0:11

On Virgin Australia Radio. You're listening

0:13

to the single Dog Show with me, your host

0:15

Howard Moffett. On this episode,

0:17

I'm joined by two guests. We're

0:19

joined first by Seeing Eye Dogs

0:21

instructor Michaela Smith, who's going

0:23

to talk to us about her life, her

0:25

background and role as a Singing

0:27

idols instructor. Then

0:29

we're going to be joined by seeing puppy

0:32

development trainer Lina G. Who's going

0:34

to talk to us about Lunar New Year and

0:36

the special puppy name chosen in celebration

0:39

of this year of the Dragon.

0:41

Now let's kick off this show with

0:43

my interview with Michaela. Hey,

0:51

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

0:54

Thanks for having me.

0:55

So it's, uh, pretty exciting

0:57

to have you across. So I think this is maybe

0:59

your first time on the show. And you're coming

1:02

from interstate, right? I mean, not not

1:04

in person, but, um, where are you based?

1:06

Can you please introduce yourself?

1:08

Yes. Yes, it is my first time.

1:10

Um, so, uh. Yes, my name is Mikayla.

1:12

I'm a senior mobility instructor, and

1:14

I'm based in New South Wales. So,

1:17

um, I look after the region

1:19

of New South Wales and also the act.

1:21

I act being how many like do

1:23

we have many teams across that kind of massive

1:26

big region. So quite geographical.

1:28

Um, quite geographically

1:30

large area.

1:31

Yeah. So um, in total it's

1:33

around 50 teams, um, all

1:36

throughout New South Wales. So as far north as

1:38

Grafton, all the way down to Wagga Wagga.

1:41

Uh, and then yeah, as I mentioned also in

1:43

Canberra itself.

1:45

Amazing. So probably keeps you pretty,

1:47

pretty busy. Um, outside

1:49

of work so that, you know, people get a bit of an idea

1:51

of, you know, you're not not just a person in a Navy uniform.

1:54

Do you have any hobbies or interests that you'd like to share with

1:56

us?

1:56

Well, um, after I spend

1:59

all day working with dogs, I

2:01

come home to many dogs. Um,

2:03

so I keep myself busy there. I have

2:05

a, um, a pet dog.

2:07

He's a coolie. His name is Cooper. Um, he's

2:10

pretty high energy, so he likes

2:12

to go to the beach and go for for walks, which I

2:14

love to do with him. Um, I'm

2:16

also a, um, bit

2:18

of a notorious foster carer, so I

2:21

always have foster dogs that come from various

2:23

pounds and rescues. Um,

2:25

so spending lots of time with them

2:27

as well. And lots of.

2:28

Love. I think anyone that has

2:30

a foster dog that's, um,

2:33

I like, fostered by someone with as much

2:35

training skill as you. That's pretty lucky,

2:37

I think. I think those rescues must think you're

2:39

like, lifesaver.

2:41

Yeah, and I'm always terrible. I always

2:43

take on the dogs that need a lot of

2:45

work. Um, because I

2:47

know that I've got, you know, the capacity to look

2:49

after them. Um, but it makes me. Yeah.

2:51

Very, very busy.

2:53

Yeah, but you know what? And if you're not, like,

2:55

adopting all of them, then that's the true

2:57

win, isn't it? That's that's foster success.

3:00

That's true. Yes. Cooper is very

3:02

happy to have, um, dogs come

3:04

and visit for a little bit, but he

3:06

he doesn't like them staying too long, so

3:09

I always. Yeah, make sure I help find them the

3:11

best home, which is really rewarding.

3:13

And also kind of bring brings a little

3:15

bit back to some of our, um, you know, foster

3:17

carers on, on your scheme, for

3:19

example. It's quite handy really, to be

3:21

able to have dogs for just a short period of time,

3:24

um, without the commitment, for example, 4

3:26

or 5 months whilst they're in formal

3:28

training, just as a little casual

3:30

plug there.

3:31

Yes. Thank you for the plug. Uh, no.

