Post by Paul on Dec 25, 2004 11:29:15 GMT 9.5
INDISPENSIBLE DOGS
The first blind person I ever met was Bill Warner. I was eight years of age and old Bill seemed at that time to be one hundred and ten. In reality and upon refection, his age was close to seventy five.
Old Bill was sighted for most of his life but for some reason unknown to me, became totally blind just before I met him. A great friend of Granddad Jack and Beatrice Alice, Old Bill wound up at the Blind Home which was situated at the top of the street from where I lived and he and I became great friends.
Bill's main claim to life was that he was night watchman for a local engineering business called Steel & Busks during the second world war. One particular night he was feeling a little "pissed off" and decided to pay an impromptu visit to my Grandparents, that decision saved his life.
It takes about seven minutes to walk from the site of the factory to Granddad Jacks, ten minutes after he had left his charge, a land mine dropped by the Luftwaffa hit the factory and Old Bill would have surely been dead had he have remained at his post. I'm glad they didn't kill Old Bill because he was a wonderful friend and teacher.
By the time I became involved with him Old Bill lived in the Blind Home Cottages and in his own words, "Hated the old broiler who had charge of his life." Even at the age he was, Bill was fiercely independent and refused to conform to rules and regulations, he even refused to carry a white cane.
Bill taught me many of life's lessons, but the greatest was, no matter how low you may fall into the depth of despair and irrespective of the of authority ranged against you, do, what you want to do. That Bill did, he took into custody every bit of conceivable metal from miles around to the extent, I had to guide him to scrap metal yards almost on a weekly basis. To old Bill's credit, I was never involved in the actual acquirement of the material, but even to this day I wonder how a blind person came about heavy Hessian sacks of lead and other needed metals for a war starved country.
After meeting Bill I became very aware of other persons with sight impairment. Most were mainly due to the result of the war with Germany and Japan, the resulting injuries were terrible. Even to this day I remember a "Zorro" type mask without the eye slits, placed over the eyes of one resident. Although the mask drew my attention to his eyes, I couldn't help but notice the plastic skin and the terrible burns to his face, later I learned that he escaped from the burning cockpit of a Hurricane, his life never to be the same again.
At that time in my life there were only three jobs for blind people, they were, 'Nick' it (Pinch it), make brushes and baskets or the all time favourite, Tune a piano.
There has to be some compensation for losing your sight and in that day and age it seemed to be an increase in hearing ability. Well I remember my first piano tuner, I watched in fascination as his sightless eyes stared into space while his hands expertly tuned the piano with the aid of tuning forks. He was a nice enough person but I couldn't forgive him for repairing the instrument of my permanent torture into full working condition. God, how I hated that piano.
Since the dawn of man's time on this planet he has enjoyed the companionship of a very special friend. A friend that has helped to feed him, provide protection against enemies, tended our flocks, and guarded possessions. He has gone to war for us, arrested our person, detected our drugs, found our bodies, raced his heart out to be first and above all, freely given his life for our protection and never once asked why? The same faithful companion also acts as eyes for the blind, ears for the deaf and therapy for the aged, injured, sick and lonely.
Only recently have medical experts realized the therapeutic value that pets can provide. Already dogs, cats and birds have been put on permanent staff in aged and other institutions. I predict that the time is not far away when major hospitals will also have dogs roaming the wards spreading healing to injured bodies and unsound minds. The day must also come when the patients own pets will be allowed to visit their owners when hospitalized, as the value of the healing power provided by pets is appreciated.
Hospital authorities will gasp at my audacious suggestion, and bring all sorts of arguments forward about hygiene and not being properly equipped to cater for such visits. The indisputable fact remains however, people recover far more quickly and are far more comfortable when a pet is in close proximity.
In the pages that follow we are going to explore the relationships between Indispensable Dogs and their owners. We will learn how bonds are formed and how much each one depends on the other, becoming an inseparable team as they travel the road of life together.
Before we explore the world of Indispensable Dogs there are a couple of facts you should be aware of that will make life more comfortable for their owners and yourself.
Never attempt to distract any type of working dog from the duty it has been trained to do. At the best you'll receive a reprimand from the owner or handler, at the worst you will distract the dog from its duty which could result in dire consequences. Being a dog lover I have always found it hard to keep my hands off any dog but I have always respected those dogs that are working and left them alone, unless I was invited to socialize by the owner.
