Lunchtime Meeting - 12.45pm - Guide Dogs

Brian Lort:

Immediately after lunch before Christopher introduces Lin, we will be presenting the launch of Brian Lort's memoirs which are now in final DVD format.

Brian's daughter Jennifer Limond will say a few words, then pass over to John Powell who will show a short trailer lasting about 4 minutes, designed to whet member's appetites to view the full 78-minute DVD in the comfort of their homes during the ensuing weeks.

Watch the trailer here:

John is also preparing 4 copies of the full version which we will start circulating to Club members before they depart on the day.

Guide Dogs For The Blind:

Our speaker today was Lin Stapley with her dog Woody - I believe it is the first time we have ever had a canine visitor to lunch!  However, Woody is not just any dog - he has been supplied to Lin to help her get around by Guide Dogs, and she had come to tell us about their work generally, and the difference Woody has made to her specifically.

To begin with, Guide Dogs is a large charitable organisation with 1,000 paid members of staff and 13,000 volunteers, the majority of whom are "puppy walkers".  Puppies are taken from their litters at 6 weeks and will then go to an assessment centre where they will have a whole raft of tests, (including an eye-test!) to assess their suitability to become a guide dog.  After this they are placed with a puppy walker until around the age of 14 months during which time they are house-trained and taught the usual commands, but also exposed to a variety of different experiences such as restaurants, buses, trains, shops, busy city centres and even planes, thanks to Virgin who allow the walkers to fly free with the puppies!

When the training is complete, the "puppy snatcher" comes for them and they go on to big school to work with Guide Dog Trainers where they learn to walk with a harness, to guide and to become spatially aware.  They need to keep their owner safe, even if that means disobeying a command when to continue would put them both at risk, eg crossing the road in a dangerous place.

The matching up of a person in need and a dog is an involved process - someone comes to the home to find out the kinds of things they like doing, places they like to go etc.  All this data is entered onto a computer and the next step is when a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor comes to 'train' the human in giving the correct commands - Lin's instructor was a friend called Denise who led her as if she was the dog and fed back where Lin was giving the wrong messages and then entered the data she had gleaned about Lin's gait/balance/walking speed into a computer to build up a profile with the aim of matching her with the perfect dog for her.

When Lin was finally introduced to Woody she told us it was love at first sight!  The harness was put on, they went for a walk and were declared a perfect match.  A little more training, then Lin paid her 50p (yes really!) and that was it.  Lin has had Woody for 5 1/2 years now and he can work till the age of 10 when Lin will keep him in retirement although she will be matched with a new dog at that time.  The true cost of training a dog is £50,000 and if for any reason a dog is not suitable for leading people with visual impairment they may become hearing dogs, sniffer dogs or perhaps 'buddy dogs' for children, often for those on the autistic spectrum.  No healthy dog is ever put down - if they can no longer work they can be rehomed.

Obviously Lin has a good idea where she is and where she needs to get to - she describes it as like 'having a satnav in my head' but it was clear that Woody has changed her life.  She has set up a fund-raising group and in 3 years they have raised £50,000 - enough for a puppy to be trained.  There are 4,700 partnerships in the country so much more money is needed to replace retiring dogs with younger dogs - all the while keeping the cost to the service user at a minimum.

"A great 50p's worth"!!  We all agreed that Guide Dogs do a fantastic job for those lucky enough to have one and Lin was warmly applauded for her fascinating talk.

Jayne Middleton

Watch a short documentary about Guide Dogs narrated by Lin and filmed in Shrewsbury.

Four Paws of Independence