April 24, 2025 • 27 mins
On this episode of the Seeing Eye Dogs Show, Harriet is joined by two guests.
Puppy carer Maria from Geelong joins us to talk about her life, story, and role as a puppy carer. Maria is a first-time puppy carer of Pharaoh and enjoys the social and community aspects of the role.
Then, we have a repeat abridged version of the Harriet's interview with Seeing Eye Dog handler and SED Youth Program graduate Phoebe talking about her experiences on the youth program and how the program prepares young people to become handlers, and her life with her Seeing Eye Dog Angie.
If you’d like to learn about Seeing Eye Dogs, the work we do, becoming a handler, or supporting us head to our website at sed.visionaustralia.org.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:10):
On Vision Australia radio. You're listening to the Seeing Eye
dog show. With me, your host, Harriet Moffatt. Today I'm
going to be playing two interviews for you. The first
is with Maria, a puppy carer from Geelong, who's going
to be talking about her story as a volunteer and
about her experiences as a first time puppy carer. Then
I'm going to be playing an abridged repeat of my
interview with Phoebe, one of our senior dog handlers, about
(00:33):
her experiences on the youth program in 2022 and her
life as a handler. Now we've got lots of content
today for you, so I hope you enjoy! Here's my
first interview with Maria. Hi Maria, thank you for joining
me on the show today.
S2 (00:54):
My pleasure. Harriet.
S1 (00:55):
Could you please start off by introducing yourself?
S2 (00:58):
So my name is Maria. I live in Geelong. I've
been here for about four years. Um, my husband and
my two boys. Uh, we moved to Geelong four years
ago from the UK, where we were for ten years.
Before that we were in Melbourne, which is where the
kids were born. Before that we were in Sydney. So
we've kind of moved around a bit, but so far
Geelong loving living here, it's just great. No more traffic
(01:20):
jams and school runs and uh, no. And it's there's
loads of open space, so it's perfect, uh, for us
and for an outdoor lifestyle. So we're loving it. We
didn't know anyone in Geelong. We kind of had to
move here for school. Uh, my eldest son has autism,
and it was just a brilliant opportunity to come here.
(01:40):
So we we didn't know anyone. We'd never really been
to Geelong before. We took a bit of a gamble
and it was in the middle of the pandemic. I
would never recommend anyone relocate in a pandemic, but but
we did and we managed it. Very stressful, but it's
been a really good move. The kids love it here.
So yeah, it's been great.
S1 (02:00):
And what is your volunteer role at Seeing Eye Dogs?
S2 (02:03):
So I am a puppy carer and I started puppy
caring last year, so I probably signed up in June
and got a puppy in July, which was much quicker
than I.
S1 (02:14):
Expected.
S2 (02:15):
Beginning of July. Or maybe it was May. I can't remember,
but anyway, it was very certainly very quick. Um, but
it's been a brilliant experience. Yeah.
S1 (02:24):
What made you decide to become a puppy carer or
how did you find out about puppy caring?
S2 (02:28):
So I thought about it for a while because when
we were in the UK, we had, uh, dogs, Labradors
for about ten years. When we relocated, we couldn't bring
the dogs here because it was hard enough to bring
humans to Australia, let alone. I heard horror stories of
dogs being left in airports around the world and I
just said, no, it's too much. So we got her
rehomed and we kind of had put off getting another
(02:51):
dog just because I thought with travel, work, all sorts
of things, I didn't want to commit to having another
dog for another sort of ten years. And so someone
suggested puppy caring. And so I'd been looking into it
and been thinking about it for a while. And then
my oldest son, who has autism, had an impromptu gap
year last year, and I know how much he loves dogs,
(03:13):
and I decided let's just do it. So I looked
into it, signed up, and was a bit blown away
when I got a puppy quite as fast as we did,
but it's been fantastic. He absolutely loves the dog, so
it's going to be tricky when we have to say
goodbye to fairy. But. But because he knows he's got
that date in his diary and he knows he's known
all along, this is when we say goodbye to him.
(03:35):
And this is, you know, we've worked hard with fairy.
We hope he's going to change someone's life. And so
hopefully he's. Yeah. And he's away now at university in Swinburne.
So although fairy has done quite a few trips up
there already. Ah. And um, so he's getting really good
on the trains and trams and everything actually. But um, yeah.
So that's why we did it and, and I'm really glad.
(03:57):
And also it's opened up a whole lovely community of
people in Geelong who are so supportive. So it's been
a really good thing for us.
S1 (04:03):
I guess that when you say about, you know, you
moved to Geelong and you didn't know anyone, that then
joining the puppy care community changed that pretty quickly?
S2 (04:11):
Definitely. They're super, super supportive here. And we have a
lovely group that meet up regularly for walks. In fact,
it was at a cafe along the river and they
knew I was kind of thinking about getting a puppy.
And then the cafe owner, um, Bart rang me and said,
the puppy carers are here, why don't you have a
chat with them? Why don't you come down now? So
I said, okay. So I went down and I met them.
(04:32):
And then I had a long chat with our lovely, um, Michelle,
who's our care puppy support carer, and and she talked
me through all the, you know, pros and cons and
what it's like and everything else. And I talked to
any through any fears I had and, um, she's very persuasive.
So in fact all the puppy carers here are very persuasive.
(04:53):
So yeah. So I went for it and it's I
not look back. I'm really happy that we did it.
S3 (04:58):
And can you please tell us about the puppy that
you've got?
S2 (05:01):
So we have Farrow Rowe, who is a real Pharoah.
He looks amazing. He's just super clever. I kind of
wish I knew all the stuff I knew now before
I had dogs before, but he's just so clever. He
never barks. He's very quiet. When we first got him,
he was really serious and I thought, oh gosh, I've
never seen such a serious dog before. He didn't really,
(05:22):
but I think he'd had quite a bit of change.
And then within a week he was super waggy. He's
the happiest dog you've ever met. He's always happy to
see everyone. He's he's you know. And I was amazed
he didn't destroy anything in the house. He's just taken
to destroying plants in our brand new garden. So that's
the only naughty thing he does. Really? Apart from that,
(05:44):
he's a really brilliant dog and he's really clever. So
I think that a trainer should be able to teach
him anything. And if he doesn't pass, I'll think I've
stuffed something up because it's my first seeing eye dog puppy.
