| KT guide dog is top of the pups
A GUIDE dog funded by Kentish Times readers is facing a key stage in his training to provide a blind person with independence. Ewart, aged 15 months, will this week wear a harness for the first time, five weeks into his programme at a guide dog training centre in Redbridge, Essex. His handler, Daniel Stacy, 28, has spent time bonding with Ewart and helping him settle in. "It's very good going for his fifth week, he's such a good lad," Mr Stacy said. "We have played games and he's been out on his lead on the train and Tube. "He is very obedient and doesn't get distracted easily. He has to be able to sit, stay and walk to heel so that when the harness goes on, it is the only thing that is new. "Then we play games with him in the harness so he makes a positive association with it and relaxes. "In fact he is so good, he is helping me with skill checks that I have to pass to gain my handler qualifications." But Mr Stacy says not every dog responds well to training, with some lunging at other animals and being too easily distracted.
Trainer saw future vision
When Janine Prindles family started training Guide Dogs for the Blind through Enumclaws Future Vision club she knew this day would come.
At the time her vision was pretty clear, but she could see into the future. She knew the eye disease she had would, over time, make it harder for her to get around. She knew one day she would have to rely on the very dogs she was training.
That day is coming.
Recently, the Enumclaw dog trainer packed up her bags and headed to the Oregon campus of Guide Dogs for the Blind for a four-week stay. While there she will learn how to work with a specially-selected dog and the dog will learn to work with Prindle and her special needs.
This is a huge deal in the sense that she started her family doing this 39 dogs ago, said Future Vision leader Jana Decker, who has been taking over the leash of the Enumclaw Guide Dog for the Blind feeder program since Prindle has stepped away.
Ewart proves he's the top dog
A GUIDE dog funded by Kentish Times' readers is facing a key stage in his training to provide a blind person with independence. Ewart, aged 15 months, will this week wear a harness for the first time just five weeks into his programme at Guide Dogs' training centre in Redbridge, Essex. His handler, Daniel Stacy, 28, has spent time bonding with Ewart and helping him settle in. Mr Stacy said: "It's very good going for his fifth week, he's such a good lad. "We have played games and he's been out on his lead on the train and tube. "He is very obedient and doesn't get distracted easily. He has to be able to sit, stay and walk to heel so that when the harness goes on, it is the only thing that is new. "Then we play games with him in the harness so he makes a positive association with it and relaxes.
Peggy has eyes for Danny
CATTLE dogs are famous for many skills - including sheep-back dancing and an uncanny ability to interpret the whistles of old men - but guide-dog work isn't one of them. Peggy Sue isn't exactly your ordinary seeing-eye dog, however. She received no formal training, and works only for another canine, Danny Boy, who happens to be her best mate. Danny Boy, who is blind, and Peggy Sue ended up in the RSPCA's Last Chance Club - for dogs that have been overlooked in the past or need special care - and spent three months there, looking out for each other. Bethany Amies, the shelter supervisor at Yagoona, said she had never seen a bond like it. "It was just amazing, watching Peggy Sue be his eyes and lead him around the world, showing him where to go, like a guide dog for a dog,'' she said.
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