0:35

On Vision Australia Radio. You're

0:37

listening to the Seeing Eye Dog show with me,

0:40

your host, Harriet Moffatt. Today

0:42

I'm going to be joined by Paul Adrian

0:44

Seeing Eye Dogs advisor for Strategy and

0:46

Change. Paul is also a

0:49

qualified GMI. So

0:51

we're going to talk about some of the

0:54

eligibility and assessment criteria

0:56

of getting a seeing eye dog, what dog

0:58

eyed mobility means, and a

1:00

bit about our application process

1:02

in recognition of International Guide

1:04

Dog Day. Talking about, I guess, how

1:06

our dogs can help a range of people

1:09

from different lifestyles, backgrounds

1:11

and how we go through the process

1:13

of, of, uh, assessing

1:16

a handler potential handler to

1:18

matching them with a seeing eye dog. If

1:21

you'd like to find out more about that, keep

1:23

listening. And you can also give us a ring on

1:25

one 800 0377

1:27

73 to talk about your

1:30

circumstances. If you are interested in getting

1:32

a seeing audit yourself. Now,

1:34

my interview with Paul talking about

1:36

assessment, eligibility and

1:38

matching. Hi,

1:46

Paul, thank you for joining me on the show today.

1:49

It's a pleasure, Harriet. Always nice to talk to you.

1:51

So you are virtually joining

1:53

me, and I'm seeing eye dogs as a national

1:55

program. So, um, could you tell us

1:57

where you are in Australia at the moment?

2:00

Well, actually, I'm in sunny far

2:02

north Queensland today, Harriet. And,

2:04

uh, I've been up here now

2:07

for nearly a week, and I'm staying another week.

2:09

And, uh, what I'm doing

2:11

is I'm actually delivering a brand

2:13

new seeing eye dog to a client

2:16

who lives up here.

2:17

How exciting.

2:18

It is. It's really, really, really

2:21

nice. And, uh, as you said,

2:23

we are a national provider. And what's

2:25

really nice is that we are still able to,

2:27

to, uh, travel to people

2:30

wherever they are in Australia and actually

2:32

train them with their dog in

2:35

their or from their home, if that's the

2:37

method of, of program that they

2:39

prefer. Of course, some people do, do

2:41

also travel to Melbourne, but

2:44

uh, for uh, training in our residences

2:46

there. But it's great that

2:49

wherever people live, uh, we're

2:51

able to travel to them and, and,

2:53

uh, deliver. The dog program's going really,

2:56

really nicely. Uh,

2:58

dog from Melbourne's acclimatizing

3:00

really, really. Well. So I'm having a fair

3:02

bit of fun and, uh, enjoying

3:05

the warm weather up here, but

3:07

I think that's a really important message because

3:10

I think some, uh,

3:12

some, uh, potential clients

3:15

of seeing eye dogs may not be

3:17

aware that we

3:19

are traveling routinely to,

3:21

you know, even the far flung places around

3:23

Australia only uh,

3:26

only a few weeks ago, I was in Alice Springs

3:28

as well. And we've had, uh, instructor

3:30

visits to, uh, to

3:33

Darwin and, uh, or, well, all over

3:35

the place in the last six months.

3:37

We've also, over the last

3:39

few years, had a much greater focus

3:42

on having instructors based in

3:44

the States. Harriet and, uh, you

3:46

know, we've now got a really strong, uh,

3:48

presence of a couple of great young

3:50

instructors in New South Wales.

3:53

Uh, we've got instructors based in Queensland,

3:55

we've got, uh, permanent instructors

3:58

in Western Australia, and of course,

4:00

a big team in Victoria. So

4:02

pretty much wherever you live, uh,

4:04

we've got an instructor, you

4:06

know, a trainer who's able to provide

4:09

the ongoing support that I think a lot of

4:11

seeing eye dog users like

4:13

to have.

4:14

And I know, um, from speaking to, to,

4:17

um, one of the instructors, they were kind of saying one of the benefits,

4:19

too, of, I guess, people being

4:22

very much in every corner of the country. You know,

4:24

we've got, you know, the kind of

4:26

almost training, you know, triangulated

4:28

Australia covered. Um, you

4:30

know, it means that people are also getting

4:32

quite quick support to, um,

4:35

you know, it's not it's not like having to wait,

4:37

um, if you, if a problem arises.