But he's been a dream dog. No one. My kids
keep saying no one's going to match up to Pharaoh mum.
He's like the gold standard. He's the perfect dog. No.
(06:05):
So that's the only problem. Any puppy that comes along
next has got big paws to fill. We will miss
him a lot. It's going to break our hearts to
say goodbye. But it's part of the journey.
S1 (06:14):
Definitely not a fail if he doesn't make it, but
I'm sure you've set him up as much as he can,
and it's up to them at that point. That's kind
of the role of puppy care. It's just to get
them to a stage where they are able to make
a decision, and my fingers are crossed. I'm sure all
of the listeners will have their fingers crossed too.
S2 (06:33):
I hope so.
S1 (06:34):
So how have you found the experience, and was there
anything that surprised you about public hearing doing it for
your first time?
S2 (06:40):
I think it's a lot more time consuming than I
first thought it would be, because it's not just the,
you know, obviously you have the 1 to 1 training
with Paige, which is fantastic. And then I love the
group training sessions. They're really fun. We go all over
the place. Last week we went to Sorrento with lots
of other dogs, and it was quite surreal seeing all
these dogs on the ferry and anyway. But uh, that's great.
(07:02):
But then obviously you still have to put quite a
bit of time into training them. I think I've been
quite diligent because he's my first puppy, so I've been
trying really hard to do everything the way we're supposed
to do it. But, uh, no. And I also love
the fact that Virgin Australia is so supportive with, you know,
everything they give you for the dog is amazing. You know,
it comes with everything you need, and then you just
(07:22):
give them carrots or whatever, a few extra bits and bobs.
But that takes a huge pressure off people, I think financially,
because that was one of the reasons we didn't get
another dog is the financial pressure, because we all know
how much dogs cost to own and vet bills and
insurance and you know, those things really add up. And
also having carers so that if you have to go
away for a weekend or you have to go away
(07:43):
for holiday or you go on holiday, there are people
who can manage the dogs quite happily for you. So
that's I think that's fantastic. That's really supportive. Plus the
puppy care that caring community in Geelong is just so
lovely and kind and supportive. So there's always someone you
can ring if you need to chat through a problem
you've got. If you can't get hold of the trainer,
(08:04):
it's out of hours or whatever. There's nothing that they
haven't seen before, if you know what I mean.
S1 (08:08):
It's the collective of the knowledge. It's not just one
person and their many dogs. It's like all of them
and all of the various pups that they might have
been matched to. It's kind of it's a pretty good
resource to have.
S2 (08:18):
Yes it is. And there's, you know, somebody once said
to me, oh, well, if you want to let them
off the lead on the beach or whatever it is,
you can practice with the whistle that you play with.
I didn't realize that. So I thought, oh, okay. Um,
so now if I can't find him and he's up
to no good in the garden, I just blow the
whistle and he comes straight back. And that was a
tip from a puppy carer. So that's. They're full of
(08:38):
interesting ideas and tips and things that you haven't thought of. Yeah,
it's been great. And it's another reason to get out
and go for walks and wherever. I take Farrow, because
Geelong has got so many beautiful walking paths. You're bound
to see other puppies.
S1 (08:52):
So great practice for dog distraction. Always.
S2 (08:55):
Yes, definitely have to practice that the most, I reckon.
That's definitely Farrow's weak spot, but I think it's hard
because they're puppies and they just want to play, don't they?
So it's really hard for them to to concentrate and
walk past nicely. But that's something we're working really hard
at at the minute.
S1 (09:11):
So what is the kind of typical day or a
typical week in your life together?
S2 (09:16):
Gosh. Well, the problem is for me at the moment,
it varies so much from one week to the next. So, uh,
you know, last week we were up in Melbourne on
on Wednesday. The week before we were in Melbourne on Thursday.
Then we were in Sorrento on Friday. And I don't know,
he comes everywhere with me. So he might come to
(09:36):
a boot camp or he might come to CrossFit. Uh,
he'll go out for lots of walks. We'll catch up
with other puppy walkers, and then in the afternoons he
can have a rest while I study. That's the idea, anyway.
S1 (09:47):
And does that happen?
S2 (09:49):
Yeah, generally. Not necessarily as often as I probably should
be doing it. I'm a little bit behind on my
coursework at the moment. I'm kind of prioritizing. So for instance,
this afternoon I'm taking a play date in a in
an enclosed park down at Freshwater Creek with another seeing
eye dog puppy so they can both practice dog distraction
and how to play nicely afterwards. That's you know, we
(10:10):
did that last week, so I have definitely stepped it
up a bit knowing we were at the pointy end
now of the puppy training, caring sort of bit. I
just want to make sure he gets over the line.
So it has been a bit more time consuming lately.
We've been trying to do more stuff, but that's kind
of my week vary. So suddenly I had to rush
up to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, take my
(10:30):
son's ADHD meds which he'd left at home for the
weekend and can't study really without them. So I had
to rush up with Faro and I was like, the
only time I'd taken Faro up to Melbourne was when
we did the dog training with all the other dog trainers,
and I rang Michelle and said, help, help! What do
I need to remember? I've got to rush up to
Melbourne in the morning. And so she was telling me
the best spots to toilet them. When you get to
(10:52):
Southern Cross and useful things like that. But he was
really good. No issues. Yeah, he's brilliant on trains, trams,
wherever you want to go. He doesn't mind. He's very
chilled out.
S1 (11:02):
So how long does that train take?
S2 (11:05):
It's about an hour and ten minutes from Geelong to Melbourne.
And then we have to change at Southern Cross and
Flinders Street, I think, to get another train out to Hawthorn.
And then I took him into the city, and then
I had to remember to use the lifts everywhere. So
you kind of think I reminded me of having a
pram and having to get lifts with prams, because you
can't go on escalators. It's just you just have to
(11:26):
allow a lot of extra time. I think that's the key. Yeah.
You can't just rush around and there's more stuff to
pack for a dog for him. I'm lucky. He's such
a good dog. I think if he wasn't, it would
be a lot more, a lot harder.
S1 (11:38):
So what are your favourite things about caring?
S2 (11:40):
Well, obviously I love looking after him. I've loved. I've
really enjoyed learning how to train them. I think that's
been really, you know, it's like learning new skills, isn't it?
