00:00Our volunteering role involves working with Guide Dogs SA and helping them with their fundraising.
00:07So we don't directly go and solicit funds, but we go and pick up the collection dogs that are in
00:15the various businesses around the state
00:18and empty the money out and take it back to Guide Dogs or swap over the small dogs that are
00:24in the businesses.
00:24I'd retired about 18 months ago and had a little break and then I was just thinking I wanted to
00:30take up a volunteering option
00:32that still involved connecting with the community, but not too close to my previous speech pathology work.
00:39And I was looking through a volunteering SA website and just came across this opportunity
00:46and it said they were looking for couples in particular.
00:49So I got roped in.
00:52To travel around different areas of the state and that was particularly appealing to us
00:56as well as involving, I guess, you know, a great organisation
01:01and I've always had a soft spot for the role of animals in therapy
01:06and in helping people in their daily lives.
01:09So, yeah, we've been to the Flinders Ranges.
01:11Where else have we been?
01:13Riverland, York Peninsula.
01:15Yeah, up through the Adelaide Hills and then sometimes it's just a metro run,
01:19so a particular, you know, down in the south part of Adelaide or something like that.
01:24When we're away, our dog has to get, you know, a pet that's, you know, looked after by somebody,
01:28but he's going to also be a volunteer with guide dogs.
01:32So he's going to be...
01:34Oh, right.
01:34Yeah, what they call a distraction dog.
01:36So he will assist when one of the guide dogs is going through their assessments.
01:41They have to learn to ignore everything else around them, people and other animals and so on.
01:46So our Labradoodle, Louie, will have a role in trying to distract the dog while it's going through the route
01:53in Adelaide.
01:53And, yeah, there's various distracting dogs and people along the route that this assessment dog will walk.
01:59And so you've got a set thing that you have to do, come out in front of the dog, follow
02:03along behind them and so on.
02:05So Louie's 10 years old, so he's quite placid.
02:08And, yeah, I think he'll fulfill that role quite easily.
02:12Yeah, yeah.
02:13And I really wasn't aware so much about the other roles of the dogs until we started in this,
02:18but they've got other therapy dogs that are more like emotional support.
02:23So, you know, Elmo, who works at the airport and families can book some time with him before their, you
02:31know,
02:31anxious child with autism needs to get on a flight or something.
02:34You know, he's there as a stabilising influence while they're waiting.
02:38So, yeah, all those other roles too.
02:41I think it's great.
02:41We really do enjoy the aspect of getting out and about.
02:45Yeah, it's completely different from other things that we do.
02:48So, you know, that makes it more enjoyable, I think, too.
02:52Yeah, I mean, things do go wrong.
02:54Last month when we went to go and pick up the car, it turned out that the access lane behind
03:00the Guide Dogs building
03:01where the garage is accessed was under roadworks.
03:06And the whole lane had been dug out and there was no bitumen.
03:09And it was about a two-hour negotiating process before we set off.
03:13The maintenance man from Guide Dogs was trying to negotiate with the road workers that we could get a car
03:17out.
03:17And we couldn't.
03:20So, we had to use our own car and sort of reload everything into our own car.
03:24But, you know, these are the little challenges that come up.
03:27And they're not insurmountable.
03:30So, get back to the hill, everyone.
03:31So...
03:32And we're going to spend isso aqui.
03:33And now we're going to make stronger.
03:33And we've got a really good base.
03:33I think it'll do a little bitxy.
03:34And we're going to wake it up.
03:34And we've got a really good abusive life.
03:35So, if we were going to make it business, it goes.
03:35And then we're going to put the wheel on thecoal mood.
03:35So, hopefully the light bulb in trust means we're going to activate them.
03:35And you've got more forward to something.
03:36It's gonna be good job for this situation.
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