Olly and Holly with the trolley, wish you and your family a happy and safe holiday.

Transcription

1 Joy! Summer 2014

2 Olly and Holly with the trolley, wish you and your family a happy and safe holiday. Let s embark Dear friends, I d like to take this opportunity to draw your attention to the new Guide Dogs Tasmania and Puppy Love websites: guidedogstas.com.au and puppylove.com.au We are very excitied with these developments and particularly with the new direction of Puppy Love: to showcase our puppies and dogs to EVERYONE. We are confident that by placing the information in the public domain, as opposed to keeping it locked up with passwords and permissions, we will achieve a few important things: First, more people will learn about what we do and how they can help. Second, our members won t get frustrated by complicated access to the information (to those who accessed the previous Puppy Love page, we listened!) Third, making the newsletters available online will help to further reduce our postage costs, through members electing to access them that way. Finally, by keeping the information open, we will be able to spread the word regarding Pet Insurance, Puppy Raising, and Puppy Love membership to even more potential supporters. At this time, membership payments will still be organised through credit card and DDR processes, but all Puppy Love information is now available online. And, if you don t have a computer or access to the internet? No worries, we can still do things with pen, paper and postage if you need. Now, onto puppy business! New pups are arriving just in time for Santa, but this issue we thought we d give you all a very special Christmas-themed treat, courtesy of the AWESOME Kirsty Pilkington. Enjoy! Kate Grady, Funding Development Manager.

3 Santa Paws is coming to town! Holly, Nina, Pepper, Paddy, Dexter, Nelson and Taylor. A Christmas hero for every day of the week. (Thank you, Kirsty, this one took some work!!) Can you picture a tired old room full of stock and chairs and tables when you see these photos? Several hours, several pups, several staff and two very patient Puppy Raisers all worked together with Kirsty Pilkington to produce these amazing Christmas photos. Our cover features Ambassador Dog Dexter and Guide Dog in Training, Holly. And if you think it is easy to get a shot like any of these, put YOUR 1 year old pup in front of just one wrapped present, or under a set of reindeer ears! Chaos reigns supreme...but we wouldn t have it any other way! Nina, Pepper and Paddy. Three wise dogs. I think there is FOOD in one of the boxes! says a very controlled Paddy. 03 Puppy Love - Summer 2014

4 Santa Paws (continued) Nina and Nelson. If there s a Kong in there, or a treat, we re happy. For a reindeer, Dexter makes a mighty fine Ambassador Dog. All together now: ohhhh Dexter! Paddy and Taylor. Christmas isn t all about presents. It has a lot to do with presence. Our Christmas band of merry pups - Nelson, Pepper, Nina, and Paddy. Woof! 04 Puppy Love - Summer 2014

5 Ringo Riley I LOVE THE BEACH!!!!! The life of a pup and a puppy raiser is as equally wonderful. 29 April 2014 Region: North A ferny thing happened at Launceston s City Park. 29 April 2014 Region: North I m a resourceful pup - no ball, no problem. Hello! My favourite thing to do at the moment is to play on the lawn with a plastic milk bottle tied on to a rope. I just love it, and NEVER get tired like my mum does! Lately, I ve learnt to help in the supermarket with the shopping, and I get lots of praise. It s a bit hard going past the meat counter though. I m also very polite when going through doorways and gates. My mum is working very hard at teaching me not to jump up to greet visitors. It s so difficult though because I just love everyone! Springtime has been loads of fun in my neighbourhood, and I get to see lots of lambs, horses and cows on my walks - they re never frightened of me. My legs are quite long now, which makes it a bit of a squeeze in the car, but I love the car as it usually means that we re going to the beach to look for some playmates. My favourite playmate is my brother Riley. When I travel to Launceston we have a ball together. See you next time, everyone! Hi everybody! I am proud to say that my puppy raiser tells me I am a good boy nearly all the time! Lately on my walks in the city there have been lots of strangers commenting to my puppy raiser on my patient and sensible behaviour. We get smiles from people all the time. I am getting much better at ignoring other dogs on walks and when I go into Myer my tail wags, as I know we are going on the escalators! Doing a little jump at exactly the right time at the end is tricky - sometimes I get a bit excited and jump too early, but usually my puppy raiser tells me I have done it perfectly. Last week I spent a night at the vet and felt very poorly indeed. This was because I had eaten toy stuffing, bark chips and pebbles, all on the same day. This caused a nasty blockage and I was lucky to not need an operation in the end. My puppy raisers have taken away any old soft toys from around the home and are teaching me not to eat all the stones in the garden. They tell me that just because I am young and a Labrador doesn t mean I have to go around like a vacuum cleaner! This is my big challenge at the moment and I hope to tell you next time that I have stopped eating things I shouldn t... Apart from that I am one very happy dog! 05 Puppy Love - Summer 2014