4:40

Absolutely. And, uh, you

4:42

know, for a lot of people, just knowing that that

4:44

supports available is, is the main,

4:47

the main concern. Often people don't need

4:49

it, but having it available is, is a really

4:51

good thing. And I think that's something that we're

4:53

doing so much better

4:55

now than perhaps we did,

4:58

you know, some years ago, uh, our focus

5:00

has really been on providing that,

5:03

uh, local service as much as possible.

5:05

And. Sure. Um, you

5:08

know, we we can't

5:10

really justify having a

5:12

full time instructor based in

5:14

far North Queensland, for instance, because we don't

5:16

have that many clients. But we

5:18

do plan routine visits,

5:21

uh, to places like Far North Queensland.

5:23

We'll have an instructor visit here once every

5:26

three months or so so that

5:28

there is that routine contact,

5:31

routine availability of support. So,

5:33

uh, people, people can feel like

5:35

they've got a trainer really close by,

5:38

even if there isn't one based in their

5:40

actual location.

5:42

So we are, um, you're kind of joining

5:44

me in recognition of International

5:46

Guide Dog Day. So we're talking, uh, I guess all

5:48

things dog guide mobility and, um,

5:50

in particular kind of, um, wanted to focus

5:53

a little bit about, um, assessment and

5:55

eligibility. So I guess what it, you know,

5:57

for someone who is blind or has low vision,

5:59

why they might have a seeing eye dog and I

6:01

guess then what the steps, um, would

6:03

be. So to start

6:06

off with, I would like to ask, I

6:08

guess, who who benefits from guide dog guide

6:10

mobility?

6:11

Yeah. So look, it's a really interesting question,

6:13

Harriet. And there's you know, one thing I'm

6:15

really going to emphasize here and, and

6:18

that is that seeing

6:20

eye dogs, dog guides, however we

6:22

want to describe them, are

6:24

not just for people who are blind.

6:27

People who have low vision, uh,

6:29

can also benefit really considerably

6:31

from, uh, having a

6:33

seeing eye dog by their side. Many,

6:37

many clients or many, many potential

6:39

clients have a sense

6:41

that maybe if

6:44

they apply, they'd be taking a dog from somebody

6:46

who needs it more. And I'd really

6:48

encourage, uh, the listeners

6:50

today to, to,

6:53

uh, not be under that impression,

6:55

you know, that that, that, that really isn't the

6:57

case. And, you know,

6:59

there's been some interesting developments, developments

7:02

over my time in the industry.

7:04

Uh, I began, uh,

7:06

work with, uh, seeing eye dogs

7:08

or dog guides back in Australia in

7:10

the 1980s. And

7:12

at that stage, supply of dogs

7:14

was really quite limited. You know,

7:16

there's there was, uh,

7:19

only two providers and,

7:21

um, you know, the supply was not that

7:24

great. So,

7:26

uh, it struggled to meet the demand.

7:29

Today we've got,

7:31

you know, a number of different organizations

7:34

providing, uh, you know, a much

7:36

larger number of dogs.

7:39

And so, uh, the availability

7:41

is much, much better than it was in the

7:43

past. And, and I, you

7:46

know, I still hear from time

7:48

to time, uh, clients

7:51

who, who eventually come to us

7:53

saying that they hadn't applied

7:56

because they thought they'd be

7:58

taking a dog from somebody who needs it more.

8:00

And I and I really just don't want

8:02

that. That's a that's a myth that I'd really

8:04

like to, you know, kill off today if we can.

8:06

I mean, I've definitely had, um, clients on the show who

8:08

have said the same to me that, um, that

8:10

they delayed because they believed, you know,

8:12

for whatever reason, that was, um, yeah, it wasn't

8:14

an option for them. And I know, um,

8:17

you know, some members of the public who are

8:19

less, um, aware of, you know, blindness

8:21

and low vision. Also, don't consider,

8:23

I guess, the numbers of different conditions and how

8:25

they, you know, like, sure. You know, I

8:27

guess extreme short sightedness, tunnel

8:30

kind of loss of central loss

8:32

of detail, all of that types of stuff, you know, can

8:34

impact the mobility in different ways

8:36

that a, you know, a dog guide could benefit.

