Guidelines
- Welcome
- Southern beaus turn heads
- Guide dog brings new lease of life
- Aussie experience for puppies
- Smile for the camera
- A canine Christmas
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Welcome
We've recruited six new guide dog trainer/instructor cadets from my recent fully sponsored trips to Brazil, Taiwan and Korea.
After their four-year cadetships with GDS, the students will return home fully qualified to train guide dogs and their users. This training is part of our commitment to emerging schools that are members of the International Federation of Guide Dog Schools for the Blind.
The guide dog breeding programme is about to receive some fresh blood. Four retiring stud dogs and brood bitches are being replaced with six Labrador Retrievers. Three breeding stock from member guide dog schools in Canada and the USA are also arriving at GDS, increasing our gene pool to 33 dogs. The dogs are selected for their sound temperament, excellent health and low risk of hereditary diseases.
I'd like to thank our volunteers, sponsors, staff and all of those who helped make the past year a record year for graduating teams, with a total of 91 dogs and users.
Southern beaus turn heads
Heads are turning on the streets of Blenheim with the arrival of two gorgeous guide dog pups.
It's the first time that dogs have been puppy walked in the South Island town and the 12-week-old labradors are getting a lot of attention, according to Sue Binnie who is puppy walking Jethro.
"People recognise the red coat straight away and have lots of questions to ask - I never get to go anywhere fast," she says.
Clare Crosswell, whose family is puppy walking Jules, is amazed at the placidness of the pup.
"When I go to meetings, provided I've tired her out beforehand, she just curls up and goes to sleep."
"The most common question from people is, 'How are you going to give him up?' We say someone will need him more than we do, but we know that will be a tough day," says Sue.
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Sue's 11-year-old daughter wrote to Guide Dog Services about the possibility of puppy walking after she read about it in a fiction novel.
The dogs will remain in Blenheim until they are considered for guide dog training in 12 to 18 months.
Guide dog brings new lease of life
After 13 years using a guide dog, Owen Palamountain hadn't ventured far from home since Omar was retired six months ago.
"I had to go back to using a cane, it was hard," says Owen, who lives in the Lower Hutt suburb of Waterloo.
But being matched with a new Golden Retriever-Labrador cross, Zoltin, has brought all that independence back.
"He's excellent. He's the sort of mobility aid I really need."
The pair can now go to indoor bowls twice a week and to many meetings. Owen is a member of the Association of Blind Citizens of NZ and has just been elected to the committee of the Guide Dog Society.
Owen is thankful to guide dog instructor Stephanie Sherwood for making the transition to a new dog easy. "She's been fantastic," he says.
Zoltin happily sleeps in a room with Omar and, like all dogs, when he's off duty he is not without some curious traits.
He loves to find large, muddy puddles in which to bathe and he free-runs like a greyhound, according to Owen's parents.
"They tell me his back legs don't even touch the ground - like a cheetah," says Owen.
Zoltin was born in New Zealand and then puppy-walked and trained in Tasmania, but Owen's not yet sure if he's picked up an Aussie twang.
"He hasn't barked yet, but he does a bit of whimpering!"
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Aussie experience for puppies
Accredited guide dog schools in Tasmania and South Australia are helping puppy walk and train our guide dogs - with great success.
About 20 puppies are now being sent across the Tasman each year. After being placed with puppy walkers for 12 to 18 months, the dogs are trained in Australian schools. They then return to the Guide Dog Services matching pool for placement.
Puppies have been sent to Tasmania for the past four years, and to South Australia for the first time this year.
Puppy development manager Paula Gemmell says the programme works well, and increases the number of dogs available to be matched, because GDS doesn't have the resources needed to train the extra 20 dogs each year.
Smile for the camera
When you buy next year's guide dog calendar, spare a thought for the hours that went into its production, and the amazing patience of its canine models.
One of the greatest displays of self control came from Miss May - guide dog-in-training, Ursa - who had to restrain herself from devouring a platter of freshly caught seafood placed right under her nose during two hours of shooting at Seamart in Auckland. Instead, Ursa made do with munching on the parsley surrounding the seafood! Her puppy walker Jenni Vail says Ursa has a penchant for health foods, often eating guavas, walnuts and camellia flowers off trees.
And talk about a bull in a china shop - the shooting of Mr November - 'Solo' - involved squeezing the huge chocolate Labrador into a tiny Remuera flower shop with dozens of glass vases precariously placed inside.
RNZFB's direct marketing product manager Debbie Swanwick, who spent three months organising production of the glossy calendar, had the task of controlling Solo's natural puppy exuberance.
"He was pretty happy about the whole experience, but we had to try to calm him down so he'd stop wagging his tail! I just don't know
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how he didn't knock any vases over," says Debbie.
When puppy walker Shelagh Glynn was asked to bring her Labrador, Zeal, to Kings School to be photographed as Miss December, she thought it would be over within half an hour. Two hours later, Shelagh was amazed at the huge effort that had gone into getting that perfect shot.
"When you look at the calendar you think they're just photos, but once you've been behind the scenes you realise what has gone into it. It was amazing; the patience of the photographer and the versatile sounds she came out with to get their attention, not to mention the strange positions she had to get into to shoot the dogs from the correct angle!"
And it wasn't just the photographer who regularly put herself out of her comfort zone to get the perfect shot. Debbie Swanwick and the puppy walkers were all involved in the huge effort to get the puppies to "stay", while at the same time getting the dogs' attention focused on the camera. Grown adults danced, jumped, clapped, threw balls and squeezed squeaky toys to get the perfect expression.
"With animals it's so unpredictable, but our dogs are so good - they're real stars and so patient," says Shelagh.
A canine Christmas
Christmas is just like any other day at Guide Dog Services kennels - except there will a few treats in store for staff and dogs.
Although many dogs are boarded out over the festive season, there are still up to 30 dogs in the kennels, all of which need to be fed, exercised and groomed and their kennels cleaned.
Loyal staff give up part of their festive activities to do their job, says kennel services and veterinary care manager, Nicky Cadogan.
"The staff are making a pretty huge sacrifice so we try to make it a little more fun for them, and to be a bit flexible with their shifts so they can have the morning or afternoon off to fit in with their family," she says.
"While cleaning and feeding still has to be done, we try and encourage them to have some one-on-one time with the dogs so it's more enjoyable for the people and the dogs."
Both human and canine treats will be left in the kennels to give a festive feel to the day.
GDS is always grateful for blankets and soft toys for the dogs. As there are new litters of pups expected over Christmas, newspaper for the breeding centre is also needed. If you'd like to donate any of these items for Christmas, please contact Nicky by phoning (09) 260 0400.