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Jewel started this
section with her mention of some of the past exploits with her
guide dogs. Jewel is totally blind and has been since the age
of seven. She lives in New Zealand and raises dairy goats. We
met on one of the newsgroups, and have been fast friends ever
since. Jewel has a unique sense of humor and a quick wit that
some people miss in her posts. She relies on a voice transmitted
program and some of the translations have us howling with laughter.
I find her independent spirit delightful, and I think you will,
too.
If you have any information
about these wonderful dogs, either in their training, or in your
acquaintance with them, I'd be delighted to add your comments,
stories, or links to your site to this section.
Martha
Wells, Flylo Farms
Excerpts
from "My Life With Guide Dogs" by Jewel
Blanch
Emma
Reasons
Emma,
my second guide dog, and I had quite a number of small adventures
during the 8 years that we worked together, and here are two of
them. At the time that these incidents took place, I was living
in Belfast, a semi-rural suburb of Christchurch New Zealand.
When I
moved to Johns Road, parts of Belfast were still quite rural,
and at my end, we did not have urban refinements, such as community
sewerage. It was still septic tanks, but further up the road,
sewerage pipes were being laid. As there were no footpaths, for
several weeks, while the road was dug up, Emma and I had been
kept well out by a barricade of oil drums.
Eventually,
someone told me that the road works had been completed and the
trench had been filled in. However, Emma continued to walk on
the outside of the oil drums, which were still on the edge of
the road.
After
several days, I decided that it must be habit for her to continue
walking there, so one day, I dropped the handle and, holding her
by her lead, I walked over to the inside of the drums and immediately
fell into a large hole. [The very end of the trench].
I was
left standing in the hole with one foot still up on the road.
I managed to get my foot down, but I was not agile enough to climb
out. Traffic kept rolling by me, but after a while, a motorist
did stop and assisted me to climb back to the road surface. He
then informed me, to my great surprise, that there was a deep
hole there. [I wonder what he thought I thought I had been standing
in?]
When
I was telling the girls at work the following day of this adventure,
I said that I had said to Emma "If you were a really good guide
dog, you would have thrown yourself across my legs to stop me
falling in the hole." The girls said that Emma would have replied
"I was very carefully keeping you away from it, and if you wish
to ignore my warnings, let the results be on your own head!".
It is
not at all uncommon for guide dog handlers, even those of many
years experience, to have to apologize humbly to their dogs for
thinking that they, the dogs, were wrong, because events had proved
that they were right all the time, and we, the all-powerful, all-knowing
humans were wrong.]
Emma
Rides The Rails
Another
incident occurred when I was going down to Balclutha after my
father died. Before guide dogs were allowed to travel with their
handlers in the passenger accommodation in the train, NZ Rail
had built very comfortable boxes for them to go in which were
put in the guard's van.
Even
after the access laws were amended, I still used the portable
kennel, as the dog was very comfortable in there, not being asked
to stay all day in a stuffy and cramped carriage.
It was
no inconvenience to me, as once I was aboard, Ihad no need for
the dog. I had not travelled on the train for some years, so when
I went south for my father's funeral, I alerted NZ Rail to the
fact that I required the guide dog box.
When I
arrived at the station, the porter attempted to shove Emma into
one of the dog boxes under the baggage wagon. Of course, I would
not stand for that and insisted that the proper box was found.
It was eventually located at the back of one of the goods' sheds.
Emma's
bed was installed and she was placed in the box, which was clearly
labelled "GUIDE DOG: PASSENGER BALCLUTHA". We trundled south and
passed through Dunedin, and then the train made an unscheduled
stop at Mosgiel and then another very long stop at Milton.
We were
all rather baffled about all the delays, as the passengers were
told nothing. However, we arrived in Balclutha, and when I got
out, Emma was brought to me on the end of the porter's tie. The
tie manufacturers, I'm sure, would be quite astonished to know
how long their products could stretch without breaking.
When I
asked for her bed that was in the box, I was told that she had
not been in a box. I knew that she had been when we left Christchurch
so I wondered what had happened during the journey.
The station
master made enquiries and found that the platform staff at Dunedin
had been expecting a dog, and so Emma had been unloaded in spite
of the notice on the box.
The train
had left Dunedin before the guard realized that Emma was missing.
Hence, the stop at Mosgiel to make a phone call to ask where she
was.
Emma was
placed in a taxi and driven to Milton, where we were waiting for
her. This was a distance of about forty miles [ NZ Rail paid the
fare].
All of
this, I was blissfully unaware of. Her bed had been left in the
box back on the Dunedin platform, so NZ Rail replaced that as
well.
The company
probably did not make a profit that year. Needless to say, my
guide dogs have always accompanied me in the carriage since then.
If your
appetite has been whetted by these stories, they and others are
to be found in "My Life With Guide Dogs". The book is available
directly from the author, Jewel Blanch on 3.5 inch computer disk
at a cost of 10$US, p&h inclusive. Jewel
Blanch
Text
and images copyright 1998 Jewel
Blanch
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