It's always really fun. I've loved meeting the puppy caring community.
I find everyone's really friendly and I suppose like minded.
And then the other thing is that you kind of
know what you're doing, hopefully, is going to change someone's life.
(12:01):
That's why we do it essentially, isn't it? Because that's
what we really want to do. I want to give
back to the community because someone people have been kind
to me in the past, and I wanted to do
my little bit as well. So that's kind of one
of the reasons. What else? What else do I love?
I don't know, it's just lovely to have a dog
in the house, really, but also know that if I
have to go away, there are people who can have him.
So that takes away some of the pressure of having
(12:22):
a dog around. And it's just been a joy to have.
He's brought our household a lot of joy and happiness
and he's just been great, so we will miss him. Yeah.
S1 (12:33):
So what is it like puppeteering in Geelong? You've kind
of mentioned a little bit about about this, but you know,
how have you found the carer community.
S2 (12:40):
So the carer community is just brilliant, really supportive. We
have a carer support group that we can, if you
need them looked after for a weekend or something, you
can put it on the puppy carer support. Someone always
comes back straight away and says yes, I'll have him
and obviously we checked with Paige first. Make sure it's
the right kind of place. But you know the great
(13:00):
thing about Geelong is all the open footpaths, all the
spaces you can take them for lovely walks and catching
up with other people. It's lovely walking along the river
with the other, with the other seeing-eye dog carers and
puppies and taking them for coffee, uh, or along the waterfront.
It's just a great space to be able to even
(13:21):
down to the ocean. You know, there's so many places
you can take the dog. That's really lovely.
S1 (13:26):
Oh, I mean, if you live in somewhere. I mean, honestly,
I think Australia is quite lucky that wherever you go, there's,
you know, it's very hot. You know, you're hard pressed
to not find somewhere really lovely to walk. You know,
most suburbs have some sort of, you know, I guess
river trail or nice outdoor spaces. But, um, I think
some probably especially as you maybe get further out, you
get a little bit more of that.
S2 (13:46):
Yeah. I mean, where we used to live in Hawthorn East,
that would have been a lot trickier. There was not
that so many places to walk, but, uh, we were
spoilt in England. We had beautiful National Trust woodland walking
distance from the house where you can just let the
dogs off the leads lead and they just run off. Um,
and that was really beautiful. So we were a bit
spoilt where we lived. But here. Yeah, we we love
(14:06):
the we live walking distance from the river and also
walking distance from shops. So we, I can just walk
him everywhere.
S4 (14:12):
Do you have any.
S1 (14:13):
Particular stories you'd like to share about your, you know,
time as a puppy carer so far?
S2 (14:17):
Gosh, so many little, little things. I think I think
the best one was I think last Thursday I took
him up to the International Flower Show, and it was
like having a celebrity on a lead, walking him around.
I can't believe how many people wanted to talk to
me about puppy caring and what it's like, and how
can I give him up. And my answer is, well,
(14:37):
if nobody gave up their seeing eye dogs, there'd be
no guide dogs, would there? So you have to. That's
what you're doing it for. You're doing it to, you know,
it's hard for us, you know, to say goodbye to them,
but you know that you're doing it to help someone else.
You know, ultimately, that's why we do it. But but yes,
I can't believe how many people, even one lady, even
came up and said, oh, you know, I had to
(14:58):
get my dog put down last week. Should I give
him a cuddle? So many people wanted to pet him
and cuddle him and I thought, oh well, you know.
And even on the tram it was jam packed going
back to Southern Cross. Absolutely packed. I had to kind
of sneak his legs back in and his tail. So,
you know, I didn't want anyone to tread on him.
Oh my gosh, even people talking to me on the
tram about puppy caring all the way down to Southern Cross. Yeah,
(15:20):
he's a little celebrity, so it's going to be strange
everywhere I go if I don't have him. Where's Farrow today?
Everybody wants to see Farrow. They don't care about me.
Even the lollipop ladies. Both of the primary schools near
where we live. They all know Farrow. So they all
ask after him and the cafes all ask after him.
If I haven't got him with me. Where is he?
He's like my little appendage. He comes everywhere. Yeah. It's
(15:42):
going to be strange going to all these places without him,
but won't be for long.
S4 (15:46):
And just to finish.
S1 (15:47):
Off, do you have any other messages for the general
public or anyone considering caring?
S2 (15:52):
Um, I'd say if you're thinking about it, just talk
to a puppy carer. They can answer any queries you
might have, and you might be surprised at how many
places you can take the puppy. I mean, I've literally
taken him everywhere. I think the hardest thing probably is
in a workplace. You'd have to check that you can
take them to work with you and would it be appropriate?
(16:13):
But quite a lot of people here do. That's the
only thing, I guess. But in terms of you wouldn't
regret it, I think everyone always says, oh, I couldn't
do it because I can't possibly give it up. But
of course you can if it's part of the whole thing.
You're not doing it just to to have a pet
for yourself. You're doing it to change someone's life. And
(16:33):
that is is worth everything, I think.
S4 (16:37):
Well, thank.
S1 (16:37):
You so much for coming on the show, sharing your story,
and also for all of the love and care that
you've given to Pharaoh.
S2 (16:43):
Well, my pleasure, Harriet, thank you so much for having
me on the show.
S1 (16:51):
You've been listening to the Seeing Eye dog show on
Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interview with Maria,
a puppy carer from Geelong. If you'd like to find
out more about puppy caring, you can head to our
website at australia.com. And then you can head to our
Information Sessions page to find out some of the amazing
upcoming events where you can chat to our lovely team,
(17:14):
or just head to that website and read up more
about volunteering and if it might be right for you.
Now I've got an interview with Phoebe. This is a
abridged repeat of an interview that we did together about
the youth program, about her experiences as a handler. So
I hope you enjoy. Thank you for listening. Hi, Phoebe,
(17:39):
thank you for joining me on the show today.
S5 (17:41):
Thanks for having me. Could you please start off by
introducing yourself? Yes, I can most definitely do that. Hi,
my name is Phoebe. I'm 17 years old. I go
to high school and I'm currently in year 11.
S1 (17:57):
Could you please introduce your Seeing Eye dog?
S5 (17:59):
Yes. I have a beautiful female golden Labrador named Angie.
