Peter's sight may be getting worse but his life is about to get a whole lot better - after an eight month wait Peter has finally been matched with the guide dog he hopes will open up his world again.

"I have a great fear of walking into places I don't know because I can't see who or what is there," says the 54-year-old from Christchurch.

"My life has been a bit on hold since my vision deteriorated and I have all these things I want to do. Having a guide dog is going to make it so much easier to go to these places and will help me overcome my fear of the unknown."

Matching a guide dog to a blind or vision-impaired person is a highly technical and in-depth process:

• The speed a person and dog like to walk at
• The size of the person and the dog
• The person's workload, the environment they would be in, the type of transport they would use and how far they'd be walking

Other elements make the matching far more involved and complex.

"There are so many things that need to be taken into account when matching a guide dog and a handler," says Joe Walker, National Manager Guide Dog Services.

"Health issues, allergies to dog hair, other disabilities, how the family will interact with a dog in the house and is there any residual vision which may help or hinder the dog in its work (sometimes people with limited vision are tempted to rely on it rather than the guide dog, which can cause problems).

"Plus, research has shown that the success of the dog is not solely dependent on its ability to guide a person safely. The behavioural and physical fit between the person and the guide dog is just as important."

Twice a year the Guide Dog Services team meets to match trained guide dogs with blind and vision-impaired applicants on the waiting list.

The matching meetings take around ten days and every attribute of the dogs and applicants is discussed – considering everything that is involved. There can be a wait of anything from two weeks to two years for a successful match.

"Guide dogs are an important mobility aid and are provided free of charge to our members. But they come at a high cost for the Foundation which restricts the number of dogs we can afford to breed and train," says Joe.

Eleanor is waiting for a replacement guide dog.

"Riley was getting older and couldn't keep up with me," says the 73-year-old from Picton.

"She was matched with someone less active in October last year and I know we weren't working as well together, but I still miss her terribly.

"Not only am I a lot more restricted about where I'm able to go without a guide dog and how much longer it takes me to get around, there's no longer any eyes peering over the basket at night to make sure I'm ok.

"My freedom has been taken away from me. You have to stay busy or you'll get old and I can't afford to do that!"

Guide dogs mean freedom, independence, confidence and companionship, but these important mobility aids come at a high cost.

It costs $22,500 to breed, raise, train and match a guide dog before it graduates as part of a working team. Guide dogs are provided free of charge to the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind's (RNZFB) members. Guide Dog Services receives no government funding, all costs are covered by public donations, legacies and corporate sponsorship.

We need dogs - not the dogs themselves, but the funds to continue providing this valuable service to blind, vision-impaired and deafblind New Zealanders.

The 2005 Guide Dog Appeal will be held from Friday 8 - Sunday 10 April.

Please give generously when you see our collectors out and about on the streets or donate $3 by texting GDOG to 883.

ENDS

For more information please contact:
Jane Gower, Communications Co-ordinator, RNZFB
Ph: 09 355 6884 or 021 357 412
OR
Sarah Byers, Communications Co-ordinator, RNZFB
Ph: 09 355 6906 or 021 752 875