Guide dogs look forward to festive break

EVERYONE needs a break at Christmas and hard working guide dogs and puppies in training are no different.

The headquarters of the organisation in Ballincollig in Cork is training 80 to 90 dogs and puppies, all of whom are looking forward to their break.

Operations manager for Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, Ken Brydon, said the dogs are sent out to volunteer walkers and some farmers to enjoy long walks and much-deserved down time.

“Over Christmas we have to move over 80 dogs out. They go and spend some time to our puppy walkers or spend some time with farmers.

“They take the dogs to give them a bit of a nice, well-deserved break. Most of them go out to board so they get a few runs out in the open and on the beach, things like that.

“The dogs are in training for three to six months and are taken out twice a day on training runs. They get fun all through the training but over the Christmas they are back in a family home situation so it’s a nice treat for them,” he said.

As for treats, however, the dogs still must adhere to their strict diet to make sure they are in the best physical condition

“The dogs get their normal dog chews and food. The reason is that these dogs are trained to be exemplary in social situations. That means they can’t be given chocolate or scraps and things like that. Once a dog is around with a blind or autistic person they need to be very well behaved. If the person is in a restaurant, for example, the dog can’t be going up and begging for food from tables, that sort of thing. So chocolate, turkey and Christmas cake should be kept out of reach. In fact, chocolate can be a real danger to dogs. However, we do give the dogs a Christmas stocking with rawhide cheese and some treats that are good for them.”

In 2005, Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind was the first organisation in Europe to introduce an assistance dog programme for families of children with autism.

It will cost just over €4 million to run the organisation in 2011. The organisation raises 85% of its annual income through fundraising and voluntary donations. Mr Brydon said that given the difficult economic times, all donations are appreciated.

“We are getting by but it is getting tougher every year, particularly with the tough economic situation.

“We are upping our communication with the public and we have hundreds of volunteers around the country.

“Feeding and vet costs are big bills for us so we just want the public to know that even the smallest donation is greatly appreciated.”

* The association are currently looking for additional volunteers as puppy walkers for pups in the Munster and Dublin regions (specifically Dublin North). Details can be found at www.guidedogs.ie.