Tag Archives: guide dogs

The Dog in the Garden – a guest post by Kenneth Weene.

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Thank you to Kenneth Weene for the below guest post. (You can find a brief biography of Kenneth at the end of this article).

The Dog in the Garden

a reminiscence by Kenneth Weene

What a beautiful garden. We sat on the well-cushioned wrought iron chairs waiting for our hostess to bring tea.

“Won’t you take tea and some scones?” Linda asked before we had even signed the guestbook. “The garden is lovely this time of year.”

And it was, a springtime profusion of color, growth, and scent. Enough to lull us away from the tensions of the day’s drive. More than enough to assure that I would spend the night suffering with allergies. Still, a true delight of a place.

I breathed deeply. My wife pulled out the little pillbox that held my antihistamines. Choosing one of the various pills at random, I swallowed it without benefit of water. When it came to allergy medicines, I had been swallowing pills that way since I was three. Not that they did much to help, or perhaps they did and I still suffered. Oh well, it was a great garden.

I was so busy enjoying the warm spring New England day and the joy of the Bed and Breakfast’s backyard that I hadn’t noticed him. It was only when I allowed my left hand to drift down from my lap, perhaps it and I were ready for sleep. Suddenly, I was fully awake. Cold, wet. What? I jerked my hand up and looked down. What did I expect to find?

I started to laugh. A buff and white cocker spaniel, his head cocked to one side, his tail awag with energy that belied his graying muzzle, his mouth barely able to hold the outsized ball dripping with saliva. Now that was a benefit I hadn’t expected. We had left our dogs in the kennel, and only two days into our trip I already missed them—especially our Airedale who loved to chase sticks. Since she didn’t retrieve, a ball wasn’t Jennifer’s thing; but chaisng a thrown stick, now that was a great game.

“You want me to throw that for you?” I asked and held my hand down near the dog’s mouth. I expected to have that well-slobbered orb dropped into my palm, but it wasn’t.

“You have to take it from his mouth.” Linda had returned with an elaborate tea tray. Scones with jam and cream, cakes, sandwiches, and of course a pot and two fine china cups. Perhaps she thought we were royalty. Over her right forearm was draped a small linen towel—a lovely touch of fine service. If our room was as nice as this greeting, we had lucked into a wonderful deal for our night in Providence.

“He’s blind,” she continued, so he doesn’t see your hand. He smells you… and hears you of course,” she explained before I could ask, “but he can’t actually tell if your hand is open.”

“Blind, how sad. Then he can’t—”

“Of course he can. He uses his hearing. Throw it and watch.”

I gave the ball a little tug and out it popped. Now I understood the purpose of that towel; my hand was awash with saliva.

I threw that sopping ball—not too far, how could he possibly find it if I threw it too far? No sooner did it land then the dog took off, his great cocker ears flapping with each bounce. Almost immediately he was back, nuzzling my hand.

Another throw and then another: each longer than the one before. Without hesitation he was after each toss; The garden was truly the dog’s domain. Never a stumble or a problem with a bush or plant.

“Enough, Baylor,” our hostess said. “Let the man have his tea.”

With an audible sign, Baylor lay by my feet, clearly waiting for me to resume the game. I wiped my hands on the proffered towel and dug into the feast.

Not by accident, I dropped a piece of scone, a bite of cake, a bit of sandwich. Even in the profusion of scents which filled that garden, Baylor found them all.

“Glaucoma,” Linda explained to me at breakfast. “Cockers are prone to eye problems. And ear. And of course they require brushing, just endless grooming. But…” She reached down and stroked Baylor. He buried his nose in her hand.

“Where’s his ball,” I asked.

“In the garden, where it belongs. Do you want to take him out for a while?”

I thought about for a moment, took another bite of the delicious soufflé and one of the fresh baked biscuit covered with homemade strawberry jam.

As I weighed the options, my wife wisely made the decision for me. “Finish your breakfast, and no, you can’t get another dog.”

ken sadie table

Biography:

Having retired from a career in psychology, Kenneth Weene turned to his dream profession, writer. Weene has published many poems and short stories in a variety of venues. With four novels currently available, Ken continues to pen away. He can be found on most social media or via his website, www.kennethweene.com  To find his books, visit http://www.amazon.com/Kenneth-Weene/e/B002M3EMWU

(As many of you will know, myself and fellow authors have published an anthology to raise money for the Guide Dogs for the Blind association. The anthology is free to download but it will be much appreciated if you could please make a donation to Guide Dogs when doing so. For details of the anthology please visit: http://newauthoronline.com/anthology-to-raise-money-for-guide-dogs/)

Guide Foxes For The Blind

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I was interested to read about a new organisation, Foxes for the Blind which has recently launched. As those of you who have knowledge of the world of canines will be aware, foxes fall under that classification. They are, in effect a dog albeit of the wild variety.

