Almost everybody at Saturday鈥檚 Dash for Dogs run at Stanley Park knew the story of Dynasty, a beautiful yellow Labrador retriever owned by a fellow by the name of Craig Slagel who started the fundraiser inspired by his dog, two years ago.
鈥淐raig ended up with a guide dog that failed guide dog school, basically,鈥� said race director Solana Klassen while organizing runners and sponsors prior to the run鈥檚 start.
Anita Cymet, manager of development and communications for BC & Alberta Guide Dogs, doesn鈥檛 use the word 鈥渇ailed.鈥� 聽
鈥淲e call that a 鈥榥on-qualifier鈥� dog,鈥� she said.
Dynasty鈥檚 owner uses a completely different term: 鈥淪he鈥檚 a career-changed dog,鈥� said Slagel.
The press release for the fundraising run used the word 鈥渞etired,鈥� which might be a bit generous considering Dynasty didn鈥檛 graduate from guide dog school, an intensive two-year-long training process that starts at puppy age. There are 114 dogs teamed with those blind or visually impaired in B.C. and Alberta, and there are 70 dogs in training. All are bred and raised by the charity, and about 50 per cent of the dogs graduate as guide dogs. The majority of the others are placed with other programs, such as the 麻豆传媒映画Island Compassion Dogs Society, which matches dogs with veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or with families who have children with disabilities.
鈥淲e have jobs for many of our dogs,鈥� said William Thornton, who started B.C. and Alberta Guide Dogs with his wife Linda 20 years ago. 鈥淲e call them VSPs 鈥� Very Special Placements.鈥�
There are also 34 dogs teamed up with moderate to profound autistic children between the ages of four to 10. The organization found these children bond to animals that provide calmness, stability and security.
鈥淚t opens up a whole different world to a child with autism,鈥� said Cymet. 鈥淭he dog anticipates the child鈥檚 insecurity and keeps them calm, keeps them relaxed. You know there are a lot of children who have autism in the public school system who don鈥檛 have too many friends so it opens up a world of companionship.鈥�
It costs the charity $35,000 for each dog to go through training, and dogs are provided to blind and visually impaired people at no cost. When Slagel had the rare opportunity to adopt a failed/non-qualified/career-changed/retired guide dog, he had the idea to create a phone app to assist runners and walkers with navigating routes 鈥� an electronic guide dog of sorts. Slagel鈥檚 friends, aware of his tendency to get lost when exploring new cities, jokingly wondered if Dynasty would help prevent that.
Slagel, a marathon runner, launched the turn-by-turn voice navigation called RunGo that was used for routing Dash for Dogs instead of race markers. The fun run is proving to be popular, judging by the increase in runners and donations. Last year, it raised $2,866 with 80 people participating in the 2km, 5km, or 10km walk or run. This year, $6,700 was raised with 200 participants, some who brought their dogs for the first time thanks to permission from the 麻豆传媒映画Park Board (dogs weren鈥檛 allowed in the first year).
Amongst the pugs, shepherds, greyhounds and crosses of this and that, the quintessential guide dog 鈥� the yellow lab 鈥� was also part of the run and received lots of attention from those who can鈥檛 resist the opportunity for a good pat and dog kiss. However, anywhere else, it is generally considered to be bad form to approach somebody鈥檚 guide dog.
鈥淭he idea is that when they鈥檙e working, we don鈥檛 want them to be looking constantly for affection from third party unknown people. That鈥檚 the goal,鈥� Thornton explained.
鈥淲hen it鈥檚 in its harness, it鈥檚 sitting at its desk, working 鈥� that鈥檚 the best analogy鈥� They do have a lot of play time when they鈥檙e not at work. Today, we let people touch the dogs, kiss and cuddle, show and tell. It鈥檚 important dogs have physical interaction with people, it鈥檚 part of their psyche.鈥�
Dynasty, the guide dog that wasn鈥檛 meant to be, also received much of this attention. On a side note: There鈥檚 also another, very natural, reason that Dynasty failed her guide dog training, according to race director Klassen. 鈥淪he took a poop in the middle of a crosswalk!鈥�
@rebeccablissett