3:33

It's awesome. And being a foster carer myself

3:36

for other organisations and often for

3:38

seeing our dogs as well, um, I really

3:40

appreciate the work that our carers

3:42

do and I realise how, you know,

3:44

how important is. But it's, you know, it's a great thing

3:47

to do to have a short term commitment,

3:49

knowing that the dog's going to go on and

3:51

do something pretty incredible. Um,

3:53

so yeah, we've got awesome carers

3:56

all over, but particularly I think in New

3:58

South Wales, we've got the best.

3:59

Hey, hey, now I consider myself

4:02

the best personally.

4:04

Ah, you might have to move up to New South Wales then.

4:07

Done. Um, so

4:10

I think you kind of mentioned that you are a seeing

4:12

eye dog mobility instructor. Could you

4:14

tell us a little bit more, a little bit more

4:17

about what that role means or what that

4:19

role is?

4:20

Yeah for sure. So, um, in

4:22

New South Wales it is a little bit different

4:24

to the role, how it looks in Victoria

4:27

where the majority of my colleagues are. Um,

4:29

so we have sort of two

4:31

roles that we do at the same time. Um,

4:33

the first one is that we do the training

4:35

of the dogs. So when the dogs first

4:37

come in to us, they're a year old,

4:39

we complete their IFT, um,

4:42

we take them to all of their medical

4:44

appointments to get their initial medical tests

4:46

done as well.

4:47

So just quickly, what does it stand for? Yeah.

4:49

Uh, infiltrating. So their

4:51

initial assessment, when they finish their puppy

4:54

raising journey, we do an initial behavioral

4:56

and medical assessment to determine whether they

4:58

have a high probability of being successful

5:00

in the program, and then we'll bring them in to

5:03

complete their five month training. If

5:05

they're looking really promising.

5:07

Whilst you're doing that, are you also providing some

5:09

of that client kind of support and follow up?

5:12

Yeah. So that's the way that, um, I

5:14

guess the instructor role in New South Wales.

5:16

I know it's also the same for Queensland is a little

5:18

different to Victoria. Um, when

5:20

I was working in Victoria, we sort of do half the

5:23

training dogs and then half the year on

5:25

clients, and you're really just doing one or the other,

5:27

whereas here we're doing training. So like I said,

5:29

we're doing those initial assessments. We're training dogs

5:32

for their five months of training. Um, but

5:34

we're also placing dogs with clients.

5:36

We're doing follow up care. We're doing retirements

5:39

assessments for, uh, you know, prospective

5:41

clients as well. So we're doing it

5:43

all at the same time, which I really like. I

5:45

think it keeps the job really interesting. Um,

5:47

and I love both sides of it. So it's really good that,

5:50

you know, I think we get to do it all year

5:52

round, which is great.

5:53

You don't have to kind of miss the dogs when you're spending

5:55

all of the time with the clients, and then vice versa.

5:57

And a bit of variety is the spice of

5:59

life.

6:01

Absolutely, I think so.

6:03

So before you began,

6:06

you know, your, um, seeing eye dog, um,

6:08

the instructor traineeship, what

6:10

was your background?

6:13

Yeah. So, uh, funnily

6:15

enough and completely different to what I'm doing now,

6:17

I started off as a ballerina. Um,

6:20

so when I first left school, I was

6:22

a full time ballet dancer over at an academy

6:24

in Perth. Um,

6:27

unfortunately, um, injuries

6:29

are very common in that field. Um, and

6:31

it took me out quite quickly.

6:34

Um, and, and then I just, I guess I fell into

6:36

the animal industry. So I've done a few different

6:38

things. I've worked as an animal

6:40

attendant, um, in a lot of,

6:42

uh, pounds and rescues, which is where my

6:44

passion for, for welfare really comes

6:46

from. Um, I

6:48

was also a zookeeper for a while, which

6:50

is random, but was really fun.