My first instinct on reading of this new charitable venture was a certain amount of scepticism. How could what is, essentially a wild beast be trained so as to furnish much needed assistance to visually impaired persons. However, as pointed out above, foxes are classified as canines and, if socialised from very young cubs behave rather like our four-legged friends.

The inspiration for this venture came from a group of farmers in Cornwall who (as with most farmers) became fed up with foxes attacking their livestock so, rather than culling Mr fox they determined to take fox cubs and train this most wiley of creatures to provide assistance to those with a visual impairment.

Farmer Michael Giles comments as follows,

“One day I came into my farmyard to find a fox attempting to gain entrance into my hen coop. My instinct was to reach for my trusty shot gun. However I hesitated. It was a young fox and had, potentially many years before it. It struck me how there exist a potentially huge source of cheap animals to provide guides for those with little sight. I know that breeding guide dogs can be expensive so, I thought why not start training this plentiful source of fox recruits.

Things are going well, however some blind fox owners complain of a highly pungent scent eminating from their fox. I recommend they spray the animal with aftershave or some other variety of perfume. However, for some unaccountable reason the foxes object to such treatment and have been known to escape back into the wild.

There is also an issue with dogs setting off in hot pursuit of the guide foxes but, in general everything is progressing well. In fact I am talking to a farmer in Africa with plans to train guide lions. The plan is at an early stage. There is, however no reason in principle why guide lions for the blind should not prove to be equally viable. Tomorrow guide lions, next week, who knows, wolves for the blind? Well dogs are descended from wolves which are, as with foxes part of the canine family”.

I will dig out a link for the story later today when I have more time to devote to researching this fascinating topic.

May I close by wishing you all a very happy All Fools or April Fools day.

 

Anthology to raise money for Guide Dogs goes live at last!

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Dear all,

The moment you have all been waiting for. No, I haven’t won millions on the National Lottery, although that would be nice! I am, however, delighted to announce that the anthology to raise money for the Guide Dogs for the Blind association is now live! I have created a dedicated page for the book which can be found here: http://newauthoronline.com/anthology-to-raise-money-for-guide-dogs/

I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who has contributed to the anthology, whether that be through stories, poems or other writings. I would like to thank Chris Graham for his generosity in producing the book cover at no charge. Without the tireless efforts of the editor, Dave Higgins, this anthology would not have come into being. Finally, a big thank you to everyone who has promoted and continues to promote the anthology.

Kind regards,

Kevin and Trigger

Excuse me, Are you In The Queue?

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I recently travelled with an acquaintance into London’s Victoria’s mainline station. On arrival I proceeded merrily and with some rapidity towards the ticket barriers.

“Trigger (my guide dog) is pushing in front of the queue” said my acquaintance. Oops!

Being a guide dog Trigger is taught to find a safe way through or around obstacles, including crowds. If my four-legged friend sees a gap, he goes for it with a will. I had no idea Trigger was skirting the queue and everyone queuing was too polite/embarrassed to say anything!

The above incident caused me to ponder on the advantages of being blind (other than the ability to jump queues without being lynched). After some consideration I came up with the below list:

 

  1. Having learned Braille from a young age I am able to read in the dark. This was particularly useful during my time at boarding school as I continued to read after the dormitory lights had been switched off and we children where supposed to be in the land of nod!
  2. Many tourist attractions and places of entertainment offer either a reduced fee or no payment to disabled people. This often extends to a person accompanying the disabled person. The result – I have lots of friends …!
  3. Any items designed for the blind (E.G. Braille books, magazines and talking books) are sent free of charge using articles for the blind labels meaning I save a fortune on postage!
  4. I get to take my wonderful guide dog, Trigger into places which do not permit other dogs to enter. So I can enjoy a nice hot curry while trigger snoozes at my feet or looks up at me appealingly hoping that a scrap of food will fall from my plate!
  5. The screen on my mobile phone recently developed a crack. As I rely on the phone’s talking software this does not bother me in the least although I am, as it happens probably in need of a new phone for reasons unrelated to the device’s broken screen.