8:39

Um, I guess even if it's not

8:41

kind of fully blind or.

8:43

Absolutely. And one of the, one

8:46

of the, uh, the real

8:48

benefits, Harriet, is that.

8:51

When you have reduced vision of

8:54

regardless of what eye condition you're

8:57

dealing with, traveling can be

8:59

stressful. Yeah. And?

9:02

The presence of of a dog guide

9:05

or seeing eye dog can absolutely

9:07

reduce that stress and make

9:09

travelling a lot more relaxed and a lot

9:11

more fun, a lot more enjoyable.

9:14

Uh, and I think that's one of the really

9:16

key benefits of

9:19

a seeing eye dog. Just

9:21

just, uh, thinking about

9:23

what a seeing eye dog does. What

9:25

what what are the primary things

9:27

that that a dog does? There's

9:30

a few things. And one of the

9:32

primary things that a dog will do

9:34

is, uh, help

9:37

identify trip hazards. And trip

9:39

hazards can be all sorts of things.

9:41

Uh, you know, a school bag left in the middle of

9:43

the pavement, a bike or a scooter

9:46

or, uh, a branch that's fallen

9:48

off a tree. So that's that's one really

9:50

important thing that a dog will do. Identify

9:52

trip hazards and that that includes things like

9:54

steps going up and going down.

9:56

Now, if we think just about that

9:59

on its own, if a person's

10:01

navigating the environment with

10:04

with tunnel vision as an example.

10:07

You can't look everywhere

10:09

at the same time. So it

10:12

becomes very stressful to be scanning

10:14

where I'm going, watching out for

10:16

head high obstacles, watching out

10:18

for the person approaching with the with the shopping

10:20

trolley, and trying to trying

10:23

to scan the ground for

10:26

things that might be there as trip

10:28

hazards. So. The

10:31

dog in that situation can

10:33

allow a person to use what remaining

10:36

vision they have in a much more beneficial

10:38

way.

10:41

And so what are the kind of eligibility

10:43

requirements for seeing either candles?

10:45

Is there anything specific.

10:47

Yeah. Look there there there are

10:49

a few things. And I could get really technical here

10:51

Harriet. But I'm not going to because,

10:54

uh, what I'd really like

10:56

is for anybody who has interest to

11:00

call us up and have a conversation,

11:02

because if we if we focus

11:04

too much on, you know, what the technical requirements

11:07

are, I think it just

11:09

makes the whole thing seem more complicated

11:11

than it needs to be. But there are

11:13

a few things that that people should

11:15

really consider before

11:17

applying. And the first of all, first of those

11:19

is that. They're

11:22

actually out and mobilizing so

11:24

that they're actually, uh, able

11:26

to navigate, uh,

11:28

the routes that they're commonly

11:30

going to, to use. So that might

11:32

be to and from work. It might be to and from

11:34

the bus stop. Uh, for some people

11:36

it might be simply, uh,

11:39

a very long exercise walk that they're doing

11:41

for health and fitness and relaxation.

11:43

But they do need to be mobilizing

11:45

and be well orientated

11:47

to, to the route that

11:50

they're or the routes that they're, they're

11:52

using. Uh, and there's a

11:54

couple of reasons for that. One

11:56

is. A

11:58

dog also needs to have a quality

12:00

of life and also needs to have outlet and energy

12:02

outlet. So, uh, in

12:05

order to maintain the health

12:07

and welfare of a of a dog of any

12:09

kind, they need to be walked, you

12:11

know, pretty much every day. So it is important

12:13

that people have. An

12:15

outlet. Uh, meaningful work

12:18

that the dog can can do

12:20

to meet the dog's needs. Yeah.

12:22

Uh, and I think that that's

12:25

probably the most

12:27

important thing to consider.

12:29

Are you out and about? Uh, and

12:31

it's certainly true that many people,

12:34

once they do get a dog, a

12:36

seeing eye dog, they travel more

12:38

and more widely, and their confidence

12:40

grows and their fitness sometimes

12:42

grows as well. But you need

12:45

to already be mobilizing. And

12:47

we talk about that concept of orientation

12:50

being well orientated to the to

12:52

the travel routes. And that's really important

12:54

too, because at first

12:57

your dog is not going to be able to help you with any

12:59

navigation. Dog doesn't know where you're going.

