http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/guide-dogs-bring-light-into-the-lives-of-not-just-those-who-cannot-see-20160823-gqz8ar.html Lima, a gorgeous golden retriever, entered our lives when she came to live with my sister-in-law Jeannette; and as anyone who has ever cared for a canine can tell you, she quickly became a member of the family.
The story of Belo and Oslo Meet Belo, a blind man whose life was changed through a partnership with his guide dog Oslo. Vision: Guide Dogs for the Blind US Liam was just 10-months-old and Lima was two. They had a special instant bond, even before he came to understand they had the same letters in their names just in a different order. Liam's first word was "Diggle", which we came to interpret as an amalgam of his two favourite things in the world at the time – dogs and The Wiggles. Before he was old enough to pronounce his aunt Jeannette's name, he called Lima "Net dog" and would squeal with delight every time Jeannette pulled up in our driveway with the dog in the back seat. Liam came to trust dogs instinctively, because Lima licked him so much with love like he were one of her own pups, his cheeks were often almost red raw. I can still hear his dog-induced giggles. Lima (on right) and three of her offspring. Lima (on right) and three of her offspring. Photo: supplied Lima was born in May 2001 in Oregon, US. Thanks to her gentle calm nature, she was earmarked early on to join the breeder program at the Guide Dogs for the Blind training campus in San Rafael, California. Jeannette's home was just down the road from the centre which is the training ground for dogs for all vision-impaired people across the US and Canada. Pretty much any time of day on the streets of this city in the San Francisco Bay Area, you will see guide dogs in training, being led by puppy raisers down streets and crossing at traffic lights, learning the skills it takes to be a guide dog. San Rafael, which we dubbed the kindest canine capital in California, was my husband William's childhood home. While my family's dogs of choice were always kelpies, I married into one that took guide dog rejects as pets (they are now euphemistically called "career-changers".) For Jeannette there was added significance to sharing her home with a guide dog; she'd inherited an eye condition called keratoconus, which meant even after a cornea transplant, without her contact lenses she was legall s-breeds tend to have better temperaments to guide sight-impaired people. So Lima's first litter of pups was sired by a black labrador. For the birth she went back to the guide dog campus, and we were given a letter – A – and naming rights for the puppies. Each litter of guide dog puppies is given the same first letter to help determine who belongs to which litter of breeder dog. In that first litter, two of our suggested names – Ariana and Abba – were chosen by the breeding team to give to the (then) little balls of fluff. When the puppies from that first litter were weaned, Lima returned home to Jeannette with young pup Ariana, a lively smart white lab. As a guide dog puppy in training, Ariana went everywhere with Jeannette. On the ferry across the San Francisco Bay to her corporate job in a big brokerage office and back home on the bus. Ariana's green training jacket and leash were well known among her fellow travellers. She had extraordinary energy and sheepdog-like smarts. She was fearless (a good quality for a guide dog) if maybe a little too rambunctious. Liam with Lima the dog. Liam with Lima the dog. Photo: Supplied When my husband William died too young of a brain tumour in 2005, both Lima and Ariana came to his funeral. All I remember of giving the eulogy is looking down at my still-in-nappies son sitting on his aunt's lap, while she swayed to the music, and the dogs seated obediently at her feet. In the aftermath of his death, the three of us would have been lost without those dogs; we walked them, hugged them, threw endless tennis balls to them. They brought light into a dark period of our lives. So when it came time for Ariana to go back to the guide dog campus aged 18 months for assessment, the three of us fretted. Sure enough, Ariana made it through the rigorous tests to become a guide dog, and in 2006, was teamed with a vision-impaired 53-year-old man called Zeke. At the guide dog "graduation ceremony" at the beautiful San Rafael campus, when Jeannette as a guide dog raiser got to give a speech, she told the crowd how much Ariana had meant to our family after her brother died. Liam was still three when he got to hand Ariana's leash over to Zeke at the ceremony. Lima looked on proudly wearing her blue guide dog kerchief. There was not a dry eye in sight. Jeannette Oliver, Liam Oliver and Lima present guide dog Ariana to Zeke, the blind man. Jeannette Oliver, Liam Oliver and Lima present guide dog Ariana to Zeke, the blind man. Photo: Supplied Lima's next breed of pups were given names beginning with the letter B. We suggested the name Brisbane. Soon Brisbane came home with Lima to be trained as a potential guide dog. The spitting image of her mother in looks and temperament, Brissie was also selected as a guide dog breeder, and went to live with Jeannette's friend Kath to take part in the breeder program. Next came the litter beginning with the letter O. Ojai, who grew to be my son's favourite of Lima's offspring, also came to Jeannette for puppy raising. Ojai had some fear issues. She was spooked by traffic, and had tricky elbows which required surgery. She became a "career changer" and was earmarked to join the canine companion program. Instead she came home again to live with Jeannette because Liam loved her so much. Up until we moved to Australia when he was seven, Liam spent nearly every weekend taking one of Lima's offspring to guide dog puppy meetings. He loved his aunt as much as Lima and all her dogs, who he called his cousins. Jeannette Oliver with Lima's first litter of puppies Jeannette Oliver with Lima's