Beau, the Guide Dog Who Took the Senate Floor

Instead she trusted Beau's.

Like other Labs, he was a good guide dog, unflappable, smart and steady. Kids stopped to pet him, Beau kept moving. Traffic and trains did not spook him. He saw the world, traveling to Los Alamos, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., for Shea's work, and overseas to France, Switzerland and Ukraine on vacation.

They looked out for each other. Shea swore he could read her mind.

People started treating Shea differently, though. On the Metro, they would ask the longtime District resident if she knew where she was going. In museums, security guards would track her closely -- she could hear their radios -- apparently concerned that she would knock over something valuable.

"I was being denied access to a lot of different places, like restaurants and taxis," Shea said.

The Washington Post first took note of Beau in October 1996, when he and Shea were turned away from the National Symphony Orchestra Decorators' Show House in Potomac. He also appeared in a 2000 article in which disabled subways riders complained about a Metro proposal to shorten train stops in stations. Beau already had been hit on the head by closing doors.

With age slowing him, Beau retired in 2002, replaced at Shea's side -- but not in her heart -- by Owen, also a yellow Lab. Beau began going to work every day with Shea's husband, Christophe G. Lorrain, a teacher at the Field School.

"He would go out of the house in the morning and try to guide my husband," whose vision is fine, Shea said. "Beau still needed to feel like he was working. He still needed a job. That's what he was born to do."

When he was gone, Shea had Beau cremated. She keeps his ashes in her home.

"It sounds crazy but it gives me comfort," Shea said. "I'm trying to figure out how to preserve his legacy. He wasn't like a member of my family, he was a member of my family. . . . This dog, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be working today. He totally changed my life around. I trust[ed] him with my safety. It was just the most incredible, amazing experience."