The other problem of which I believe to be equally important, is that while the dog is to be ignored, the owner never should be. It is regrettable that some of the community seem to think that if a person is blind, deaf, physically or mentally impaired, they should be ignored and left to their own devices, nothing could be further from the truth.
I once witnessed a car park cleaner of a local shopping centre sidle up to a woman in a wheel chair while he was pushing his broom over concrete slabs. "Why don't you walk like everybody else you idle bugger?" he asked.
There was a momentary stunned look on the woman's face and then her face broke out into the warmest smile you could have ever imagined. It took me a while to work out why.
It finally occurred to me that everyone had paid due deference to the woman and the condition that had confined her to the wheel chair, she had been treated with respect and the courtesy that all people should be treated with, but not one person had spoken to her beyond normal business and communication requirements.
The wheel chair had in fact isolated this woman from the community at large and people were genuinely frightened to communicate with her, why?
The very simple answer is that "normal" people feel uncomfortable when they are around people with a disability and find it very difficult to relate. Well, the time is long since past when all of us able people should make a determined attempt to break down barriers that should never exist.
You walk by a person in the street and say, "G'day." Yet if you should happen to pass a blind person being guided by a dog the chances are, you will deprive them of that same courtesy. Or, there could be some person with a crippling illness confined to a wheel chair that is not able to speak clearly. That doesn't mean that their brain is not working as clear as what we think ours is, in fact, their IQ could be considerably higher than our own, then again, it could be less. Either way, there is no excuse. People with any form of disability are well aware of their problem and are not seeking sympathy from you but they do seek recognition as members of our society, so next time you meet one, make it a point of saying, "G'day".
The car park cleaner, who I know very well, has the happy knack of being able to relate to everyone. His chide of, "Why don't you walk like everyone else?" to the woman in the wheel chair was typical of his character and a good lesson for all of us.
Now I'm not suggesting that you abuse everyone in a wheel chair for not walking, but what I do suggest is that you ignore the wheel chair and talk to the person in it. Believe me, it will make for a closer knit community.
©Paul Springthorpe, Media Production Services. Extracted from, ‘It’s a Dog’s Life’ 1990. All rights reserved.
The first blind person I ever met was Bill Warner. I was eight years of age and old Bill seemed at that time to be one hundred and ten. In reality and upon refection, his age was close to seventy five.
Old Bill was sighted for most of his life but for some reason unknown to me, became totally blind just before I met him. A great friend of Granddad Jack and Beatrice Alice, Old Bill wound up at the Blind Home which was situated at the top of the street from where I lived and he and I became great friends.
Bill's main claim to life was that he was night watchman for a local engineering business called Steel & Busks during the second world war. One particular night he was feeling a little "pissed off" and decided to pay an impromptu visit to my Grandparents, that decision saved his life.
It takes about seven minutes to walk from the site of the factory to Granddad Jacks, ten minutes after he had left his charge, a land mine dropped by the Luftwaffa hit the factory and Old Bill would have surely been dead had he have remained at his post. I'm glad they didn't kill Old Bill because he was a wonderful friend and teacher.
By the time I became involved with him Old Bill lived in the Blind Home Cottages and in his own words, "Hated the old broiler who had charge of his life." Even at the age he was, Bill was fiercely independent and refused to conform to rules and regulations, he even refused to carry a white cane.
Bill taught me many of life's lessons, but the greatest was, no matter how low you may fall into the depth of despair and irrespective of the of authority ranged against you, do, what you want to do. That Bill did, he took into custody every bit of conceivable metal from miles around to the extent, I had to guide him to scrap metal yards almost on a weekly basis. To old Bill's credit, I was never involved in the actual acquirement of the material, but even to this day I wonder how a blind person came about heavy Hessian sacks of lead and other needed metals for a war starved country.
After meeting Bill I became very aware of other persons with sight impairment. Most were mainly due to the result of the war with Germany and Japan, the resulting injuries were terrible. Even to this day I remember a "Zorro" type mask without the eye slits, placed over the eyes of one resident. Although the mask drew my attention to his eyes, I couldn't help but notice the plastic skin and the terrible burns to his face, later I learned that he escaped from the burning cockpit of a Hurricane, his life never to be the same again.