first litter of puppies Photo: supplied For her final litter, the letter K was chosen for Lima's offspring, and Kingston soon was the first "boy" dog in the house. By this stage, Jeannette, too, had been diagnosed with cancer, like her brother. She asked a friend to share puppy raising duties, when the ovarian cancer returned to plague her lungs in 2013. When in 2014, the cancer continued to rage throughout her body, Liam and I came to California from Australia to care for Jeannette. We were both devastated by this distressing replay of tragedy in our lives, but again the dogs gave us solace. By this stage there was Lima, Ojai, Kingston, and Jeannette's friend Kath's two dogs Brisbane and Molly in the home. The dogs, but especially Lima, never left Jeannette's side. Lima was Jeannette's constant companion. She just sat downcast at the foot of her guardian's bed; I've never understood the expression hangdog until I saw her sad pooch face. Just before Jeannette took her final breath at the age of 53, I held her in my arms and Lima licked her hand. It wasn't until the undertakers came to take away her body at four in the morning, and I saw all the dogs lined up forlornly as the van drove off, that I cried. Liam meets Lima the dog for the first time with his aunt, Jeannette. Liam meets Lima the dog for the first time with his aunt, Jeannette. Photo: Supplied When I woke my son later that morning to tell him his beloved aunt had died, he sobbed. He was too distressed to hug me. But Ojai and Lima jumped up on the bed to console him and he hugged them. Lima licked away his tears, and in that moment I learnt more about what makes a good mother than any parenting book could ever teach me. After that Jeannette's dogs went to live with her friend Kath, in the beautiful Californian town of Sonoma, living in what we called doggy Heaven. Endless tennis ball throwing, room to run, and the constant line of admirers commenting as the dog-pack made their way around the town square on their daily walks. There's a lovely saying that Heaven is the place where all the dogs you've ever loved come running to greet you. I'm not sure I believe in Heaven, but the time we visited Kath in Sonoma a year after Jeannette's death, I know the sheer joy of all those dogs running to greet us, with Lima leading the pack. Bedtime with Ojai, Lima and Liam Oliver. Bedtime with Ojai, Lima and Liam Oliver. Photo: Supplied In total, before she was retired from the breeder program, Lima had four litters: 37 pups, and 18 made it to be guide dogs or breeders. Quite an accomplishment. Just last month Lima died. When we heard the news, Liam and I hugged each other and cried. It felt like I'd lost a niece, Liam felt like he had lost his first cousin. All I could do was wipe away my son's tears like Lima would have done. Ojai and Liam. Ojai and Liam. Photo: Supplied Jeannette would be heartbroken to hear her nephew, too, has inherited the eye condition keratoconus, which has impacted his eyesight as much as hers. But she'd be heartened, too, to know that Lima and her offspring have guided not just those of us who cannot see, but also those of us blindsided by loss. Helen Pitt is a Fairfax journalist null null null null null null null null The story of Belo and Oslo Meet Belo, a blind man whose life was changed through a partnership with his guide dog Oslo. Vision: Guide Dogs for the Blind US Liam was just 10-months-old and Lima was two. They had a special instant bond, even before he came to understand they had the same letters in their names just in a different order. Liam's first word was "Diggle", which we came to interpret as an amalgam of his two favourite things in the world at the time – dogs and The Wiggles. Before he was old enough to pronounce his aunt Jeannette's name, he called Lima "Net dog" and would squeal with delight every time Jeannette pulled up in our driveway with the dog in the back seat. Liam came to trust dogs instinctively, because Lima licked him so much with love like he were one of her own pups, his cheeks were often almost red raw. I can still hear his dog-induced giggles. Lima (on right) and three of her offspring. Lima (on right) and three of her offspring. Photo: supplied Lima was born in May 2001 in Oregon, US. Thanks to her gentle calm nature, she was earmarked early on to join the breeder program at the Guide Dogs for the Blind training campus in San Rafael, California. Jeannette's home was just down the road from the centre which is the training ground for dogs for all vision-impaired people across the US and Canada. Pretty much any time of day on the streets of this city in the San Francisco Bay Area, you will see guide dogs in training, being led by puppy raisers down streets and crossing at traffic lights, learning the skills it takes to be a guide dog. San Rafael, which we dubbed the kindest canine capital in California, was my husband William's childhood home. While my family's dogs of choice were always kelpies, I married into one that took guide dog rejects as pets (they are now euphemistically called "career-changers".) For Jeannette there was added significance to sharing her home with a guide dog; she'd inherited an eye condition called keratoconus, which meant even after a cornea transplant, without her contact lenses she was legall -- Avinash Shahi Doctoral student at Centre for Law and Governance JNU Register at the dedicated AccessIndia list for discussing accessibility of mobile phones / Tabs on: http://mail.accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/mobile.accessindia_accessindia.org.in Search for old postings at: http://www.mail-archive.com/accessindia@accessindia.org.in/ To unsubscribe send a message to accessindia-requ...@accessindia.org.in with the subject unsubscribe. To change your subscription to digest mode or make any other changes, please visit the list home page at http://accessindia.org.in/mailman/listinfo/accessindia_accessindia.org.in Disclaimer: 1. 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