13:01

So in order to

13:03

help direct and control

13:05

the dog, you need

13:07

to have a pretty good idea

13:09

of where you are in space. You

13:12

know where where you're going. Uh,

13:15

and where you are on that travel route.

13:17

So you can so you can tell the dog where,

13:19

where it needs to go next.

13:23

And I guess that kind of, um. A

13:26

little bit comes the old, I guess, my maybe more

13:28

thinking about like the what you were talking about before, the kind

13:30

of, I guess, different routes.

13:32

Um, I think it's really good to note or

13:34

emphasize. Like you said, there's a difference between,

13:37

you know, obviously there are some people

13:39

that are getting on planes every week and they're going to work

13:41

and they're doing X, y, z extra

13:43

each thing every single day. And

13:46

then there are other people whose lifestyles are quite,

13:48

um, potentially a bit more quiet, as long as it's

13:50

like some, you know, shorter

13:52

routes or, um, or

13:54

because I think that's a quite interesting, interesting

13:56

thing to consider.

13:58

Well, that's true. And the, the, the

14:00

range of people who

14:03

apply for and are successfully

14:05

using seeing eye dogs is really, really

14:07

vast. So, you know, we've we have,

14:10

uh. We have young people

14:13

as young as 13 using seeing eye

14:15

dogs, and we have people right through to their

14:17

90s using seeing eye dogs.

14:19

We have people who are working,

14:22

uh, and people who

14:24

are not working, people who are using their

14:26

dogs mostly for leisure and recreation walks,

14:29

uh, others who are using

14:31

their dog for, for, uh, commuting

14:34

to and from work, uh, hopping on

14:36

and off buses, trains, uh, aircraft,

14:39

so much more. And again, when I think

14:41

back, uh, to when I began

14:43

in my career in this industry,

14:45

it was really rare for people to be flying

14:48

with, with their dogs because there wasn't

14:50

so much recreation travel

14:52

that was going on that involved that

14:54

involved aircraft. And today it's it's

14:56

it's really, really, really common.

14:59

And, uh, you know, people are even

15:01

flying internationally with their with

15:03

their dog guides, with their seeing eye dogs,

15:05

um, to, to all

15:07

sorts of, of, uh, interesting

15:10

destinations. And again, looking

15:12

at our, uh, our clients, we have,

15:15

we have uh. People

15:17

using seeing eye dogs who

15:20

may may be walking. Uh,

15:22

you know, their primary physical exercise

15:25

is, is is a couple of kilometers a

15:27

day with their dog guide.

15:29

Uh, and we have others who

15:31

are, you know, now running with their dog

15:34

guides and doing, you know, uh.

15:38

You're really, really athletic type

15:40

type. You know, high energy activities

15:42

and and the ranges is really,

15:44

really. Vast.

15:46

And I think when, when people are thinking about

15:49

their eligibility, uh, you

15:51

know, that's really to keep in mind,

15:53

you know, age is no barrier. Uh,

15:56

lifestyle is is rarely

15:59

a barrier. Uh, you know, there's a

16:01

couple of things that probably not great for

16:03

dogs. So if you if you want to take your dog to

16:05

rock concerts every, every Friday night,

16:07

I'd probably suggest that's not

16:09

the best environment for

16:11

for a dog, but, uh.

16:15

Yeah. That the the range of lifestyles

16:18

that people have is, is really,

16:20

really vast. So.

16:24

That shouldn't be a barrier to application

16:26

either.

16:28

So I guess.

16:28

When, when someone is um,

16:30

I guess looking at that, taking that next step

16:33

of applying, what is the process for

16:35

assessment?

16:36

So, uh, people

16:38

can explore our website for more information.