She's three years old. We've been working together for 17
months now, but her full name is Angela. But she
gets called Angie more than Angela.
S1 (18:20):
So what types of outings have you done together?
S5 (18:23):
The types of outings Angie and I have done together. Well,
I go to the gym after school at least three
times a week. I used to not be able to
do that without having her, so she definitely brought more
independence in that circumstance. I go to Melbourne for shopping
(18:46):
quite a few times with my older siblings. I've flown
on planes a few times for various different camps in Australia.
Leah Brown music camp. Blind cricket camp. And she also
comes with me when I volunteer at Vision Australia. Seeing
eye dogs down in Melbourne.
S1 (19:08):
It sounds like a very, very busy life that you've
got there going on.
S5 (19:11):
Do you?
S1 (19:12):
Do you sleep or is that not important?
S5 (19:15):
Well, I try my best to. She sleeps more than
I do. Sometimes I'm like, can we switch places today?
I really can't be bothered to be the human. I'd
like to sleep on a bed underneath the desk today.
S6 (19:28):
Hey, Angie, would you mind doing this test for me, please? Get.
Please get an A+ and I will sleep.
S5 (19:35):
Yeah, literally. And she's like, hmm. Let me think about that. No,
that's the same at the gym. I'm working, and she's
just taking a good old nap next to me. And
I'm like, oh, come on, pull your weight.
S6 (19:48):
Come on, man, do something. Take turns thinking.
S1 (19:52):
Back to it. What made you decide to start thinking
about getting a seeing eye dog?
S5 (19:56):
Well, what started me thinking about getting a seeing eye
dog would probably be. Well, dogs are my favorite animal.
I love them, I say that they're my spirit animal.
Having my vision impairment since I was four and a
half and then hearing about. Guide dogs and what they
(20:17):
do for people, and then talking to my owner who
had experience with training guide dogs. I was like, oh,
it'd be such a great experience to be able to like,
walk with one. So one day I ended up being
in Melbourne with my family and Brooke Anderson emailed my
(20:40):
mum because her and my mum were chatting. Don't know
about what, but it was a while ago and she
was like, oh, I heard that Phoebe was interested in
having a seeing eye dog or at least trying one.
Would you like to come to the Kensington site and
I can find one, and we can do a little,
(21:01):
a little walk with one. And then I did a
little walk with one around seeing eye dogs kennels site
and then in the taxi I've like, I have a
whole note in my phone of like how one would
be able to change my life and how much freedom
I felt like I had with 15 minute walk with one,
(21:23):
and like I trusted my whole life with them like
you do, even when you're fully matched. And then my
O&M knew Darren, who was a part of the program
in 2022. So he let my O&M, Paula, know about
the program. They were thinking about setting up, and she
(21:46):
was like, Phoebe would love to be a part of
the program. That's when the Seeing Eye Dog Youth program
started in 2022. I always knew I wanted one, but
like it. Sort of. Yeah. Fell in a line of
different things that happened to. Become a thing I dog handler.
S7 (22:09):
So what was the youth.
S1 (22:10):
Program actually like and how did you find that it
prepared you for having Angie?
S5 (22:15):
The Seeing Eye Dog program was really a great experience
for me personally. So once a month we would meet
on a zoom since there was people from Victoria and
Brisbane in my group. So it doesn't matter what state
you're in, they like make it able for you to
do it wherever you are if you're interested in it.
(22:36):
So yeah, we would meet monthly. We'd have different topics
and then each month there would be a target. You
would have to meet with your own name for whatever
we had discussed that month, like whatever topic we discussed
of that month, and then we would have two camps
(22:58):
in the year that we would be down at Kensington
in the houses Vision Australia have we would be matched
with a dog, so we would have to take care
of the dog, feed the dog, toilet, the dog. We
did a bit of grooming of the dog. So it
gave you first hand experience of what an actual day
(23:20):
would be if you did have a seeing eye dog,
which I found really handy. But yes, I know every
dog's different. Just because you have 1 or 2 dogs
on two different camps won't mean you'll get that same dog.
Because I had two male black labs on the two
camps I had, and I have a female yellow lab.
(23:41):
So like, dogs are different. They're all trained the same.
Doesn't mean they'll act the same. So yeah, it gave
good first hand experience. And like, yes, you're in charge
of the dog, but you also have to take care
of the dog like it's not going to feed itself
and toilet itself, because if it fed itself, I don't
(24:02):
think it would stop eating since it's a Labrador. They
might eat the whole 20 kilo bag of food, and
that would not turn out well.
S1 (24:11):
Because it's not just quite as simple as waking up.
And then out you go. There's other dog responsibilities that
you have to do. Crazy.
S5 (24:16):
Very much so, because you have to look at the
weather and see what you need to wear, and then
also what your dog will need to wear like a raincoat,
because my dog does not like getting rained on, but
she likes swimming. So then whenever it's raining, she has
a raincoat on because yes, we don't like getting rained on,
but we'll swim.
S1 (24:37):
It's the wrong kind of wet. Didn't you know?
S5 (24:38):
Yeah, literally. So yeah, you have to look at the
weather for yourself, and then you have to look at
the weather for your dog. And then if it's going
to be hot, how hot is it going to be?
Because you'll need water for your dog. Well, you always
need water for your dog, but if it's hot, you
might need more water than you would in winter. And
(24:59):
then if it's going to be really hot, you might
need the shoes to protect their little feet from the pavement.
S1 (25:07):
So would you recommend taking part in the youth program?
S5 (25:10):
I would most definitely recommend to those that are arming
and arring about getting a seeing eye dog. Just because
you do the program and you get that experience, you
might actually realize that you're not quite ready for one,
which is also okay. So then you can do what
you need to do, maybe like upskill your own sort
(25:33):
of a difficult spot to be in if you have one,
but you're not quite ready because yes, they are a
lot of responsibility. And so yeah, I think it's a
great experience for everyone that's a young adult in high
school that are thinking about it. Not quite sure have
(25:54):
thought about it and I knew I wanted one. But
for those that did my program, then they realized, yes,
I find that one will be handy, but not quite
yet because maybe it's just not the right time. So
then at least you know, and then you can come back.
And then when you know that you're ready, that there's
(26:15):
going to be a dog somewhere for you in the future.