6:54

Um, and then I also

6:56

got into I got my fitness

6:58

qualification as well. So I'm an accredited

7:00

fitness. I've worked in, um,

7:03

you know, small animal clinics with that. But I've

7:05

also worked as an equine nurse on farm,

7:07

which I thought was, um, yeah,

7:10

it doesn't really help me now, more of my

7:12

my dog training helps me, but I really enjoy

7:14

enjoy that as well. Something different. I

7:17

don't know how.

7:17

I don't know how you had the time to qualify and learn

7:20

and do all of these things.

7:21

Yeah, I don't really know

7:23

either. I've. I've just always,

7:26

um, found myself studying,

7:28

uh, so it's actually quite nice at the moment. Now,

7:30

since I finished my, um, seeing eye

7:32

dog traineeship, uh, a bit over

7:34

a year ago. Now, I haven't studied anything,

7:37

and it's been actually kind of nice.

7:39

It's kind of kind of a refreshing change, although

7:41

not necessarily a whole lot less busy.

7:43

No, definitely not less busy. Just,

7:45

uh, just different, which is,

7:47

you know, not a bad thing.

7:49

And so you were working a little bit as well with

7:51

kind of the puppy racing side of things.

7:54

Yeah, yeah. So um,

7:56

through I guess sort of, um,

7:58

through my work as a foster carer, I was

8:00

living in Dubbo at the time, uh,

8:03

I was foster caring a lot of

8:05

young puppies and also kittens.

8:08

Um, but using my, you know,

8:10

my experience as a vet nurse to look after the

8:12

young, quite unwell little pups.

8:15

Um, but then once they got to a certain age and they were

8:17

healthy, I got really interested in

8:19

the training side of things. And I got really,

8:21

um. Yeah, interested in dog training,

8:23

particularly with pups. And through that, I was

8:25

very lucky to get the opportunity to work for

8:28

guide Dogs in Act. So

8:30

I set up their puppy raising program back in

8:32

2018. Um, so I

8:34

set that up and then ran it all the way

8:36

through to when I started working at Virgin Australia.

8:38

So you've mentioned that you're

8:40

kind of looking after that whole,

8:43

um, that whole kind of New South Wales region. So where

8:45

are you kind of currently based on training

8:47

your, your dogs from because

8:50

you guys don't have kennels and stuff, right.

8:52

Yeah. That's correct. So we're based on the

8:54

um, New South Wales Central Coast, which is about an hour

8:57

north of Sydney. Um, so it's

8:59

myself and Luca who's the

9:01

other instructor up here. So

9:04

we are very lucky, like I said at the start, to have

9:06

definitely the best foster carers in the country.

9:09

Um, so our wonderful foster carers look after

9:11

the dogs, um, generally on

9:13

at night time and on weekends. So

9:15

we have the big yellow, um,

9:17

seeing eye dog vans that many people would know

9:19

about, and we go and pick all the dogs

9:21

up in the morning. We take them out training

9:24

for the day, and then we drop them home

9:26

to their carers at night time. So it's really

9:28

great. It gives the dogs an opportunity to

9:30

get used to that, that home lifestyle,

9:32

um, which they obviously don't have an opportunity

9:34

to do as much when they're in the kennels.

9:37

Um, we obviously have great foster caring, um,

9:39

happening in Victoria as well, but here

9:41

it's just the norm. So that's really,

9:43

really excellent. Um,

9:45

we train the dogs. Yeah. All over the

9:47

Central Coast. We've got different shopping

9:49

centres, um, that we've got relationships

9:51

with. Uh. We

9:54

also sometimes take the dogs into Sydney to

9:56

do their more busy training. Towards the

9:58

end of their training period as well.

10:02

So I like that. It's kind of like you've got your

10:04

little, like, yellow bus and then you're going to come and pick them

10:06

up. It's like a, you know, magic school bus and then take them

10:08

on an adventure. Um, and

10:10

the dogs kind of will just get out and then like, okay, well,

10:13

now you're working now.

10:15

That's it. I mean, the school bus, I got lots

10:17

of Nala bones and Kongs and their buddies to

10:19

play with. So they they always go

10:21

home to their foster carers. Um, pretty

10:23

worn out from from a hard day of work,

10:25

but also a hard day of play.