6 Nina Nelson Just out of shot, though never very far away, is the loyal pink piggy. The shack lifestyle certainly suits Nelson. Nice deck for it. 1 February 2014 Region: South Hello! When puppy raiser Danni visits from College and sees this face, do you think she ll EVER want to leave again? My favourite thing at the moment is my Nyla bone; I could spend hours just chewing away on it. I also still really love my pink piggy. I sleep with her every night and I haven t even chewed any of piggy s ears or hands or feet! I have had a busy three months since you last heard from me. I spent three weeks with a lovely boarding family while mum, dad and Danni went to America. Along with all my usual learner Guide Dog duties, I had a good time playing with their kids, and they took me to beach for the first time. I was a little scared of the waves but enjoyed digging in the sand. I was a little confused when I came home because I couldn t find Danni. Apparently she stayed at College in America, but she is coming home to visit me for Christmas. I have learnt how to travel on a bus too. It was a little big and scary at first, but I soon got the hang of it, even if I did slip a little on the floor when we went around corners and made stops, but it was fun learning with Olly, and the very experienced Taylor was there to show us how to do it. Lately I have been having a few health scares, so have had a lot of trips to the vets. They are all taking very good care of me and running lots of tests to try and find out what is happening. I m sure I ll be fine, but I really hope I still get to be a Guide Dog one day. Until next time... 1 February 2014 Region: South Hi there, everyone! Nelson looks pretty handsome in his blue learner coat, don t you agree? Boy, have I grown since the last Puppy Love newsletter! I m not a little puppy anymore, but a big handsome boy (well, so people tell me!) My favourite activity is playing with my friends at the park. Wrestling and chasing the other dogs is just so much fun! I still LOVE visiting the shack too, where I can relax in the sun after a busy day at the beach. Recently, I was part of an exciting photo-shoot at the Guide Dogs Tasmania office in Hobart. All my other Guide Dog friends were there too, and none of us really knew what was going on! There was lots of tinsel, reindeer antlers, Santa hats, and this HUGE white blanket with big lights shining on to it. All of us pups took turns getting our photos taken, and I must say, I probably wasn t the quietest dog while waiting for my turn I just wanted to be part of the fun and it seemed to take forever to get to me! But guess what, when it finally was my turn I behaved so well that I surprised everyone! I think that I was so exhausted by that stage that I just wanted to get it over with, but everyone seemed happy with me, and that s always a good thing! I have only just now seen the photos and I look very handsome in them! See you next time! 06 Puppy Love - Summer 2014

