Guide dogs congratulated by SA Guide-Dogs Association
Ten dogs were congratulated on graduating in becoming working dogs for visually impaired individuals in the community.
More of man’s best friends were celebrated for becoming full-time guide and service dogs on July 16 at the South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind in Paulshof.
Puppy raisers, guide-dog trainers and family members of the guide and service dog recipients gathered at the association for an emotional ceremony. Ten dogs in total graduated – seven being official guide dogs, two as service dogs and one as an autism support dog.
Executive director at the association Vernon Tutton said, “Congratulations to the dogs today for all the hard work, and thank you to all the trainers and puppy raisers for a job well done. We hope you [all the recipients of their dogs] will enjoy them, for they will help you through the rest of time.”
Brett Geldenhuis was a recipient of a guide dog at the graduation ceremony. On behalf of the class, he addressed the attendees, “I’d just like to express my gratitude to everyone who was involved in making this possible, from the sponsors to the raisers and trainers. We had a really fun class, there was a lot of laughter. It’s been a fantastic time.
“I’m a software developer and I travel a lot. So I use the Gautrain often, and we all know how difficult it can be to use it sometimes.
“I cannot imagine going there without a guide dog. A guide dog has been really helpful to me when using public transport. If it wasn’t for a guide dog, things would be much, much harder.”
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