Guidelines
- Why we say bah to sheep
- Guide Dog Appeal wrap-up
- Research into DNA make-up more than skin deep
- Exhibiting skill and talent
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Why we say bah to sheep
With advertising gurus Saatchi and Saatchi back on board for the 2004 Guide Dog Appeal campaign, we were confident that this appeal was set to become one of the most successful yet.
Saatchi and Saatchi, who offer much of the work they do for the Foundation on a pro bono basis, designed an imaginative campaign around the theme of "We need dogs". In a first for the Guide Dog Appeal, a television commercial was produced to support the newspaper and radio campaign.
With its humorous and slightly unusual approach, the television commercial stood out from others that Saatchi and Saatchi have produced for us before. The finished advertisement featured four RNZFB members and the difficulties they encounter when working with animals other than guide dogs, such as a rabbit, a sheep, a cow and a duck.
The "We need dogs" advertisement emphasised the reasons why dogs are so special, and although there might be plenty of rabbits, sheep, cows and ducks available to train, these animals are nowhere near suitable as dogs when it comes to providing exceptional mobility aids for blind and vision-impaired people.
The Guide Dog Appeal kicked off at the Viaduct Harbour with a live demonstration of guiding skills. Three RNZFB staff were partnered with the sheep, duck and rabbit from the TV commercial and RNZFB member Chris Orr, also in the advertisement, worked with his guide dog Quennel.
While Mark Leishman MC'd the proceedings around the Viaduct Harbour, Chris and Quennel easily showed up the stunt animals' non-existent guiding skills as Spike the sheep wandered off in the opposite direction, Blow the duck flapped its wings and Polly the rabbit would not move when instructed!
We are attributing the success of this year's appeal to the originality of the advertising campaign, the media coverage the campaign generated, and Mark Leishman's documentary "Kohi Comes Home" that screened in the lead up to the appeal.
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Guide Dog Appeal wrap-up
We Need Dogs! And thanks to the generous response from the New Zealand public we will be able to fund more of our very special guide dogs.
National income from the street appeal one month later was an amazing $507,000 with a little more still to be processed. This is against a target of $360,000 and is an incredible increase of $130,000 on last year. Income from the direct mail and household envelopes is still being processed.
We had more collectors than last year and the average amount collected per bucket also increased - evidence that the nation is strongly behind our cause!
Bayleys Realty Group staff added extra strength to the volunteer force this year with representatives from their offices all around the country donning their red vests and buckets and joining the call.
Each appeal we have a small window of opportunity to alert the nation to our cause. The campaign illustrating the uniqueness of guide dogs (who's ever heard of a guide rabbit?) caught the attention of the national media.
TV1, TV3 and Flipside news programmes each ran a story, as did national shows such as Breakfast and Good Morning. There was also excellent coverage across the country from local radio and print media. Sincere thanks go to our volunteers and the Bayleys Realty Group team for all the time they contributed to collecting and the ultimate success of the appeal.
Research into DNA make-up more than skin deep
The International Guide Dog Federation, which represents over 60 guide dog organisations in 25 countries, met in November 2003 to look at how DNA research relating to temperament could contribute to improving breeding programmes.
The direction in which DNA research is heading is an exciting one for our Guide Dog Services which usually achieves a 70 percent success rate.
A successful guide dog's good temperament is essential to its work as it must consistently demonstrate the ability to concentrate and focus on accompanying a blind or vision-impaired person safely to their destination, while gaining enjoyment and satisfaction from doing so.
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Why some individual dogs just don't make the grade has been known, but until recently, the means to improve the genetic pool has been out of reach.
DNA research is beginning to locate where in the DNA chain health problems such as eye conditions reside. A sample of blood or tissue from a puppy can be sent to a lab and an analysis made of whether the dog will be affected and/or a carrier of a certain eye condition - or clear of any defects.
Now, research efforts are focusing on locating problems with guide dog temperament. In his role as international relations and field services manager for Guide Dog Services, Ian Cox is involved in facilitating the research.
"Scientists have worked on deciphering the human genome for many years," he says, "but that work isn't complete yet for dogs. Worldwide, the majority of guide dogs are withdrawn for unacceptable temperament, as opposed to health problems.
"There's been some successful research into hereditary physical conditions, but when temperament flaws are located in the DNA, then a test for that will reveal whether a dog is affected, or a carrier, or clear," says Ian.
"For instance, if we could find where anxiety is located on the DNA, a test could be developed.
The same goes for distraction; to know whether a dog will be cat, other dog, bird or scent distracted would be valuable."
Although it may take at least ten years to see results of this research, the benefits are unlimited. If all goes well, it will mean greater improvements in the breeding of guide dogs and consequently fewer dogs being withdrawn from the guide dog training programme.
Exhibiting skill and talent
Donald Gibson is not your average kind of guide dog user, even if there were such a thing as an "average" guide dog team.
Donald is an artist and has experimented with many genres including mask-making and painting. However, he prefers to sculpt large scale forms and spends most of his week down at the Te Pani Sculpture Garden in South Brighton where works on his pieces.
Donald's material of choice is Mt Summers stone which he shapes into life size figures. He is almost finished a figure of a longhaired woman sitting cross legged, which he describes as "really beautiful".
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Hearing Donald talk about his work really impresses upon people just how talented he is. Donald is deafblind, with very limited sight and hearing. He sculpts using hand tools and uses touch to decide and then influence whatever subject will emerge from the stone.
Donald's new guide dog Harry, a yellow Labrador Retriever/ Golden Retriever cross, plays an immensely important role in his career. Harry guides Donald to the sculpture garden and waits in his work area until it is time to return home. Harry also guides Donald to the dairy for the daily newspaper and back home again.
Donald describes Harry as "very laid back, very friendly and playful. He is also a very good guide dog and is quite protective", all the qualities necessary for a good guide and companion.
Donald also says that Harry excels at obstacle avoidance, especially on rubbish days when there are bags and bins on the footpath.
Harry is Donald's second guide dog. His first, Lobo (a Labrador Retriever), recently retired and now enjoys spending his time lying in the sun in the back yard and spending time with Donald's family, who live next door.
Donald is becoming established as an artist and now accepts orders for pieces. His next work will be a very large commission for the Van Asch Deaf Education Centre in Summer, which will take until May 2005 to complete.
Donald's tutor, Bon Suter says, "In recent years, Donald's confidence in his own ability as a sculptor has grown enormously. This will be the most difficult piece of work that Donald has undertaken to date".
Donald has never let being deafblind hold him back from doing anything he wanted.
He works as an artist, lives independently and is a great example of the 2004 Helen Keller Communication Day message of people moving forward.