16:40

Of course. Uh, but they can also

16:43

call us. And, uh, Harriet,

16:45

you'll have to help with the phone number because I

16:47

don't have it handy. Um, but,

16:50

um. But they can call

16:52

us and have it and just have a general conversation

16:54

with us. If they if they would like more

16:57

information and we'd we'd we'd just love

16:59

to feel those, those calls,

17:01

uh, to help people understand what, what

17:03

the, the process might look

17:05

like and to give more information. But

17:08

once people have decided, yes,

17:10

I want to apply. Then

17:13

there's a couple of steps involved. First

17:15

of all, we'll send people an information pack. They

17:17

ring, they say, I'm interested, we'll

17:19

send them an information pack. And

17:22

that information pack tells

17:24

them a little bit about training and a little bit about

17:27

the responsibilities of both parties.

17:29

So what they can expect from

17:32

seeing eye dogs as a service provider,

17:34

what we'll do, um, our

17:36

responsiveness, what the training looks like,

17:39

uh, what the funding looks

17:42

like. Because increasingly people are using

17:44

NDIS funds to support

17:46

their training and also to, uh,

17:48

help them pay for, for,

17:51

uh, feeding and, and veterinary

17:53

care of their dog. Yeah. So

17:56

the Apple Pay application pack goes

17:58

out if people are happy

18:01

with what they read and they want to proceed, then

18:03

they fill out the application pack, send it back,

18:05

and at that stage, we'll

18:08

arrange for an instructor to do

18:10

a face to face visit

18:13

and the instructor will come out. Spend some

18:15

time getting to know the

18:17

applicant. Having

18:19

a look at the travel routes that we were talking about

18:22

earlier. Have a look at the home

18:24

to make sure that there's that the home

18:26

is a safe place for

18:28

a dog, and provide advice

18:30

to a person about how they can make the

18:32

the home safe. If it's not, go

18:35

out for a little bit of a walk to

18:37

gain some understanding of the person's

18:39

orientation, ability, the types

18:41

of environments that they're going

18:44

to travel with, with

18:46

the dog, and all of that. Information

18:48

gathering also is

18:50

used by us to

18:54

locate or find or match

18:57

an appropriate dog for that person's

18:59

needs. Because, again, our dogs,

19:01

our dogs range from small

19:03

to large, from high energy to low energy.

19:06

Uh, and they. They

19:08

suit different environments and different people's

19:10

needs. So

19:13

a really good understanding of a person's

19:15

lifestyle and capabilities

19:18

enables us to match the best possible

19:21

dog to that person's needs and

19:23

and their wishes. Because some people might

19:25

might prefer a male or female

19:27

dog, they might prefer a yellow or a black.

19:30

So there's all sorts of, uh, uh,

19:32

opportunity for,

19:34

for people to work with us

19:37

to. Get

19:39

a type of dog that meets their needs.

19:41

And also, uh. Meets

19:44

their individual requests

19:46

as well. So once all that's

19:49

done, people go on the waiting list and

19:51

hopefully, uh, within a relatively

19:53

short period, we can locate a dog and,

19:55

and, uh, offer a training

19:57

program to that person.

19:59

So, I guess, I mean, you kind of covered part

20:02

of this, but are there any other factors

20:04

that you'd kind of look at? Um, when you're

20:06

matching applicants on the waiting list

20:08

to the specific dogs

20:10

that you've got?

20:12

Look, walking speed is a really critical

20:14

one. Uh, the

20:16

sorts of environments that a person's going to

20:18

spend a lot of time in is really important.

20:21

So an example would be

20:23

a person who's working full

20:25

time or working part time in an office.

20:27

They're going to need a dog that

20:29

settles really well in that

20:31

environment, is really quiet and unobtrusive,

20:35

uh, so they can focus on their work

20:37

and don't have to focus too much

20:39

on on the

20:41

the dog. Uh, so

20:44

there's there's one example. So

20:46

it's really around a whole lot

20:48

of lifestyle requirements

20:50

and another, uh. Another

20:54

situation which might require a specific

20:56

dog. If if a person has some balance

20:58

issues as well, which is not terribly uncommon,

21:01

we might need a dog that is a little bit

21:03

more stable, has a little bit more body,

21:06

and doesn't doesn't

21:08

react poorly to to a person stumbling

21:10

or bumping into them from time to time.

21:13

Uh, controllability.

21:16

Some dogs require a little bit more,

21:18

uh.

21:19

Management.

21:21

Management. Yeah, I think that's probably a good word.

