"I mean you know everybody needs to be included. Inclusion is very important ... I had parents, bless them, who taught me very well to give back and help one another. So I'm still doing that today. Whatever comes my way I'll try make things possible for everybody, not just only me. So it's a great learning experience for me and a learning experience for everyone. Everyone needs to be included . . . to have a great community or city."

As Xeno grew older, Papatsie says he started facing some challenges of his own, including skin ailments and hearing issues, that precipitated his move back to the south.

For now, Xeno is back in Ottawa, waiting for a new family to host his retirement.

While Papatsie says that he's eager to have a new guide dog, he still misses Xeno.

"I'm still going ahead with what I'm doing, I mean I miss my guide dog. I mean he's not mine anymore, but I miss him! Very much. I got to get used to my cane again," he said. "Challenges are not barriers, we don't stop from there, we keep going."

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