10:27

Well, and it's really nice for them to be able to

10:29

kind of have that decompression time. Um, to

10:31

like, I probably almost from the training to the van

10:33

and then just go and just get conked out at

10:35

the, at the carousel houses.

10:38

It's it's so nice. It's so good.

10:40

And we've got such a range of care as you know

10:42

as well. We've got some who've got young kids,

10:45

some have other dogs. So all the dogs get

10:47

to experience really normal home

10:49

behaviours and, and things that they'll experience

10:51

when they go out to their handler as well. So it's,

10:54

it's great to have that opportunity for

10:56

us as trainers to be

10:58

able to really find out as much

11:00

as we can about the dog's home behaviour, because that's

11:02

a really important matching consideration

11:04

when we're placing dogs with clients.

11:07

Um, so that's yeah, really beneficial.

11:09

And for a client who can't see is very

11:11

important, I guess for them to be really

11:13

trustworthy in the home, isn't it? It's not just kind

11:15

of like, you know, oh, I can I can monitor

11:17

and then I can watch and supervise. If you don't have that

11:20

site, um, you have to have a dog that's not

11:22

going to be taking advantage.

11:25

Yeah, absolutely. And we've got things,

11:27

you know, tools like crates and tethers, which

11:29

the puppies get used to from a very young

11:31

age. And, and most of the puppies really enjoy

11:33

being in crates as well that

11:35

the handlers can use. But of

11:38

course, it's nice to have a dog that you can trust,

11:40

and over time you can, you know, just have

11:42

roaming around with you.

11:43

So are you looking for more training

11:45

dog carers at the moment?

11:47

Yes, all the time. Um,

11:50

so we are looking for training dog carers

11:52

around Gosford and the Central Coast

11:54

peninsula. Um, so

11:56

down around Woy Woy, Yamana Beach. So if anyone

11:58

listening lives there or know someone

12:01

who might be interested, um, it's a great

12:03

program. Like I said, it goes for five

12:05

months, but we are taking the dogs out pretty

12:08

much every day for a full day on on weekdays.

12:11

Um, everything's covered. Vet costs,

12:13

food, equipment, training as

12:15

well. We provide lots of training. Um,

12:17

so that's. Yeah, if anyone knows anyone,

12:19

that would be great. Um, and we also have our

12:21

puppy raising program, uh, in

12:24

New South Wales as well. And I know Jeff's our

12:26

puppy expert here,

12:28

um, is always looking for carers in

12:30

Central Coast, Newcastle and parts of Sydney

12:32

as well.

12:33

So, you know, I think the New

12:35

South Wales program is really coming along

12:37

quite strong. You've got a quite little nice little community

12:40

there but it could always be a

12:42

bit bigger. We could always have a few more dogs up there.

12:44

Yeah of course. And obviously

12:46

the more dogs that we can, um, train

12:49

up here, the more dogs that we can place to clients

12:51

up here. So it really benefits,

12:53

um, you know, the whole the whole system. Really?

12:56

Yeah.

12:56

And, and the clients are very lucky for the,

12:58

for you guys being based up there, I think it's, uh,

13:00

it's a real game changer as of, you

13:02

know, I think in the past, there was always that thing

13:05

of, you know, seeing others can be, you

13:07

know, we are Victoria based, but, um, but,

13:09

you know, it's really not the case. It's very much

13:11

a national organization.

13:14

Yeah, for sure. And that's some of the really,

13:16

really positive feedback we've been getting from

13:18

the clients that both myself and Luca have been

13:20

working with. Um, is that.

13:22

Yeah, it is a change and changes sometimes.

13:25

Tricky, but I think in this case it's quite a,

13:27

quite a positive change. And, you know, the

13:29

handler is having an issue with something

13:31

where a, you know, a short drive away

13:33

as opposed to a flight away. So we've really,

13:36

really enjoyed that. Um, we've obviously

13:38

been getting our name out as well. But seeing our

13:40

dogs is, you know, much more present

13:42

up here. We've got two instructors and a student

13:45

up here. So, um, we've had a lot

13:47

of new inquiries and new applicants

13:49

in the region. Um, and last financial

13:51

year, we actually had 13 teams graduate,

13:54

which is the highest number New South Wales has had.

