MEET OUR NEWEST GUIDE DOGS

THEY’VE only been together a matter of months but already trusty guide dog Todd knows 18 places his handler Joyce Jones likes to go.

Ms Jones, 69, was one of four people to graduate with a newly trained dog at a ceremony in Toowoomba yesterday. She said she had been using guide dogs since the 1970s, and Todd was her ninth dog.

“The best thing is that we can be independent,” Ms Jones said.

“If we have a guide dog our life becomes the dog’s life and we can just put the harness on the dog and go out whenever we like.

“Whereas if we are dependent on another human-being, we have to fit in with their plans and this can often lead to a very restricted life.”

Ms Jones said Todd was, from a technical point-of-view, the best guide dog she had had.

“The two of us have to work together and form that bond together,” she said.

Guide Dogs Queensland general manager community engagement Jock Beveridge said the graduation ceremony was a combination of many years of training and development and work for both the clients and dogs who had been matched together in the past 12 months.

“The biggest thing is the extra independence, mobility and freedom that a guide dog provides,” Mr Beveridge said.

He acknowledged the Toowoomba community for its support in both donations and volunteers.

Photo: Bev Lacey GRADUATING CLASS: Graduating with their guide dogs yesterday are (from left) Grazie Zaninello with Sage, Joyce Jones with Todd, Kimberley Duffn with May, Guide Dogs Qld services team leader Jason Stankoski and graduate John Gamble with Heidi. INSET: Mr Gamble and Heidi.