I’m off now to queue jump, purely unintentionally you understand …

Stop Thief!

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Today, as on every working day, I went into my office in central London with my trusty guide dog, Trigger. On opening my emails I was pleased to see, in among the various pieces of work requiring my attention that a colleague had emailed around saying that, in honour of his birthday he had made a lemon drizzle cake and we (lucky people) should help ourselves.

The cake was, I am pleased to report most delicious. Having partaken of the delights of cake I emailed my colleague thanking him for it and saying that, fortunately Trigger haden’t managed to get anywhere near my tasty snack, (Trigger has been known, on occasions to relieve unwary colleagues of their lunches. He is, obviously working for Wait Watchers and performing an invaluable function by preventing my office from over eating, noble beast that he is)!

Scarcely had I pressed send on my e-mail when I heard a commotion – Trigger had helped himself to the remains of a colleague’s slice of cake and, irony of ironies the person in question was none other than the birthday boy. Oops and double oops! Fortunately my colleague was more concerned whether the cake would upset Trigger’s stomach and not at all about the loss of his tasty snack. Oh the joys of taking one’s guide dog into the office. Anyone for cake? I’m sure I had a chocolate one somewhere. Now where could it have gone …

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Is It Really A Guide Dog Or The Local Mut?

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As a guide dog owner for some 20 years or more I was surprised to come across this post about service dogs in the USA, (http://aopinionatedman.com/2015/02/07/service-dogs/). In it Opinionated Man questions whether all the dogs described as “service dogs” are, in fact the genuine article. He states his dislike of having an animal sitting in close proximity while eating in a restaurant. In the comments following on from the post a number of people contend that they have seen dogs in shops which, they say where not service animals. In short, according to the post the law as to which constitutes a “service dog” in the USA is lax and/or not properly enforced.

One respondent does, however confirm my understanding of the situation in the USA, namely that federal legislation (The Americans With Disabilities Act) mandates that “service dogs” (known in the UK as “Assistance Dogs”) must be permitted access to food and other premises when accompanied by their owner.

I have no way of knowing whether there exists a big “service dog” scam in the USA with people passing off their pet fido as a well trained “service dog”. If there does indeed exist such a scam then it should be jumped on from a great height by the authorities as those offering fake “service animals” are bringing properly trained guide and other assistance animals into disrepute. However my experience as a guide dog owner in the UK is very different from that portrayed in the above mentioned post. Here the Equalities Act states that guide and other assistance dogs must be permitted entry, when accompanied by their owner to food premises such as restaurants. A guide dog is essential to the blind person’s mobility/independence and the Act recognises this by construing refusal to admit assistance dogs as discrimination. Other than one particularly poor joke I have never come across evidence of non assistance dogs being passed off as properly trained working animals. If this where to happen it would be a clear breech of the law and those perpetrating the scam would be liable to prosecution.

The problem in the UK revolves around service providers such as taxi firms and restaurants breaking the law by refusing entry to owners accompanied by their assistance dogs. It does not concern people trying to pass off their pet pooch as a genuine assistance dog. I know because I have been on the receiving end of such refusals on numerous occasions, (for the most recent example which entails a taxi firm refusing to convey me with my guide dog Trigger please see http://newauthoronline.com/2014/12/09/discrimination-by-taxi-driver-who-refused-to-convey-me-with-my-guide-dog-trigger/). Sadly I am far from being unique. Speaking to the Guide Dogs For The Blind Association (the UK charity which trains guide dogs) and to fellow guide dog owners, I hear stories of refusals of entry by restaurants and other premises together with instances of taxi firms refusing to convey owners accompanied by their very highly trained guide dogs).

Refusal to admit assistance dogs has the effect of preventing their owner from accessing services which others take for granted. It is treating people who rely on their assistance animals as second class citizens and it is wholly unacceptable.

In conclusion I understand the concern regarding any old mut being passed off as a service dog and/or assistance dog. However the problem of scams pails into insignificance when compared to the discrimination faced by disabled assistance dog owners. We must not allow genuine concerns about service dog scams to blind us to the real problem, that of discrimination.

Why drewdog2060drewdog2060?