7 Olly Taylor Glide Dog to the rescue! How many pups do you know would be content to just wait at the end of the checkout? 28 Sept 2013 Region: South Olly likes to party...hard. HI! It s Olly the Glide Dog (I ll explain later) again! As I ve said before, we grow when we sleep. Well, I must have been getting plenty of sleep, because I ve now pretty much reached my adult weight of 26kg and I m looking slim n trim! When I travel in a car I can easily see out the window. There have been lots of colourful spring flowers and fresh smells lately. The weather has been a bit tricky though, and a couple of times I ve been walking about with my puppy raiser and the rain has poured down (some say cats and dogs, but I didn t see any). It s really good having my nice blue training coat on at those times. Other wet dogs look at me very envious. I still love the trips to the beach; the sand, the seaweed and shell smells, the waves I love it all! My puppy raiser does get upset though when I want to play with a dog down the other end of the beach. I can run really fast when there s another dog at the end! A while ago my puppy raiser went on a holiday overseas, so I got a few weeks holiday with a puppy boarder person. It was a good holiday as well, because they didn t snore anywhere near as loud as at my normal home! Check out my photo when I went to the gliding field. It was about halfway between Hobart and Launceston, very flat, and had lots of grass and sheepy smells. I had to be on my best behaviour to keep out of the way of the aeroplanes. It was a great trip, and that s why they now call me Olly the Glide Dog. Cheers, Olly. 25 July 2013 Region: South Whoever says dogs don t smile doesn t visit the dog park. Quinton and Taylor are BEAMING! HELLO! My favourite thing at the moment is to free run in the dog park! Sometimes Quinton comes and sometimes I meet new doggie friends there! Sometimes people say to my puppy raiser, Oh, look how sad he is. I am not sad, I am simply concentrating when my blue coat is on. I have been working very hard lately. Have you any idea what it is like to be my size and have to negotiate all those legs, trolleys, screaming children, smells, noises and obstacles that are in front of me in a supermarket? My puppy raiser mum tells me that I am very good and very well behaved with so many distractions that I encounter. Sometimes people offer me food, but I am not allowed to eat different food as it may upset my tummy, so my puppy raiser tells me to leave it. It is very important that I do not get sick or I would not be able to go out in public. More importantly, offering me food can cause me to continue to look around for more food and may distract me from my concentration when working with a blind person in the future. Often after we go somewhere and I have really had to concentrate, my puppy raiser mum will take me to the dog park and just let me run and enjoy myself. Sometimes she just calls my name and I return to her, and other times she takes a whistle. It s great when she takes the whistle because often when she blows the whistle twice and I run back to her really fast and sit nicely in front of her she has food treats. I love those times. See you soon! 07 Puppy Love - Summer 2014

8 Yuri Yoda The Y brothers get some play time at the free-run park. The Y brothers get some play time at the farm! 18 May 2013 Region: North Hi! A little rest in the arcade during some important Christmas shopping! My favourite thing at the moment is swimming. My mum is not so keen though, as I soak up twice my body weight in water and sand, and then bring it all home. I don t see what the problem is? I have grown up a lot since the last Puppy Love. I started my training on the first page of the Puppy Raiser Manual. I thought I would never get to the end of the book, but we are almost there. I can now sit, lie down and stay while my mum goes clothes shopping lifts, open and closed stairs, and escalators hold no fears for me. I walk through town with my dad, go shopping and to restaurants, practicing all the things I will need to know to become a Guide Dog. We often go to the theatre and to concerts where I know that I need to lie quietly while the performers are doing their thing. It is usually very hot in the venue so I get to chew on some ice cubes as I am not allowed to have water in case I make a mess and someone slips over and hurts themselves. I have been to see comedians, singers and musicals - I am a diversely cultured puppy. It s almost time to go onto the final stages of my training, and Mum and Dad tell me that is where I will learn all the clever stuff that will help me to keep my person safe. I will miss my Mum, Dad and FJ (maybe even the cat too, but I am not so sure about that), but am very excited (but not too excited) about what my future will bring. Thank you for following my adventures. 18 May 2013 Region: North Hello all! Yoda s lining up all his ducks in preparation for formal training... Now, I must tell you about my larger than life Guardian Tigger that watches over me and my toys. He is too big to hold in my gentle mouth like I can with Tigger No.1. I am allowed a special treat each Sunday night - to sleep on my dog bed beside my teacher in her room. I wake her at 6am by pushing Tigger onto her pillow! Sunny and warm days are most welcome now, and so very rarely do paws or bodies need drying. I do miss the friendliness of the fire and the search for sunny spots though, which were usually occupied by my friend Jenny the cat. She never minded sharing. Yuri and I had a wonderful weekend together recently. We had a great playtime with toys, walks and quiet times inside recovering our energy. It was established we have very similar habits - all good, might I add. I also had playtime with Molly, a Border Collie, at a barbecue. She is such an energetic girl, I was exhausted at the end of the day! I am 18 months old now and will be leaving my home and these friends soon for the next stage of my training. I THINK I will be ok. I have learnt so many things from the people around me since arriving at eight weeks of age and feel proud to have had these words said - good boy, well done, clever boy, good job, with only a few no!. The memories of the journey to now are of friends, fun, skills, knowledge and great respect of my blue learner coat, soon to become the harness. Cheers to all! 08 Puppy Love - Summer 2014

