Wheels & Paws

2008-11-15T16:47:00.005Z

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Assistance Dog or Service Dog?

2008-05-26T15:51:00.005+01:00

Following on from a comment by Kim in response to my Confused? entry, I thought I would try and explain the difference in terminology here.

One of the common differences between the UK and USA is the terminology used to describe the dogs that help humans with disabilities. In USA it is commonplace to call those that are not guide or hearing dogs, service dogs. Although in the UK we do have guide dogs, hearing dogs and dogs for those with other disabilities, the generic term here is "assistance dog". Some still persist with "guide and other assistance dogs" but the generic term "assistance dog" is becoming more commonplace.

Whilst I can see the merit in calling those dogs which are not guide and not hearing dogs, service dogs, it would never work here. Principly because here in the UK "the services" usually refers to the armed forces and a service dog is one who is connected with the armed forces. For example, in parts of London, these signs are quite common.

In the news!

2008-05-22T22:18:00.008+01:00

I got a call from a local journalist last week asking if I thought owning a dog or cat could be good for ones health! Here's the result.

Click on the picture for a fuller size to enable you to read the article.

I was telling a friend about this article, and the research that animals can be good for your health, and it reminded her of a recent article by Giles Coren in The Times recently, which is hilarious! Thanks Susan!

Confused?

2008-05-17T02:08:00.005+01:00

It seems clear to me that it is little wonder that the general public are confused about assistance dog access sometimes. We're a generation who have been brought up collecting bottle tops for Guide Dogs but things have moved on. The law now clearly states that any person with a disability accompanied by an assistance dog trained to mitigate their disability should be treated equally.

So, it goes without saying, that shops would want to welcome all assistance dog partnerships doesn't it? Yeh, right! Literally, within five minutes in a town centre (Windsor) recently, we saw four different "welcome" or "not welcome" signs.

Come on Waitrose, you can do better than that, surely?

Lots of information on show at Starbucks, but no generic sign for assistance dogs!

Brilliant! Well done The King & Castle!

... and well done to Boots too!

Probably bad luck but uncomfortable nonetheless

2008-05-17T01:32:00.007+01:00

We recently had occasion to take several journies using South West Trains,
and would you believe it, three out of the four trains we took, had the toilet closest to the wheelchair space out of order? Thumbs down!

For folks able to walk this isn't such a big issue as they can simply walk to the next carriage, but for wheelies it is a bigger issue. Thankfully, at the start of a three hour journey we noticed this and at the next stop the guard assisted us to move up the train to another area where the toilet was working. Phew! Thumbs up!

On the last leg of our return journey, the toilet was working, but alas it was one of the hottest days of the year and the airconditioning wasn't! Thumbs down! As soon as we boarded the train at the start of its journey we felt the difference in temperature, thumbs up to the guard who gave me his cup of cool water for Caesar, and then took his bowl and returned with a bowlful of icy cold water for him for the journey.

About three quarters of an hour into the journey, at the first stop, the train took on water for the human passengers too, trays of bottled water were made available in every carriage free of charge. Thumbs up! I've travelled on a few trains with broken airconditioning before now and only ever have I been offered water for Caesar and not myself ... well we are a nation of animal lovers after all!

Boy were we glad to receive this!

Thumbs Up! Thumbs Down!

2008-04-27T15:23:00.003+01:00

Well this week has been one of those up and down weeks, meetings in London meant that we needed to stay in another hotel and use the public transport in the city.

Firstly, a huge Thumbs Up to The City Inn, for not only having all their alarm cords easily accessible, not only for removing unecessary furniture from our room, but also for providing Caesar with a wonderfully comfortable bed to sleep in and nice big dog bowl. Great stuff!

Welcome to The City Inn!

Thumbs Down to the people on the Jubilee Line train who thoughtlessly stood in the doorway, acting like lemmings, preventing easy access to the doors at our stop, in spite of being asked politely to move and make a clear gangway, causing my wheelchair to become caught in the doors of the train and a few missed heartbeats!