S1 (26:23):
You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dog show on
Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interviews with
Maria and Phoebe. We've had a puppy caring story and
a story about our youth program and the life of
a handler. If you'd like to find out more about
seeing eye dogs, the work we do, getting involved, or
even becoming a handler, head to our website at australia.com.
(26:43):
Don't forget to tune in! Same time next week for
another episode of The Seeing Eye Dog Show. Thank you
and have a lovely week.
On Vision Australia radio. You're listening to the Seeing Eye
dog show. With me, your host, Harriet Moffatt. Today I'm
going to be playing two interviews for you. The first
is with Maria, a puppy carer from Geelong, who's going
to be talking about her story as a volunteer and
about her experiences as a first time puppy carer. Then
I'm going to be playing an abridged repeat of my
interview with Phoebe, one of our senior dog handlers, about
(00:33):
her experiences on the youth program in 2022 and her
life as a handler. Now we've got lots of content
today for you, so I hope you enjoy! Here's my
first interview with Maria. Hi Maria, thank you for joining
me on the show today.
S2 (00:54):
My pleasure. Harriet.
S1 (00:55):
Could you please start off by introducing yourself?
S2 (00:58):
So my name is Maria. I live in Geelong. I've
been here for about four years. Um, my husband and
my two boys. Uh, we moved to Geelong four years
ago from the UK, where we were for ten years.
Before that we were in Melbourne, which is where the
kids were born. Before that we were in Sydney. So
we've kind of moved around a bit, but so far
Geelong loving living here, it's just great. No more traffic
(01:20):
jams and school runs and uh, no. And it's there's
loads of open space, so it's perfect, uh, for us
and for an outdoor lifestyle. So we're loving it. We
didn't know anyone in Geelong. We kind of had to
move here for school. Uh, my eldest son has autism,
and it was just a brilliant opportunity to come here.
(01:40):
So we we didn't know anyone. We'd never really been
to Geelong before. We took a bit of a gamble
and it was in the middle of the pandemic. I
would never recommend anyone relocate in a pandemic, but but
we did and we managed it. Very stressful, but it's
been a really good move. The kids love it here.
So yeah, it's been great.
S1 (02:00):
And what is your volunteer role at Seeing Eye Dogs?
S2 (02:03):
So I am a puppy carer and I started puppy
caring last year, so I probably signed up in June
and got a puppy in July, which was much quicker
than I.
S1 (02:14):
Expected.
S2 (02:15):
Beginning of July. Or maybe it was May. I can't remember,
but anyway, it was very certainly very quick. Um, but
it's been a brilliant experience. Yeah.
S1 (02:24):
What made you decide to become a puppy carer or
how did you find out about puppy caring?
S2 (02:28):
So I thought about it for a while because when
we were in the UK, we had, uh, dogs, Labradors
for about ten years. When we relocated, we couldn't bring
the dogs here because it was hard enough to bring
humans to Australia, let alone. I heard horror stories of
dogs being left in airports around the world and I
just said, no, it's too much. So we got her
rehomed and we kind of had put off getting another
(02:51):
dog just because I thought with travel, work, all sorts
of things, I didn't want to commit to having another
dog for another sort of ten years. And so someone
suggested puppy caring. And so I'd been looking into it
and been thinking about it for a while. And then
my oldest son, who has autism, had an impromptu gap
year last year, and I know how much he loves dogs,
(03:13):
and I decided let's just do it. So I looked
into it, signed up, and was a bit blown away
when I got a puppy quite as fast as we did,
but it's been fantastic. He absolutely loves the dog, so
it's going to be tricky when we have to say
goodbye to fairy. But. But because he knows he's got
that date in his diary and he knows he's known
all along, this is when we say goodbye to him.
(03:35):
And this is, you know, we've worked hard with fairy.
We hope he's going to change someone's life. And so
hopefully he's. Yeah. And he's away now at university in Swinburne.
So although fairy has done quite a few trips up
there already. Ah. And um, so he's getting really good
on the trains and trams and everything actually. But um, yeah.
So that's why we did it and, and I'm really glad.
(03:57):
And also it's opened up a whole lovely community of
people in Geelong who are so supportive. So it's been
a really good thing for us.
S1 (04:03):
I guess that when you say about, you know, you
moved to Geelong and you didn't know anyone, that then
joining the puppy care community changed that pretty quickly?
S2 (04:11):
Definitely. They're super, super supportive here. And we have a
lovely group that meet up regularly for walks. In fact,
it was at a cafe along the river and they
knew I was kind of thinking about getting a puppy.
And then the cafe owner, um, Bart rang me and said,
the puppy carers are here, why don't you have a
chat with them? Why don't you come down now? So
I said, okay. So I went down and I met them.
(04:32):
And then I had a long chat with our lovely, um, Michelle,
who's our care puppy support carer, and and she talked
me through all the, you know, pros and cons and
what it's like and everything else. And I talked to
any through any fears I had and, um, she's very persuasive.
So in fact all the puppy carers here are very persuasive.
(04:53):
So yeah. So I went for it and it's I
not look back. I'm really happy that we did it.
S3 (04:58):
And can you please tell us about the puppy that
you've got?
S2 (05:01):
So we have Farrow Rowe, who is a real Pharoah.
He looks amazing. He's just super clever. I kind of
wish I knew all the stuff I knew now before
I had dogs before, but he's just so clever. He
never barks. He's very quiet. When we first got him,
he was really serious and I thought, oh gosh, I've
never seen such a serious dog before. He didn't really,
(05:22):
but I think he'd had quite a bit of change.
And then within a week he was super waggy. He's
the happiest dog you've ever met. He's always happy to
see everyone. He's he's you know. And I was amazed
he didn't destroy anything in the house. He's just taken
to destroying plants in our brand new garden. So that's
the only naughty thing he does. Really? Apart from that,
(05:44):
he's a really brilliant dog and he's really clever. So
I think that a trainer should be able to teach
him anything. And if he doesn't pass, I'll think I've
stuffed something up because it's my first seeing eye dog puppy.
But he's been a dream dog. No one. My kids
keep saying no one's going to match up to Pharaoh mum.
He's like the gold standard. He's the perfect dog. No.
(06:05):
So that's the only problem. Any puppy that comes along
next has got big paws to fill. We will miss
him a lot. It's going to break our hearts to
say goodbye. But it's part of the journey.
