Wagging tails and happy faces filled the room as the latest class of graduating guide dogs made the jump from trainees to fully-fledged eyes for the blind.
April 9 saw the graduation ceremony where puppy raisers and trainers were able to see their, and their puppies’ hard work pay off, as the dogs were handed over to their new visually impaired owners.
The South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind had a class of eight new guide dogs acknowledged for their efforts in training by the association and by puppy raisers. The volunteers who raised the puppies for the association did a presentation at the ceremony in which they spoke about their experiences as puppy raisers.
Executive director at the association Vernon Tutton said he had watched the graduation class since they first started their training as small pups, and they showed confidence throughout their time training at the association and out in the public.
“Of the eight recipients we’ve had in the last three weeks, seven of them are going onto their second, third or fourth dog. One is getting a dog for the first time. It is so nice that clients see the value in what we do that they continue to come back.
“It has been a fantastic class. The puppy raisers are also very much part of our team, and we would not be here if it wasn’t for them. We had some difficult times as well, especially with Covid. We did things differently during that time, but all the effort put in paid off,” he said.
He thanked the community, the trainers and various sponsors in Suzuki, MSD Animal Health and Boehringer Ingelheim for all their assistance throughout the years.
Jaco Engelbrecht who was a recipient of a dog gave a speech on behalf of the recipients of the guide dogs at the ceremony where he thanked all those involved in raising the puppies.
“These dogs make a huge difference in our lives. Not just with independence but with confidence as well. I want to thank the puppy raisers. We thought three weeks of training was hard but you saying goodbye to the dogs and training them must have been difficult. We cannot imagine what you guys go through.
“Thanks so much to everyone who assisted us with the training and to all in front and behind the scenes at the association for all the work you do. We appreciate everything,” he said.
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