13:57

Um, so that's yeah, a really a really big

13:59

testament to the fact that we are getting,

14:01

you know, more regionalized. And there's

14:03

a lot of a lot of potential in Wales

14:05

than in Canberra. So yeah. Yeah

14:07

I think, I think it's working well. Yeah.

14:09

So for any, yeah. Any client that's um, that's

14:12

at the, you know, a while ago thought

14:14

that, you know maybe New South Wales isn't as well serviced.

14:16

Uh, you know here you are.

14:19

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, if

14:21

anyone is, is considering,

14:23

uh, seeing eye dog mobility,

14:26

I definitely recommend that you just, you know, reach

14:28

out and just inquire and see see what

14:30

we can help you with.

14:31

Just have a start with a friendly chat. You know,

14:33

eventually we'll send you up with a dog.

14:36

Yeah. That's it. And there's no pressure. You know that

14:38

that friendly chat is really just to to

14:40

see, you know, what information you want and

14:42

whether it's the right mobility aid for you.

14:45

So what is your kind of favorite part about

14:47

being an instructor?

14:50

Well, that's a hard

14:52

question. I like a lot of it. Um,

14:55

I'll have to give you two. So my

14:57

first one is more, um, when I'm

14:59

working with clients. So my favorite thing when I'm working

15:01

with a client is when they've been having,

15:04

you know, a challenge with

15:06

their dog, a particular issue. And we've

15:08

been working through it for maybe a couple

15:11

of days, maybe a couple of months, however long it is.

15:13

Um, but I love when you get the phone call

15:16

from the client or you go out and do a visit and

15:18

you just see that they've, you know, come

15:20

over that hurdle and they've made

15:22

progress and you can see, you know,

15:24

those massive improvements start to take

15:26

place. And that for me is really rewarding. And I can

15:28

just imagine, um, you know, for the handler,

15:31

that must be so rewarding as well. You

15:33

know, making it to that really, really positive

15:35

part of, of the training. Um,

15:39

my other one though. My other favorite

15:41

thing is whenever I go and see Jess,

15:43

who I've mentioned is the puppy trainer. Um,

15:46

up in New South Wales, I always get to cuddle puppies,

15:48

so that's really fun too. Oh, and that.

15:50

Brings you back to your whole puppy puppy racing

15:52

routes. You're not too far away from it at the end of the day.

15:55

That's true, that's true. And I, I truly

15:58

believe there is nothing better than a Labrador

16:00

puppy. So I will always take my

16:02

Labrador puppy love when I can get it.

16:04

I mean, surely I think if your dog

16:07

is listening you can say a coolly puppy, but

16:09

you know, um.

16:11

That's true, that's true. He's he's fast

16:14

asleep on my couch, so he's not listening.

16:16

It's all good, I say.

16:17

So is there anything about

16:20

the role of the instructor that

16:22

kind of surprised you, or that you didn't know?

16:24

Or, I guess, think about before you started?

16:28

Um, I guess when I started my, my

16:30

traineeship, I obviously had quite a bit of

16:32

background in the dog training side of things, but

16:34

I just I'd never worked, um, you know,

16:36

in the disability sector before, uh,

16:39

or worked with clients who had low vision. So

16:41

just that whole learning experience

16:43

was really interesting for me. Um,

16:46

and yeah, I really enjoyed working with

16:49

such a range of clients. Um.

16:52

Yeah. Through throughout Victoria when I,

16:54

when I first started and now in New South Wales in

16:56

ICT as well.

16:59

And like you said, it really is a bit of a range, isn't it? Like

17:01

you said about the foster carers, it's

17:03

like you've got people from all different

17:05

stages. I mean, I think I had on

17:07

the show maybe last year at some point, probably one

17:09

of the older handlers at

17:11

age 80. And then you've got, you know,

17:14

your young or

17:16

older teens or young young people

17:18

as well. It's very varied. Your

17:20

work.