Thumbs Down to the woman with a pushchair at London Bridge underground who tried to insist I remove my dog from the lift, and almost immediately rammed said pushchair into my knuckles ... great community spirit!

And finally, Thumbs Up to the staff at Westminster tube station, who in spite of a broken lift, ensured I caught my train and offered to phone ahead as well!

I guess you win a few and lose a few, but the bruised knuckles and stuck in a train door episode rather coloured the trip!

Snakeproof?!

2008-04-16T16:48:00.004+01:00

Imagine our surpirse as we turned into our driveway a couple of evenings ago and saw this!

It was originally basking in the centre of the driveway, but moved as we had clearly disturbed it. Thankfully, Caesar took two steps backwards and sat down behind me, looking at me as if to say, you deal with it! A very concrete resut of my attempting to proof him against snakes! Well done Caesar!

It was an adder, sometimes called a viper, the only UK venomous snake presumably from the nature reserve at the back of the house.

They are at their most venomous is March / April, so all dog walkers would be wise to keep their eyes open in heathland areas from now until they hibernate again in the autumn.

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words.

2008-04-16T16:24:00.007+01:00

Well, we have finally caught up with ourselves after all the excitement of Torch Relay weekend!

A couple of days ago I did another radio interview; but it was so early in the morning, Caesar slept though it all! Funnily enough, the interviewer asked if I would do it again, and although I don't think the opportunity is likely to come my way again, I had no hesitation in saying yes.

Ironically, because the relay was rerouted, and we ran a leg across London Bridge which had no demonstrators, the footage may have been seen in China. I have had a few emails from around the world from people who saw it. I hope that our participation has sent a message that not only are people with disabilities included in our society, so are their assistance dogs!

Here's some footage of our leg of the Olympic Torch Relay!

A couple more photos from Torch Relay weekend

2008-04-10T22:06:00.006+01:00

The day before the relay, getting a feel for the torch!

With Ed Coode, Olympic Rower, who handed the torch to me in the relay, at the Waldorf Hilton Hotel
With Matthew Pinsent, Olympic Rower at the finale event in Peninsula Square, Greenwich

Photo from London Bridge

2008-04-09T21:16:00.002+01:00

Here's one of the first photos through of us on London Bridge with the Olympic Torch.

Truly a day to remember!

2008-04-07T21:44:00.005+01:00

Well, after an absolutely exhausting and eventful weekend, we are safely home and relaxing.
In spite of all the protests, the torch relay was completed, we did run, not in the place we were planned to run, but in a much safer location ... so we got the honour of transporting the flame across part of London Bridge.

More details later, but here's a couple of photos to be going on with ;o)

Wendy & Caesar with Police and BOCOG flame escorts in blue tracksuits, moments before handing the flame to Brian Thompson a fellow Samsung Everyday hero contest winner.

Note: at least thirty minders!

One day closer to the torch relay!

2008-04-02T18:09:00.003+01:00

Today Caesar went to the groomers for the full works! Very kindly, Erin, his groomer gave up a day of her holiday to work and groom Caesar for his big day. Thank you so much Erin, we really appreciate it. :o)
Now all we have to do is hope it doesn't rain so Caesar can have dry walks and not get too wet until after the weekend ;o)

Meanwhile, Wendy did another radio interview!

Tainted Terminal 5 proves too hot for Olympic torch arrival

2008-04-01T22:40:00.001+01:00

Olympic Torch to get VIP arrival in London! It arrives at Heathrow Saturday night in readiness for the Torch Relay through London on Sunday.

read more | digg story

Getting Ready for Our Big Day

2008-04-01T20:30:00.006+01:00

The past couple of days have been a bit hectic with media interviews and preparations for our big day next Sunday.

Caesar and I are carrying the Olympic Torch during the London leg of The Olympic Torch Relay! Woo Hoo!