S1 (06:14):
Definitely not a fail if he doesn't make it, but
I'm sure you've set him up as much as he can,
and it's up to them at that point. That's kind
of the role of puppy care. It's just to get
them to a stage where they are able to make
a decision, and my fingers are crossed. I'm sure all
of the listeners will have their fingers crossed too.
S2 (06:33):
I hope so.
S1 (06:34):
So how have you found the experience, and was there
anything that surprised you about public hearing doing it for
your first time?
S2 (06:40):
I think it's a lot more time consuming than I
first thought it would be, because it's not just the,
you know, obviously you have the 1 to 1 training
with Paige, which is fantastic. And then I love the
group training sessions. They're really fun. We go all over
the place. Last week we went to Sorrento with lots
of other dogs, and it was quite surreal seeing all
these dogs on the ferry and anyway. But uh, that's great.
(07:02):
But then obviously you still have to put quite a
bit of time into training them. I think I've been
quite diligent because he's my first puppy, so I've been
trying really hard to do everything the way we're supposed
to do it. But, uh, no. And I also love
the fact that Virgin Australia is so supportive with, you know,
everything they give you for the dog is amazing. You know,
it comes with everything you need, and then you just
(07:22):
give them carrots or whatever, a few extra bits and bobs.
But that takes a huge pressure off people, I think financially,
because that was one of the reasons we didn't get
another dog is the financial pressure, because we all know
how much dogs cost to own and vet bills and
insurance and you know, those things really add up. And
also having carers so that if you have to go
away for a weekend or you have to go away
(07:43):
for holiday or you go on holiday, there are people
who can manage the dogs quite happily for you. So
that's I think that's fantastic. That's really supportive. Plus the
puppy care that caring community in Geelong is just so
lovely and kind and supportive. So there's always someone you
can ring if you need to chat through a problem
you've got. If you can't get hold of the trainer,
(08:04):
it's out of hours or whatever. There's nothing that they
haven't seen before, if you know what I mean.
S1 (08:08):
It's the collective of the knowledge. It's not just one
person and their many dogs. It's like all of them
and all of the various pups that they might have
been matched to. It's kind of it's a pretty good
resource to have.
S2 (08:18):
Yes it is. And there's, you know, somebody once said
to me, oh, well, if you want to let them
off the lead on the beach or whatever it is,
you can practice with the whistle that you play with.
I didn't realize that. So I thought, oh, okay. Um,
so now if I can't find him and he's up
to no good in the garden, I just blow the
whistle and he comes straight back. And that was a
tip from a puppy carer. So that's. They're full of
(08:38):
interesting ideas and tips and things that you haven't thought of. Yeah,
it's been great. And it's another reason to get out
and go for walks and wherever. I take Farrow, because
Geelong has got so many beautiful walking paths. You're bound
to see other puppies.
S1 (08:52):
So great practice for dog distraction. Always.
S2 (08:55):
Yes, definitely have to practice that the most, I reckon.
That's definitely Farrow's weak spot, but I think it's hard
because they're puppies and they just want to play, don't they?
So it's really hard for them to to concentrate and
walk past nicely. But that's something we're working really hard
at at the minute.
S1 (09:11):
So what is the kind of typical day or a
typical week in your life together?
S2 (09:16):
Gosh. Well, the problem is for me at the moment,
it varies so much from one week to the next. So, uh,
you know, last week we were up in Melbourne on
on Wednesday. The week before we were in Melbourne on Thursday.
Then we were in Sorrento on Friday. And I don't know,
he comes everywhere with me. So he might come to
(09:36):
a boot camp or he might come to CrossFit. Uh,
he'll go out for lots of walks. We'll catch up
with other puppy walkers, and then in the afternoons he
can have a rest while I study. That's the idea, anyway.
S1 (09:47):
And does that happen?
S2 (09:49):
Yeah, generally. Not necessarily as often as I probably should
be doing it. I'm a little bit behind on my
coursework at the moment. I'm kind of prioritizing. So for instance,
this afternoon I'm taking a play date in a in
an enclosed park down at Freshwater Creek with another seeing
eye dog puppy so they can both practice dog distraction
and how to play nicely afterwards. That's you know, we
(10:10):
did that last week, so I have definitely stepped it
up a bit knowing we were at the pointy end
now of the puppy training, caring sort of bit. I
just want to make sure he gets over the line.
So it has been a bit more time consuming lately.
We've been trying to do more stuff, but that's kind
of my week vary. So suddenly I had to rush
up to Melbourne a couple of weeks ago, take my
(10:30):
son's ADHD meds which he'd left at home for the
weekend and can't study really without them. So I had
to rush up with Faro and I was like, the
only time I'd taken Faro up to Melbourne was when
we did the dog training with all the other dog trainers,
and I rang Michelle and said, help, help! What do
I need to remember? I've got to rush up to
Melbourne in the morning. And so she was telling me
the best spots to toilet them. When you get to
(10:52):
Southern Cross and useful things like that. But he was
really good. No issues. Yeah, he's brilliant on trains, trams,
wherever you want to go. He doesn't mind. He's very
chilled out.
S1 (11:02):
So how long does that train take?
S2 (11:05):
It's about an hour and ten minutes from Geelong to Melbourne.
And then we have to change at Southern Cross and
Flinders Street, I think, to get another train out to Hawthorn.
And then I took him into the city, and then
I had to remember to use the lifts everywhere. So
you kind of think I reminded me of having a
pram and having to get lifts with prams, because you
can't go on escalators. It's just you just have to
(11:26):
allow a lot of extra time. I think that's the key. Yeah.
You can't just rush around and there's more stuff to
pack for a dog for him. I'm lucky. He's such
a good dog. I think if he wasn't, it would
be a lot more, a lot harder.
S1 (11:38):
So what are your favourite things about caring?
S2 (11:40):
Well, obviously I love looking after him. I've loved. I've
really enjoyed learning how to train them. I think that's
been really, you know, it's like learning new skills, isn't it?
It's always really fun. I've loved meeting the puppy caring community.
I find everyone's really friendly and I suppose like minded.
And then the other thing is that you kind of
know what you're doing, hopefully, is going to change someone's life.
(12:01):
That's why we do it essentially, isn't it? Because that's
what we really want to do. I want to give
back to the community because someone people have been kind
to me in the past, and I wanted to do
my little bit as well. So that's kind of one
of the reasons. What else? What else do I love?
