Look at the nice dogs
It gives me great pleasure to see one fully-trained guide dog off into the world and welcome a new puppy into the fold. Today, I received notification, via my "Pupdate" from Guide Dogs for the Blind, that Fliss (above, left), the puppy I previously sponsored, has now graduated and is living and working with a chap called Matt, whose previous dog Millie is retiring. I am now the proud sponsor of Nevis (above, right). I'm no fool. I know that with my monthly donation I am one among probably hundreds, maybe even thousands of other donors who sponsor Nevin, but it's rewarding all the same finding out how it's going. Charities have to find sexy ways of getting you to sign a direct debit form. A bad way is stopping you in the street with a clipboard and asking for your bank details. A good way is using word of mouth, which is why I mention the scheme here. Go to the Guide Dogs website to find out more. It really doesn't cost much. You can choose how much you donate per month - as little as four pounds 33p.
I used to work at Radio 4 with a nice guy called Toby who had a guide dog (and used to go sailing, which also blew my mind), and I learned a lot from him about how it all works. That's why I looked into sponsoring a puppy. I'm not even a dog person! (Cats, however, are not built for this sort of lifestyle.) Seeing a guide dog has always broken my heart a little bit, through sheer admiration really - that a dog will willingly give up his or her normal dog life to assist one of us, in return for job satisfaction, love, and some biscuits. You're not supposed to pet a guide dog if you see one on the job, as he or she is working, and shouldn't be distracted from the task at hand. It's hard not to though. They are princes and princesses among dogs.Now, back to the football.
posted by Andrew Collins @ 1:27 PM
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12 Comments:
Funny you should write about this today actually. A former colleague of my girlfriend came over for lunch yesterday and has left on charity (a mental health one - Rethink, where my gf works) to start working for another one as a guide dog trainer.
They sound like bloody amazing animals. They can remember left and right, will only ever cross a road at a proper crossing and are able to judge heights, comparing low hanging objects to the height of their owners and stopping if it's too low. To top it all off, they're trained to go to the toilet when told to do so, not when they feel like it, which is something most humans remain unable to do.
Awesome animals. I share your urge to stroke them whenever I see one!
Here here sir! Dogs are merely Zen Masters in disgiuse.
Beautifully put. Guide dogs rule. I've been sponsoring them for 30 years and for the price of a pack of fags you can't go wrong. Every time you see one you know that you helped just a litte bit.It's a tremendous feeling.
I think you really want a dog, Andrew. You're trying to deny it but you don't fool me. Do it...do it...
I sponsored a guide dog a few years ago - can't think why I didn't renew it, but you've inspired me to do so now.
They're ace - training them must be such a rewarding job.
But, as you say, not a job for cats. Watching my cat arsing about in the garden chasing seagulls, I wouldn't like to think of the havoc that 'guide cats' could wreak!
delores
I spent a day at the Irish Guide Dogs Centre a few years ago for a piece I was writing for the Irish Times and it was absolutely amazing. The dogs were so smart and charming and their owners all adored them and, rightly, had total faith in them - the people all said how they'd hated feeling their way around with a stick and how the dogs gave them freedom to just walk along with confidence.
The best bit was when I met a man whose young autistic son has a helper dog (I met the dog too but not the little boy because he didn't like strangers). The dad said that the child had totally transformed since the dog came into his life – he was able to go out in crowded streets without freaking out and generally seemed much more content and less frustrated. I'll admit that I got a bit teary when he told me that the kid doesn't speak, but the dog has never barked, and they just communicated through touch, in happy silence.
Last year there was another piece in the Times about a woman whose son had a wonderful assistant dog from the centre and it seemed that she'd found out about the assistant dog programme through my piece. In a fairly lightweight career as a features writer, this is the one thing I'm actually proud of.
Did Toby's dog go sailing with him? I just have this wonderful image of a guide dog calmly sitting in the back of a storm tossed boat whilst all around are hurling their cookies.
I often wonder what David Blunkett's poor old dogs had to put up with. Gosh, if they could write their memoirs!
Ahh, how cute is Nevis?
Has he/she been on steroids? Look at the size of those paws!
I've always been a bit mystified why guide dogs have to be funded by charities instead of from general taxation. They are hardly a luxury item for the blind are they?
That's all very good, but look at this tiny sleepy kitten. Awww...
Ross, I know that charities provide and train the guide dogs, but do they fund all of this through donation? I know that more and more services are being provided by charities but funded by government. I was actually discussing something very similar with my girlfriend yesterday. She works for a major mental health charity (not Mind) and most of the services they offer (ie. the non campaigning/public affairs bits) are actually funded directly by government under strict service quality agreements. I wonder if the Guide Dog thing is the same.
I do get a little worried sometimes at the increasing influence that charities and NGOs have in providing what should be provided by the state. They don't have the democratic mandate and accountability that governments have. But that's probably for another discussion.
SaliWho, that cat was cute, but dogs are just better. That's all there is to it.
Now, if you want to see funny cats (with captions) then I highly recommend this lolcats website: http://icanhascheezburger.com/
You get used to their language and some of the running gags after a while.
Tristan, I use LiveJournal. This means I am bombarded daily with cat macros from icanhascheezburger. AND I LOVE IT! Mmm, cat-perving. LJ-users seem to spend most of their time making and looking at macros. A lot of my friends on there are Doctor Who fans, so I'm always told to look at macros from icanhastardis, and I never understand any of them. Cats beat Doctor Who and dogs.
http://www.livejournal.com/interests.bml?int=macros
All your obscure macro needs are catered for there. There's classic rock, Radiohead, The Mighty Boosh, Barack Obama, goths (tagline: Post Some Moping Goths) and, more inexplicably, anti-racism macros. There are even dog macros if you're that kind of weirdo.
Look, Andrew! Bird macros! They look rubbish, though.
Did I out-geek you yet? Did I? YAY!
I'm moving to a new flat in the morning. I should be packing. Can you tell I'm killing time? The van arrives in 6 hours. I hate packing. I hope it dies. I'm tired. DEATH. I hate everyone. Goodnight!
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