21:23

Um, and some, some

21:25

people really enjoy having a dog that

21:27

is a little bit more of a challenge. So,

21:30

you know, a

21:32

more cheeky dog might be a way to describe

21:34

it. Uh. And

21:37

I could be a lot of fun for some clients.

21:39

I've. I remember working with one

21:41

client in particular, and she

21:43

she always liked a dog that was a little

21:46

bit sassy. Um, and she

21:48

was able to work that dog in a way that

21:50

really, really got the best out of that dog.

21:52

And there are other, uh, clients

21:54

who really want a dog that is

21:57

much, much, much more compliant,

21:59

much, much easier to handle. So,

22:01

so matching

22:03

for lifestyle matching for personal

22:05

personal preference, uh, matching

22:08

for speed. These are the really the

22:10

the critical issues.

22:12

And and I think anyone, um, who's

22:14

listened to the show a little bit before and

22:16

has spoken, uh, has heard

22:18

some of our client interviews, would have heard

22:20

I often ask a question about why do you think

22:23

you've been matched? And a lot of people do say

22:25

things along the lines of that. I've had a few people say they

22:27

like a cheeky dog. Um, yes.

22:29

Or they wanted a really cuddly something and

22:31

they've got that. So it's interesting to

22:33

kind of hear, I guess if anyone is interested,

22:36

go back through the, um, uh,

22:38

streaming, you know, your podcast

22:40

provider and find some handler interviews and find

22:43

out how that kind of has maybe worked in some

22:45

of these cases. It's quite interesting.

22:46

Yeah, I think.

22:47

And you mentioned one there, which was sort of cuddly

22:50

and, you know, how affectionate a dog is.

22:52

And I think that one's a really important one.

22:54

People, uh, you know, some people

22:56

want a dog that's really, really affectionate.

22:58

And there's others who are not

23:01

as, uh, not looking

23:03

for a dog that's quite as needy in that respect.

23:05

Uh, the the little dog that I've brought

23:07

up here to Cairns. She's she's

23:10

a real sweetie and a real, real cuddle

23:12

pie. Really? Uh, and

23:14

that's meeting the the

23:16

client's needs. Really,

23:18

really. Well, uh, but

23:20

but at the same time, uh,

23:23

she likes to get out. Well, she does

23:25

two things which are really interesting. One is

23:27

that she gets out and walks on her

23:29

own, and she she likes to walk for exercise,

23:32

and, and they bat along at a

23:34

really strong rate of knots.

23:36

But another thing she does is

23:38

she also goes for walks with some friends

23:41

who have, uh, pet dogs with them.

23:43

Yeah, and they're walking at a some

23:46

elderly dogs and small dogs in that group,

23:48

and they're walking at a very slow rate. So,

23:51

uh, we're fortunate enough to have a dog

23:53

that can adapt to both walking

23:55

very slow and walking fast

23:58

and concentrating on it on

24:00

on its work in those two situations.

24:03

Yeah.

24:04

Well, yeah. And I guess that's kind of

24:06

the interesting thing that when you see thought

24:08

about, you know, the amount of work that goes into that

24:10

matching is so specific.

24:12

And I guess for someone who's

24:14

got some of those kind of interesting criteria,

24:17

um, I guess it's like you can kind

24:19

of work it out and it might be a case of just waiting

24:21

a little bit and then getting something that, you

24:24

know, ticks all of the boxes.

24:26

That's absolutely true. And people with very, very

24:28

specific requirements,

24:31

uh, particularly when it starts to

24:33

involve gender and color, obviously,

24:35

that that starts to limit the

24:37

number of dogs that might suit.

24:40

Uh, but eventually we we're

24:42

able to find, uh, dogs

24:44

for most people in a reasonably

24:47

short period of time. So we

24:49

talked about, you know, people once they're on

24:51

that matching list, once they once they've been

24:53

assessed and, and, uh. We've

24:57

agreed to provide them with a seeing eye dog. Matching

24:59

with a dog usually takes

25:02

somewhere between 12 and 16 weeks,

25:04

but for people with very, very specific

25:07

requirements, it can take a little longer

25:09

than that.

25:10

So just to.

25:12

I guess finish off, is there any other

25:14

advice or kind of messages that you have for anyone

25:16

who is blind or has low vision, considering

25:18

dog mobility?