I don't know, it's just lovely to have a dog
in the house, really, but also know that if I
have to go away, there are people who can have him.
So that takes away some of the pressure of having
(12:22):
a dog around. And it's just been a joy to have.
He's brought our household a lot of joy and happiness
and he's just been great, so we will miss him. Yeah.
S1 (12:33):
So what is it like puppeteering in Geelong? You've kind
of mentioned a little bit about about this, but you know,
how have you found the carer community.
S2 (12:40):
So the carer community is just brilliant, really supportive. We
have a carer support group that we can, if you
need them looked after for a weekend or something, you
can put it on the puppy carer support. Someone always
comes back straight away and says yes, I'll have him
and obviously we checked with Paige first. Make sure it's
the right kind of place. But you know the great
(13:00):
thing about Geelong is all the open footpaths, all the
spaces you can take them for lovely walks and catching
up with other people. It's lovely walking along the river
with the other, with the other seeing-eye dog carers and
puppies and taking them for coffee, uh, or along the waterfront.
It's just a great space to be able to even
(13:21):
down to the ocean. You know, there's so many places
you can take the dog. That's really lovely.
S1 (13:26):
Oh, I mean, if you live in somewhere. I mean, honestly,
I think Australia is quite lucky that wherever you go, there's,
you know, it's very hot. You know, you're hard pressed
to not find somewhere really lovely to walk. You know,
most suburbs have some sort of, you know, I guess
river trail or nice outdoor spaces. But, um, I think
some probably especially as you maybe get further out, you
get a little bit more of that.
S2 (13:46):
Yeah. I mean, where we used to live in Hawthorn East,
that would have been a lot trickier. There was not
that so many places to walk, but, uh, we were
spoilt in England. We had beautiful National Trust woodland walking
distance from the house where you can just let the
dogs off the leads lead and they just run off. Um,
and that was really beautiful. So we were a bit
spoilt where we lived. But here. Yeah, we we love
(14:06):
the we live walking distance from the river and also
walking distance from shops. So we, I can just walk
him everywhere.
S4 (14:12):
Do you have any.
S1 (14:13):
Particular stories you'd like to share about your, you know,
time as a puppy carer so far?
S2 (14:17):
Gosh, so many little, little things. I think I think
the best one was I think last Thursday I took
him up to the International Flower Show, and it was
like having a celebrity on a lead, walking him around.
I can't believe how many people wanted to talk to
me about puppy caring and what it's like, and how
can I give him up. And my answer is, well,
(14:37):
if nobody gave up their seeing eye dogs, there'd be
no guide dogs, would there? So you have to. That's
what you're doing it for. You're doing it to, you know,
it's hard for us, you know, to say goodbye to them,
but you know that you're doing it to help someone else.
You know, ultimately, that's why we do it. But but yes,
I can't believe how many people, even one lady, even
came up and said, oh, you know, I had to
(14:58):
get my dog put down last week. Should I give
him a cuddle? So many people wanted to pet him
and cuddle him and I thought, oh well, you know.
And even on the tram it was jam packed going
back to Southern Cross. Absolutely packed. I had to kind
of sneak his legs back in and his tail. So,
you know, I didn't want anyone to tread on him.
Oh my gosh, even people talking to me on the
tram about puppy caring all the way down to Southern Cross. Yeah,
(15:20):
he's a little celebrity, so it's going to be strange
everywhere I go if I don't have him. Where's Farrow today?
Everybody wants to see Farrow. They don't care about me.
Even the lollipop ladies. Both of the primary schools near
where we live. They all know Farrow. So they all
ask after him and the cafes all ask after him.
If I haven't got him with me. Where is he?
He's like my little appendage. He comes everywhere. Yeah. It's
(15:42):
going to be strange going to all these places without him,
but won't be for long.
S4 (15:46):
And just to finish.
S1 (15:47):
Off, do you have any other messages for the general
public or anyone considering caring?
S2 (15:52):
Um, I'd say if you're thinking about it, just talk
to a puppy carer. They can answer any queries you
might have, and you might be surprised at how many
places you can take the puppy. I mean, I've literally
taken him everywhere. I think the hardest thing probably is
in a workplace. You'd have to check that you can
take them to work with you and would it be appropriate?
(16:13):
But quite a lot of people here do. That's the
only thing, I guess. But in terms of you wouldn't
regret it, I think everyone always says, oh, I couldn't
do it because I can't possibly give it up. But
of course you can if it's part of the whole thing.
You're not doing it just to to have a pet
for yourself. You're doing it to change someone's life. And
(16:33):
that is is worth everything, I think.
S4 (16:37):
Well, thank.
S1 (16:37):
You so much for coming on the show, sharing your story,
and also for all of the love and care that
you've given to Pharaoh.
S2 (16:43):
Well, my pleasure, Harriet, thank you so much for having
me on the show.
S1 (16:51):
You've been listening to the Seeing Eye dog show on
Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interview with Maria,
a puppy carer from Geelong. If you'd like to find
out more about puppy caring, you can head to our
website at australia.com. And then you can head to our
Information Sessions page to find out some of the amazing
upcoming events where you can chat to our lovely team,
(17:14):
or just head to that website and read up more
about volunteering and if it might be right for you.
Now I've got an interview with Phoebe. This is a
abridged repeat of an interview that we did together about
the youth program, about her experiences as a handler. So
I hope you enjoy. Thank you for listening. Hi, Phoebe,
(17:39):
thank you for joining me on the show today.
S5 (17:41):
Thanks for having me. Could you please start off by
introducing yourself? Yes, I can most definitely do that. Hi,
my name is Phoebe. I'm 17 years old. I go
to high school and I'm currently in year 11.
S1 (17:57):
Could you please introduce your Seeing Eye dog?
S5 (17:59):
Yes. I have a beautiful female golden Labrador named Angie.
She's three years old. We've been working together for 17
months now, but her full name is Angela. But she
gets called Angie more than Angela.
S1 (18:20):
So what types of outings have you done together?
S5 (18:23):
The types of outings Angie and I have done together. Well,
I go to the gym after school at least three
times a week. I used to not be able to
do that without having her, so she definitely brought more
independence in that circumstance. I go to Melbourne for shopping
(18:46):
quite a few times with my older siblings. I've flown
on planes a few times for various different camps in Australia.