17:21

It is. And, you know, that's the other thing that I really

17:24

enjoy is when you're working with dogs, they're so

17:26

different to. Right. They've got such different

17:28

personalities, different paces.

17:30

And I love, um, now

17:33

that I've, you know, been working with, with more

17:35

clients and more dogs, I think I have a better ability

17:37

to look at each dog and see what

17:39

type of handler, um, would really

17:41

benefit from them, uh, which

17:43

is, yeah, really rewarding.

17:46

So just to kind of finish off, is there

17:48

anything that you would like to tell anyone who

17:50

is a either is a

17:52

currency product handler or someone who's

17:55

considering applying for a senior dog?

17:58

Yeah, well, I guess like I mentioned before, for anyone

18:00

considering applying. Um, I

18:02

think if it's something that's on your mind, it's worth

18:04

just having the phone call. So feel free to give me

18:06

a call. Um, we

18:09

can have a chat. No pressure.

18:11

Um, and just see sort of where you're at and

18:13

how a dog might assist you. Um,

18:15

and. Yeah, it might. It might just

18:17

be the phone call, and and it might end up

18:19

that in eight months down the track, you've got, you know,

18:21

your first seeing eye dog. Um,

18:23

but for my current,

18:26

you know, clients that I've been working with in New South Wales

18:28

and Act, I did want to take

18:30

this opportunity to thank you all

18:32

for being so welcoming, um, to have Luca

18:34

and I up in New South Wales. We've had

18:37

a lot of support from you. Um,

18:39

like I said, with our recent graduations,

18:41

but also just seeing the,

18:44

you know, the community around the handle

18:46

is in the state is really, really awesome. So

18:48

we're just very, very grateful to be up

18:50

here and being able to work with you all.

18:53

I mean, you know, there is always obviously

18:55

always going to be some sort of like kind of Victoria and New

18:57

South Wales rivalry. But you

18:59

do make it enticing. You know.

19:01

It's it's very nice up here. The weather

19:04

is nice. Uh, I live literally

19:06

two minutes from the beach, so it's,

19:09

uh, it's the place to be, truly.

19:12

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show

19:14

today and, uh, talking a little about your your

19:16

life, your work and and seeing IDoc handling.

19:18

Yeah.

19:18

Thanks so much, Harriet. Appreciate it.

19:26

You've been listening to the Singing Auto Show

19:28

on Virgin Australia Radio. I

19:30

hope you enjoyed my interview with Michaela.

19:32

If you are interested in finding out

19:34

about dog mobility, eligibility

19:37

assessment or hearing from our team.

19:39

If a single track is right for you.

19:41

Head to our website at Sydney,

19:44

Australia. Talk for information on

19:46

seeing eye dogs or you can give us a

19:48

ring and check to our friendly team on 1800 037 773

19:53

or email us at info. Accident.

19:57

Wow! Instructors like Michaela

20:00

are really happy to have a chat with you

20:02

to find out about if we can help you with

20:04

a life changing seeing eye dog.

20:06

And now I'm going to pass to

20:08

my next guest, Lindsay, a puppy trainer,

20:11

to talk about Lunar New Year

20:13

and about our special puppy named

20:15

in honor of the start of the year of the

20:17

Dragon. Thank you for listening and I hope

20:19

you enjoy. Hi Lena, thank you for joining

20:22

me on the show today.

20:23

Thanks for having me, Harriet.

20:24

So you are coming on to talk a little

20:26

bit about Lunar New Year or Chinese New

20:29

Year. Could you please explain to us a

20:31

little bit about Lunar New Year? And then what

20:33

is the kind of year this year?

20:36

Well in India this year falls

20:38

on Saturday the 10th of

20:40

February. Um, I say

20:42

this year because it does change every

20:44

year. The lunar calendar

20:47

is based on the cycles of the moon.