At that time in my life there were only three jobs for blind people, they were, 'Nick' it (Pinch it), make brushes and baskets or the all time favourite, Tune a piano.
There has to be some compensation for losing your sight and in that day and age it seemed to be an increase in hearing ability. Well I remember my first piano tuner, I watched in fascination as his sightless eyes stared into space while his hands expertly tuned the piano with the aid of tuning forks. He was a nice enough person but I couldn't forgive him for repairing the instrument of my permanent torture into full working condition. God, how I hated that piano.
Since the dawn of man's time on this planet he has enjoyed the companionship of a very special friend. A friend that has helped to feed him, provide protection against enemies, tended our flocks, and guarded possessions. He has gone to war for us, arrested our person, detected our drugs, found our bodies, raced his heart out to be first and above all, freely given his life for our protection and never once asked why? The same faithful companion also acts as eyes for the blind, ears for the deaf and therapy for the aged, injured, sick and lonely.
Only recently have medical experts realized the therapeutic value that pets can provide. Already dogs, cats and birds have been put on permanent staff in aged and other institutions. I predict that the time is not far away when major hospitals will also have dogs roaming the wards spreading healing to injured bodies and unsound minds. The day must also come when the patients own pets will be allowed to visit their owners when hospitalized, as the value of the healing power provided by pets is appreciated.
Hospital authorities will gasp at my audacious suggestion, and bring all sorts of arguments forward about hygiene and not being properly equipped to cater for such visits. The indisputable fact remains however, people recover far more quickly and are far more comfortable when a pet is in close proximity.
In the pages that follow we are going to explore the relationships between Indispensable Dogs and their owners. We will learn how bonds are formed and how much each one depends on the other, becoming an inseparable team as they travel the road of life together.
Before we explore the world of Indispensable Dogs there are a couple of facts you should be aware of that will make life more comfortable for their owners and yourself.
Never attempt to distract any type of working dog from the duty it has been trained to do. At the best you'll receive a reprimand from the owner or handler, at the worst you will distract the dog from its duty which could result in dire consequences. Being a dog lover I have always found it hard to keep my hands off any dog but I have always respected those dogs that are working and left them alone, unless I was invited to socialize by the owner.
The other problem of which I believe to be equally important, is that while the dog is to be ignored, the owner never should be. It is regrettable that some of the community seem to think that if a person is blind, deaf, physically or mentally impaired, they should be ignored and left to their own devices, nothing could be further from the truth.
I once witnessed a car park cleaner of a local shopping centre sidle up to a woman in a wheel chair while he was pushing his broom over concrete slabs. "Why don't you walk like everybody else you idle bugger?" he asked.
There was a momentary stunned look on the woman's face and then her face broke out into the warmest smile you could have ever imagined. It took me a while to work out why.
It finally occurred to me that everyone had paid due deference to the woman and the condition that had confined her to the wheel chair, she had been treated with respect and the courtesy that all people should be treated with, but not one person had spoken to her beyond normal business and communication requirements.
The wheel chair had in fact isolated this woman from the community at large and people were genuinely frightened to communicate with her, why?
The very simple answer is that "normal" people feel uncomfortable when they are around people with a disability and find it very difficult to relate. Well, the time is long since past when all of us able people should make a determined attempt to break down barriers that should never exist.
You walk by a person in the street and say, "G'day." Yet if you should happen to pass a blind person being guided by a dog the chances are, you will deprive them of that same courtesy. Or, there could be some person with a crippling illness confined to a wheel chair that is not able to speak clearly. That doesn't mean that their brain is not working as clear as what we think ours is, in fact, their IQ could be considerably higher than our own, then again, it could be less. Either way, there is no excuse. People with any form of disability are well aware of their problem and are not seeking sympathy from you but they do seek recognition as members of our society, so next time you meet one, make it a point of saying, "G'day".
The car park cleaner, who I know very well, has the happy knack of being able to relate to everyone. His chide of, "Why don't you walk like everyone else?" to the woman in the wheel chair was typical of his character and a good lesson for all of us.
Now I'm not suggesting that you abuse everyone in a wheel chair for not walking, but what I do suggest is that you ignore the wheel chair and talk to the person in it. Believe me, it will make for a closer knit community.
©Paul Springthorpe, Media Production Services. Extracted from, ‘It’s a Dog’s Life’ 1990. All rights reserved.