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When I make a comment or like a post “drewdog2060drewdog2060” appears which, when clicked on takes the reader to my blog. It makes me smile when people respond to my feedback by addressing me as Drew when, in fact my name is Kevin. Given the use of drewdog2060drewdog2060 it is easy to understand why people make this mistake! So why the drewdog2060drewdog2060 I here you ask?

My third guide dog was a lovely lab/retriever cross called Drew. I have wonderful memories of our time together including walks in the woodland which abuts my home. Drew was a gentle dog who was loved by all who met her, (I remember people who are usually frightened of dogs stopping to pat her).

Drew had her faults (few of us, apart from me of course are plaster saints)! I well recollect her raiding the bins in the office and helping herself to the odd lunch which unwary colleague’s had left within her reach but, despite all this she was a lovely dog who worked loyally as my guide and friend for many years.

March 2011 is indelibly imprinted on my memory. It was an ordinary day. I had gone into my office in London with Drew and on the way home popped into my favourite local for a pint, followed by a trip to the supermarket. Drew kept stopping to relieve herself. I thought she just had a stomach upset which would pass but in the night she began to pass blood. My then partner took her to the vets but, very sadly she died as a consequence of a heart attack brought on by blood loss.

I got my present companion, Trigger on 4 July 2011. He, also is a wonderful dog and has saved me from walking in front of vehicles on several occasions. Despite my bond with Trigger Drew will forever maintain a special place in my heart. She lives on in drewdog2060drewdog2060 and despite the confusion the use of her name sometimes causes I won’t be changing it.

It is a great pity that dogs have such short lives in comparison to we humans.

 

Drew (sorry Kevin)

Have You Compiled A Charity Anthology? If So You May Be Able To Assist

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As those of you who follow this blog will know I am compiling a charity anthology to raise money for The Guide Dogs For The Blind Association (GDBA), a charity which trains assistance dogs for visually impaired people.

I have been moved by the kindness of fellow bloggers and authors in providing a platform to promote the idea and to everyone who has submitted content. I hope that the book will be published in the Amazon Kindle store in February of this year.

I have no experience of charity anthologies and would greatly appreciate advice from anyone who has published such a work regarding how best to get the monies to Guide Dogs? I have my own author’s page on Amazon. I am, however reluctant to publish the work using my Amazon author’s account as this would necessitate me separating out payments intended for Guide Dogs from monies meant for me and forwarding them onto the charity. The simplest and least beurocratic solution would appear to entail setting up the book on it’s own Amazon page while furnishing Amazon with GDBA’s account details thereby ensuring that payments go direct to the charity’s account. I would link to the anthology from this blog and my Amazon author page but the title and monies would remain distinct from my publications. Does anyone know whether this is a viable way forward? If not how have you addressed the issue of getting monies to your charity? Any advice would be most welcome. Please feel free to comment or alternatively e-mail me at newauthoronline at gmail . com (the address is rendered in this way to defeat the scourge of the internet, spammers)!

 

Many thanks,

 

Kevin

Do Not Distract

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As a guide dog owner I am very happy for people to make a fuss of my 4 legged friend, Trigger when he is not working. He is a wonderful dog and deserves to be fussed and played with as all work and no play makes Jack (sorry Trigger) a dull boy.

When working however it is imperative that Trigger and other assistance dogs are not disturbed. Distracting a guide dog can lead to me or another guide dog owner becoming intimately acquainted with a lamp post or the back of a number 7 bus, a fate which I am, you may be surprised to learn somewhat anxious to avoid!

The problem which I and other guide dog owners have is that many people see a cuddly dog and their immediate reaction is to call out to the animal or reach out and stroke it. I have lost count of the number of occasions on which I have politely had to request people not to distract Trigger when working due to the obvious dangers which can flow from doing so. Most people understand my explanation. However a minority either lack (for whatever reason) the ability to comprehend or, quite simply don’t care. One gentleman in my locality always greets Trigger when he is working and will often stroke him. I have explained, until I am blue in the face why he should not do this. However he still persists. What is one to do in such a situation, grin and bare it? Perhaps I should dress Trigger up to resemble the Hound of the Baskervilles. Would that act as a deterrent do you think?!

As I said above, I am very happy for Trigger to receive attention when he is not working. I do, however wish that the gentleman in my area would desist from distracting my (working) guide dog.

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