20:49

So the dates. That's why it changes

20:51

every year. Um,

20:54

this year is so every

20:56

year we have a different zodiac animal

20:59

representing that year. And this year

21:01

we've been quite lucky to have the

21:03

year of the Dragon. So one.

21:05

And I think the dragon is the only mystical

21:08

creature of the zodiac elements.

21:10

The others are, um, things like

21:12

rats and ox and tiger.

21:15

And yes.

21:16

You've got actual animals that we have,

21:18

but the dragon is the only one that I

21:20

guess doesn't really exist.

21:22

So what does the dragon kind of

21:24

represent in the zodiac?

21:26

So the dragon represents,

21:29

uh, good luck, strength and

21:31

health. Like I said, it's the only

21:33

mythical creature of all the animals in

21:35

the Chinese zodiac. Often

21:37

people who are born

21:39

in the year of the dragon, they have, you know, personality

21:42

traits of those that

21:44

are considered to be, uh, charismatic,

21:47

intelligent, confident,

21:49

powerful as you think, and

21:52

naturally lucky and gifted.

21:54

Okay, so. Yeah. So not not a bad thing. If

21:56

that's your birth year, then really, you know.

21:58

Yeah. You'd want to be born in the year of the Dragon,

22:00

I guess.

22:02

So how is Lunar New Year celebrated?

22:06

Uh, it is a very festive period that's

22:08

typically celebrated from the

22:10

first new moon of the lunar

22:12

calendar, and it ends on the first

22:14

full moon. So generally,

22:16

it's about a 15 day celebration.

22:20

And, you know, in

22:22

preparation to celebrate this.

22:25

A period of time. We tend to begin

22:27

a be clean of the house prior to

22:29

the date. So it's everything

22:32

that we do is very superstitious,

22:34

so we clean the house before the actual

22:36

new year comes to remove

22:38

any lingering bad luck,

22:41

and we sweep away all the bad stuff

22:43

in preparation for the new

22:45

year.

22:46

Kind of like starting with a clean slate.

22:48

Exactly, exactly. The night before,

22:51

and usually the day of. We spend a lot of

22:53

time with family. We hold

22:55

a lot of religious ceremonies to

22:58

honor our ancestors as well. So

23:00

we do a lot of praying and things like that.

23:04

Uh, on New Year's Day, family

23:06

members often, uh, come together.

23:08

We visit each other because,

23:11

you know, we live at different houses now,

23:13

uh, visit each other. We receive, uh, red

23:16

envelopes often. You hear us say,

23:18

uh, lacy or humble in Chinese.

23:21

And inside the envelope

23:23

you get money. So money, money.

23:26

I know the best thing to receive. And

23:28

it's really just to wish good luck and good fortune

23:30

to those that you give to and

23:33

throughout the days, and on the rest of the days.

23:35

And on your last day, people often

23:37

celebrating by lighting up their houses with

23:39

like lanterns and and just

23:41

eating lots of lots of food, lots of traditional

23:43

foods as well. You might see,

23:45

like the glutinous rice cakes come out.

23:48

Um, and just any food

23:50

really, to be honest.

23:52

Probably depends who's hosting.

23:54

Yes, exactly. Lots of eating, lots of eating.

23:56

So we love to do so.

23:58

Obviously kind of. Australia is one of

24:00

the countries that, um, many people

24:02

will celebrate. Um, and but it's

24:04

not necessarily an Australian kind of

24:06

tradition. What kind of countries is

24:08

Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year celebrated

24:10

in?

24:11

Typically, this holiday period is honored

24:13

and celebrated in China and other,

24:16

uh, Asian countries. So it's very

24:18

big in those countries. Often they get public

24:20

holidays for

24:22

that period of time. Um,

24:25

although I, I think this has

24:27

become a quite a significant celebration

24:29

globally as well, since a lot

24:31

of that countries have become so, uh, multicultural.

24:35

Um, yeah. We just don't get the public holidays,

24:37

I guess.