9 Pepper When on Bruny Island... say CHEESE! Follow the pups & feel the Love It takes a lot of people and costs over $30,000 to raise and train each beautiful puppy into a wonderful Guide Dog. We give them to people who need them and we receive no Government funding to do it. For as little as $15.00 per month, you can join Guide Dogs Tasmania s Puppy Love program. Become a member and access updates on all our puppies, knowing you are making a real difference for Tasmanians who are blind or vision impaired. 29 Jan 2013 Region: South HELLO! Last day at UTAS Law School for Pepper. As the weather is heating up again, my favourite thing at the moment is getting outdoors! I work so hard for my puppy raiser through the week, learning new skills and being such a good Guide Dog puppy in preparation for training, so my puppy raiser usually takes me for lots of walks and beach trips in the afternoons and on weekends as a reward! A few weeks ago, some of my puppy friends and I got together one afternoon for an almighty puppy picnic in Princes Park to say goodbye to my brother Paddy as he got ready to leave his loving puppy raisers and take the next step in his journey to become a Superhero - Guide Dog in Training! We had a fabulous afternoon - there were doggy toys and balloons and all of Paddy s friends! There was also Pimms and lemonade and cucumber sandwiches for the adults! It will probably be my time to become a Superhero soon too. If it is, and when it comes, I really hope that I get a great send off like Paddy did, with all my human and doggy friends around! I m still doing my best, so please wish me well! Fill in the details below and post to: PO Box 82, North Hobart, Tasmania, OR Phone to request a DDR form OR Download the DDR form at guidedogstas.com.au/puppy-love/puppy-loveoverview/ Title: Mr / Mrs / Miss / Other... Name:... Address:... State:... Postcode:... Telephone: (...) NOTE: We woud like to send you the quarterly newsletter via , as a PDF file. Please tick here ( ) if you would like to receive hard copies, via post, instead. Please accept my monthly membership payment of ( ) $15 ( ) $20 Other ($...) I would like to pay my monthly membership by ( ) VISA ( ) MasterCard Card No:... /... /... /... Expiry Date:... /... Signature: Puppy Love - Summer 2014

10 Paws for reflection Holly is gorgeous. And when this harness goes on her, she looks like a million bucks! When a pup comes in for formal training, the first thing he gets is a bunch of toys! How good is that? asks Paddy. Guide Dog Quinnell, getting acquainted with Launceston at dusk, and his new handler. Training Dogs Holly has passed her assessment and is well underway in her training, adapting to harness work really quickly. She looks so proud with her harness on, and loves to get out each day and learn new commands. She is quick to show the other dogs just what they should be doing at group training sessions and has matured very nicely in her new phase of training. She recently enjoyed the Christmas photo shoot, showing off to all the other dogs as the only one in harness. Paddy has entered training and nearly at the end of his assessment. Being one of our largest dogs for a while, we have ordered a nice new Large harness in preparation for him moving into formal training. He is slowly adapting to training life, and learning to stay patiently on his bed and not play with everyone in the office all day long. He is a little slow at times to follow commands, but learning that it is much more fun to follow the command first time and get lots of praise. Fingers crossed his response time is nice and quick when he enters the formal phase and has lots of new words to learn. Iris has been with her new client for a few months now, and things are going really well. They have completed their training program and now independently negotiating the streets of Launceston. Iris adapted quickly to her new handler and family, and we are super proud of her success (even if we do miss her around the office a little bit). You can read more about Iris and the difference she has made by visiting our website: guidedogstas.com.au/story-jodie-iris/ You may remember Quinnell? Well, his first client unfortunately could not continue working with a Guide Dog, so he came back to us for a mini training program and he has also recently been placed with a vision impaired person in Launceston. Both are going well and we are happy to have Quinnell back in the state, supporting one of our northern clients. Thank You! Dee and Jarrod Earley for puppy raising Pepper. Aurora Clark and Paul Thompson for puppy raising Paddy. Guide Dogs Pet Insurance: Helps You. Helps Us. At Guide Dogs Tasmania, the health of our dogs is our top priority, and we know our supporters feel the same way about their pets. We all try to keep our animals safe and healthy, but accidents or illness can strike at any time and when it does, you could face veterinary bills in the hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Which is why Guide Dogs has launched its very own pet insurance to help you eliminate those unexpected vet bills and keep your pet in the picture of health. A percentage of your pet s insurance policy will fund our Guide Dog training program and ultimately change the life of a Tasmanian who is blind or vision impaired. Cover is available for dogs and cats with plans that suit any budget. For more information visit or call Puppy Love - Summer 2014