25:21

No, Harriet. But I just again

25:23

want to just circle back and reinforce

25:25

that that, uh, you're

25:28

anybody who has an interest,

25:30

uh, or thinks they

25:32

might benefit, uh, or

25:35

would just like more information about

25:37

what that might look like. Uh,

25:39

should contact us. And I also

25:41

should mention that, um, over the next

25:43

12 months, we're planning to do

25:45

a little bit of a road show around the country,

25:48

uh, where we're hoping

25:50

to provide people with the opportunity

25:52

to just trial a seeing

25:54

eye dog for a day with an instructor.

25:57

And that can be really, uh,

25:59

you know, a great learning experience.

26:01

So if you if you let

26:03

us know that you might be interested

26:06

in that, we we would. Absolutely.

26:09

And we'll, we'll, we'll be coming around not

26:11

just in Melbourne, but we're going to take it around,

26:13

around to a number of different

26:15

locations. So hopefully there'll be a location

26:18

near you. Uh,

26:20

where you can get involved and find

26:22

out more with a bit of hands on experience

26:25

as well. But in any case, if

26:27

you would like more information,

26:30

just just give us a call and we're more than happy to chat

26:32

chat to you about it.

26:34

Yeah, the road show sounds really interesting. It sounds a

26:36

little bit like a kind of, um, what's

26:38

the word? Expedited version of the youth program?

26:41

Yes. That the feedback from that kind of being

26:43

that people are able to really get a hands

26:45

on. I guess feel

26:48

for it more than just the abstract.

26:50

Talking to someone about what what it's

26:52

like.

26:52

Absolutely. And that that you've really hit

26:54

the nail on the head there. Harriet. That's

26:56

exactly the kind of experience that we

26:58

would like to give people so that

27:01

they get a feel of of what

27:03

does it what does it really feel like? Because

27:05

it, it, it can be a really,

27:08

uh, challenging transition

27:10

for some people, particularly those people who

27:12

are using a long cane, uh, and

27:14

reliant, very reliant on that long cane.

27:17

Suddenly you're not having that long cane in front

27:19

of them can be a little bit challenging at

27:21

first as they develop,

27:24

uh, trust in

27:26

the capability of the, of

27:28

the dog to provide

27:31

safe guidance.

27:32

And I and I guess just to kind of finish

27:34

off, when it comes to contacting, um,

27:36

the team and giving you guys a ring to chat about

27:38

it, that's kind of no obligation. It's just a

27:40

chat, isn't it?

27:41

Oh, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. We just we're,

27:44

uh, all the all the team are

27:46

really happy to to just chat and provide

27:48

information, and that's absolutely no

27:50

obligation.

27:51

I feel like most people are just happy to have a dog chat

27:53

at some point. So, you know, you'll probably just end up

27:55

having your ears talked off about, uh, about dogs. Right?

27:58

Yeah.

27:58

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show

28:01

and talking about, uh, assessment and eligibility

28:03

and all things dog and mobility.

28:04

That's a pleasure.

28:05

Thanks for. You've

28:12

been listening to the Seeing Eye Dog show on Vision

28:14

Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my

28:16

interview with Paul Seeing Eye Dogs advisor

28:18

of Strategy and Change. If you'd like

28:21

to find out more about seeing Eye Dogs, the work

28:23

we do, or how you can help, head to

28:25

our website at said Vision

28:27

Australia org. If you or

28:29

a family member is blind or have low vision

28:32

and you are interested in applying for a seeing

28:34

eye dog or finding out more, please

28:36

call our friendly team on one 800

28:38

zero three 7773 or

28:41

0 393816400.

28:47

Or you can email info at

28:49

seds.org.

28:52

If you'd like to support seeing eye

28:54

dogs to make more matches, you

28:56

can support us on International Guide Dog Day

28:58

Giving Day on April 24th.

29:01

Donations can be made online at

29:03

Seeing Eye Dogs forward

29:06

Slash Giving Day on International

29:08

Guide Dog Day. Those donations will be matched

29:11

so head to that website, make a donation

29:13

and support the work of seeing eye dogs. Thank

29:16

you for listening and don't forget to tune in!

29:18

Same time next week for part two

29:20

of our International Guide Dog Day special.

29:23

Thank you for listening.