24:38

So we have, um, named

24:41

Asing Idexx puppy in honor of

24:43

the new year. Um, a pup that will

24:45

be kind of pretty due to leave the center

24:47

soon. So when we, um, I

24:49

guess name them at what, kind of around

24:51

six weeks? Um, yeah, we wanted

24:53

to have one that was kind of ready to go.

24:56

Um, and starting his journey in this

24:58

new year. So could you please tell us

25:00

a little bit about the name that

25:03

we chose for this puppy?

25:05

So the name that we chose

25:07

for this puppy. His name is

25:10

Jin. In Chinese, you'd

25:12

say. As Jin Jin

25:14

means gold in Chinese. So,

25:18

uh, the significance of this name? Obviously, gold

25:20

is often associated with wealth, longevity,

25:23

and happiness. You'll often

25:25

see the decorations of the Lunar New Year

25:27

to be a combination of golds and reds.

25:30

Um, for this very reason, as you

25:32

know, we harness that good fortune and good prospect

25:34

for the upcoming year ahead. So

25:37

hopefully little Jin will bring that

25:39

to seeing our dogs and have a great

25:41

year ahead. Gold

25:44

isn't also necessary just for Chinese

25:46

New Year. It's a very significant,

25:49

uh, I guess, element

25:52

in our Chinese culture.

25:54

Yeah. Like I said, it's it's really

25:56

associated with, you know, wealth and happiness,

25:58

longevity, all the good stuff that

26:00

you want to wish someone. So it doesn't have to be

26:02

a Lunar New Year. But, you know,

26:04

back then we used to gift each other gold,

26:07

little gold plates, you know, back in the old,

26:09

old days, it plays a very significant role

26:11

in our Chinese culture and

26:14

lots of clothings. Uh, back

26:16

in, you know, when it was

26:18

like the, uh,

26:21

emperors would wear whatever color

26:23

clothing, but there'll be lots of lining of gold

26:25

in it to,

26:29

uh, indicates that signify,

26:31

like superiority. So,

26:34

yes, hopefully. I mean, it's all good.

26:36

It means all good stuff. And hopefully

26:38

Jin will bring good stuff to seeing idols.

26:41

And is a little kind of like yellowy boy.

26:43

He's got some kind of golden tones in his fur

26:45

himself, so, you know, he can kind of, you

26:47

can kind of carry that with him. To the more.

26:49

Gold, the better.

26:52

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show and

26:54

talking to us a little bit about, um, our, uh,

26:56

young Jin and and about Chinese Lunar

26:59

New Year.

27:00

Thank you so much for having me.

27:08

You've been listening to this karaoke show

27:10

on Virgin Australia Radio. I hope

27:12

you enjoyed my interviews. The first

27:14

with Michaela Smith, a singer instructor

27:17

based in Central Coast, New South Wales,

27:19

and with Lina ji, a singer

27:22

puppy development trainer talking about Lunar

27:24

New Year and our special puppy named

27:26

Jin in honor of Chinese New Year.

27:28

If you'd like to find out more about seeing dogs,

27:31

the work we do, or how you can help,

27:33

head to our website at. Sydney,

27:35

Australia Porg puppies like

27:37

Jen need puppy caring homes in

27:39

parts of New South Wales, Queensland and

27:42

Victoria. So if you'd like to find out

27:44

about puppy caring and if that works in

27:46

your lifestyle and you would love to give back

27:48

by raising your puppy for 6 or

27:50

12 months, we would love to hear from you.

27:52

Please head to that website at Sydney,

27:55

Australia. Org to find out about puppy caring

27:58

and if you are someone who is blind or

28:00

has low vision and are interested in finding

28:02

out from our team about dog mobility

28:05

assessment or eligibility. Head

28:07

to our website again or you

28:09

can give us a ring on 1800 037 773.

28:14

That number again is 1800 037 773.

28:19

Or you can email info at accident.

28:23

Again, thank you for listening

28:25

to the show and I hope you tune in

28:27

sometime next week for another episode of

28:29

the Single Dog Show on Virgin Australia

28:31

Radio.