11 Paws for reflection Puppy Love...at Christmas time We all LOVE Christmas, but don t forget that your pups and dogs don t necessarily know the difference between a precious decoration and a sparkling new toy...until it is way too late! Hang delicate ornaments high on the tree to make sure everybody stays happy and healthy. Just becasue dogs LIKE Christmas food, like mini plum puddings, chocolate Santas and candy canes on the tree, doesn t make it GOOD for them. Keep them out of reach to avoid an unplanned trip to your vet! Don t forget to buy your canine companion a present as well this Christmas, but if it happens to be food, don t put it under the tree until you re ready for him to have it. He could certainly create some chaos trying to get to it beforehand! And the same goes for boxes of chocolates or food hampers destined for human consumption...keep them high or away until you are ready for them to be opened. Dogs love food and wrapping paper won t hold them back! A special ask from Guide Dogs Elton and Eddie: TAKE THE LEAD! We are still extremely frustrated that within the space of four days in October, two of our Guide Dogs were attacked by pet dogs not being controlled by their owners: Elton, by an off lead dog on a school oval, and Eddie outside an unsecured yard. We remind the public to please Take the Lead control your pet dogs. Elton had his harnes broken, and Eddie was not keen at all to leave the house for a while. The dogs are physically well now, but it remains to be seen what these incidents will do to their confidence, and the confidence of their handlers. We don t like to be too bossy about this sort of thing, but it is totally gobsmacking to us that people can t secure their yards or keep their dogs on a lead in an on-lead area!! Rant over. Even though we haven t had too many warm days yet, remember the following simple rules for dogs on hot days: If you can t hold your hand on the footpath, it will be too hot for paws. Make sure you have water for your dog in the car when travelling (and allow for toilet stops!) Secure her in the vehicle to protect her from sudden stops or jolts. Provide plenty of shade and water for your dog. A child s clam is an excellent makeshitft paddling pool if he likes a dip. NEVER, EVER, LEAVE YOUR DOG IN A HOT CAR. EVER. Shower your dog with kindness, love and time every day. Remember, you may have work, social groups, sporting actvities, extended family and friends to see. They have...you. Guide Dog Elton. Remember to Take the Lead so Elton and other Guide Dogs can do what they ve been trained to do! We thought we d find a quiet little corner in this newsletter to say farewell to a beautiful old girl and dear companion. Rest in peace, Kayla. x Whether you ve got an ol pro like Ambassador Dexter, or a little fury present like these guys around at Christmas, make sure you keep them cool, comfortable, and away from those tempting human treats!! 11 Puppy Love - Summer 2014

12 ...News NEW PUPPIES! I mentioned at the start of this edition that we are expecting two new puppies at the end of the year. Well, here you can see the A Team only a few days after they were born with their proud mum, Sapphire. In this photo they do look chocolate, but I can assure you they are black. MORE BLACK PUPPIES!!??? Yes indeed! We look forward to cuddling these little puddings on December 22, and sharing their pictures and adventures with you all early next year. DEXTER WANTS YOU!! ANZ - Glenorchy Branch will be holding their Paws for a Photo fundraiser with Dexter the Reindeer. Come along and say hohoho! Tuesday, December 23 10am 12 pm Give a gold coin donation to have your own snap taken and printed on the day. Paws for a Photo is a great pre-christmas activity, for not a lot of expense, with a whole lot of feel-good factor. NORTH WEST TASMANIA FOREST INDUSTRIES CLUB Hoo Hoo International Club 272 Proudly Supported By Would you like your business or organisation to part of something special? We re looking for corporate and community partners, and there are lots of ways we can work together. To start a conversation, phone Kate on We are very grateful for the support of all our partners and Puppy Love members. For more information on how these organisations help us, visit guidedogstas.com.au 12 Puppy Love - Summer 2014