Leah Brown music camp. Blind cricket camp. And she also
comes with me when I volunteer at Vision Australia. Seeing
eye dogs down in Melbourne.
S1 (19:08):
It sounds like a very, very busy life that you've
got there going on.
S5 (19:11):
Do you?
S1 (19:12):
Do you sleep or is that not important?
S5 (19:15):
Well, I try my best to. She sleeps more than
I do. Sometimes I'm like, can we switch places today?
I really can't be bothered to be the human. I'd
like to sleep on a bed underneath the desk today.
S6 (19:28):
Hey, Angie, would you mind doing this test for me, please? Get.
Please get an A+ and I will sleep.
S5 (19:35):
Yeah, literally. And she's like, hmm. Let me think about that. No,
that's the same at the gym. I'm working, and she's
just taking a good old nap next to me. And
I'm like, oh, come on, pull your weight.
S6 (19:48):
Come on, man, do something. Take turns thinking.
S1 (19:52):
Back to it. What made you decide to start thinking
about getting a seeing eye dog?
S5 (19:56):
Well, what started me thinking about getting a seeing eye
dog would probably be. Well, dogs are my favorite animal.
I love them, I say that they're my spirit animal.
Having my vision impairment since I was four and a
half and then hearing about. Guide dogs and what they
(20:17):
do for people, and then talking to my owner who
had experience with training guide dogs. I was like, oh,
it'd be such a great experience to be able to like,
walk with one. So one day I ended up being
in Melbourne with my family and Brooke Anderson emailed my
(20:40):
mum because her and my mum were chatting. Don't know
about what, but it was a while ago and she
was like, oh, I heard that Phoebe was interested in
having a seeing eye dog or at least trying one.
Would you like to come to the Kensington site and
I can find one, and we can do a little,
(21:01):
a little walk with one. And then I did a
little walk with one around seeing eye dogs kennels site
and then in the taxi I've like, I have a
whole note in my phone of like how one would
be able to change my life and how much freedom
I felt like I had with 15 minute walk with one,
(21:23):
and like I trusted my whole life with them like
you do, even when you're fully matched. And then my
O&M knew Darren, who was a part of the program
in 2022. So he let my O&M, Paula, know about
the program. They were thinking about setting up, and she
(21:46):
was like, Phoebe would love to be a part of
the program. That's when the Seeing Eye Dog Youth program
started in 2022. I always knew I wanted one, but
like it. Sort of. Yeah. Fell in a line of
different things that happened to. Become a thing I dog handler.
S7 (22:09):
So what was the youth.
S1 (22:10):
Program actually like and how did you find that it
prepared you for having Angie?
S5 (22:15):
The Seeing Eye Dog program was really a great experience
for me personally. So once a month we would meet
on a zoom since there was people from Victoria and
Brisbane in my group. So it doesn't matter what state
you're in, they like make it able for you to
do it wherever you are if you're interested in it.
(22:36):
So yeah, we would meet monthly. We'd have different topics
and then each month there would be a target. You
would have to meet with your own name for whatever
we had discussed that month, like whatever topic we discussed
of that month, and then we would have two camps
(22:58):
in the year that we would be down at Kensington
in the houses Vision Australia have we would be matched
with a dog, so we would have to take care
of the dog, feed the dog, toilet, the dog. We
did a bit of grooming of the dog. So it
gave you first hand experience of what an actual day
(23:20):
would be if you did have a seeing eye dog,
which I found really handy. But yes, I know every
dog's different. Just because you have 1 or 2 dogs
on two different camps won't mean you'll get that same dog.
Because I had two male black labs on the two
camps I had, and I have a female yellow lab.
(23:41):
So like, dogs are different. They're all trained the same.
Doesn't mean they'll act the same. So yeah, it gave
good first hand experience. And like, yes, you're in charge
of the dog, but you also have to take care
of the dog like it's not going to feed itself
and toilet itself, because if it fed itself, I don't
(24:02):
think it would stop eating since it's a Labrador. They
might eat the whole 20 kilo bag of food, and
that would not turn out well.
S1 (24:11):
Because it's not just quite as simple as waking up.
And then out you go. There's other dog responsibilities that
you have to do. Crazy.
S5 (24:16):
Very much so, because you have to look at the
weather and see what you need to wear, and then
also what your dog will need to wear like a raincoat,
because my dog does not like getting rained on, but
she likes swimming. So then whenever it's raining, she has
a raincoat on because yes, we don't like getting rained on,
but we'll swim.
S1 (24:37):
It's the wrong kind of wet. Didn't you know?
S5 (24:38):
Yeah, literally. So yeah, you have to look at the
weather for yourself, and then you have to look at
the weather for your dog. And then if it's going
to be hot, how hot is it going to be?
Because you'll need water for your dog. Well, you always
need water for your dog, but if it's hot, you
might need more water than you would in winter. And
(24:59):
then if it's going to be really hot, you might
need the shoes to protect their little feet from the pavement.
S1 (25:07):
So would you recommend taking part in the youth program?
S5 (25:10):
I would most definitely recommend to those that are arming
and arring about getting a seeing eye dog. Just because
you do the program and you get that experience, you
might actually realize that you're not quite ready for one,
which is also okay. So then you can do what
you need to do, maybe like upskill your own sort
(25:33):
of a difficult spot to be in if you have one,
but you're not quite ready because yes, they are a
lot of responsibility. And so yeah, I think it's a
great experience for everyone that's a young adult in high
school that are thinking about it. Not quite sure have
(25:54):
thought about it and I knew I wanted one. But
for those that did my program, then they realized, yes,
I find that one will be handy, but not quite
yet because maybe it's just not the right time. So
then at least you know, and then you can come back.
And then when you know that you're ready, that there's
(26:15):
going to be a dog somewhere for you in the future.
S1 (26:23):
You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dog show on
Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interviews with
Maria and Phoebe. We've had a puppy caring story and
a story about our youth program and the life of
a handler. If you'd like to find out more about
seeing eye dogs, the work we do, getting involved, or
even becoming a handler, head to our website at australia.com.
(26:43):
Don't forget to tune in! Same time next week for
another episode of The Seeing Eye Dog Show. Thank you
and have a lovely week.
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