Last autumn, Wendy was nominated by a friend (Karen) in a competition run by Samsung to find "better life heroes", people who had triumphed over diversity. To our surprise we won, and the prize is to carry the torch in London and also later in the year travel to Xi'an in China to support the relay there too. Both Wendy & Caesar will be carrying the torch, Caesar is so much a central part of Wendys' life and a catalyst for her achievements, it would not be the same without him.

We attended a star studded bash in London last autumn, where we were presented with a certificate and a super Samsung phone, and met Kimberley Walsh from Girls Aloud and Olympic Legend Sir Steve Redgrave.

The event was reported in The Daily Mirror

I have scanned another couple of nice articles from The Daily Echo and The Sun.

Wendy & Caesar with Sir Steve Redgraves 5 Olympic Gold Medals

The Olympic Torch Relay will run from Wembley to Peninsular Square in Greenwich and Wendy & Caesar will be running along Cannon Street from the junction with New Change to just east of Mansion House. To see a view of our route, click here. We'll be expecting to run at about 3.06pm.

A Sad Day

2008-03-30T21:22:00.004+01:00

Today was another one of those days when we were touched by the Circle of Life. I previously wrote about this here in December.

It was with great sadness that we learned of the unexpected and sudden death on Caesars' mother, Rosie earlier today. At 12 she wasnt old for a Golden but was suddenly taken by an infection which got the better of her.

Rest in Peace Rosie.

Mum to

2 Dogs for the Disabled, 2 Guide Dogs, 2 Guide Dog stud dogs and Millie.

Wheelchair woes continued!

2008-03-22T21:16:00.004Z

It's been an interesting week, I have been stopped in the street a few times with people wanting to tell me how dangerous my wheekchair trike is, after having seen it on the BBC Watchdog programme!

What;s really bothering me though is that my wheelchair still is not right and it is now well over two weeks since the company assured me they would call me back in 10 minutes! That's customer service for you!

I mean, how difficult is it really to make a wheelchair that will carry someone about town without collapsing?

I saw a fantastic video today, and thought not only were the stunts incredible, the chair must be too ... take a look ...

Kudos to you Aaron, and kudos to Colours Wheelchairs!

Crufts

2008-03-21T20:30:00.003Z

Our trip to Crufts was pretty much hassle free with regard to access problems!!! Three exclaimation marks, as that really is something of a record!

Our train journey was fine, the Cross Country staff very helpful the Virgin staff at Birmingham International Station are always very welcoming and helpful, a minor grumble from the taxi driver followed but nothing we couldn't handle ;o)

The first hicccup was that our fully accessible hotel room wasn't fully accessible! Having phoned them several times to check and booked months ahead we were extremely disappointed to discover no roll in shower and a high sided bath! Hmmm. We deftly negotiated a hefty discount for the misinformation that secured our booking, as there was no possible way we could find accommodation elsewhere at that late stage.

As far as the N.E.C. goes, things are so much better than there were a few years ago, the revamp has meant that there are now so many toilets that normals don't even have to occupy the accessible loos to avoid queues anymore. There are adequate lifts and ramps at strategic points, and ringside seating to watch the show was ample for the number of wheelies who required space.

We had another slight hiccup on the Friday morning when we needed to use a lift to access the railway station as we were due at a press briefing and photocall, only to discover the lift out of order! Thankfully a nearby member of staff called for further assistance and we were shown to an alternative lift (which we never would have found on our own) and made it to the station with a couple of minutes to spare! Pheeeew! Of course a lift going out of commission is unforseeable, but it brought home exactly how inaccessible a place can become in a moment when one thing goes wrong!

The N.E.C. certainly botched up the ticketing for the Best in Show event. They handle te ticket sales for The Kennel Club. Ours were booked back last autumn but about a month before the show they wrote and asked for them back ... the paper was tacky, poorly photocopied and not even signed. It looked like a fake so I phoned the N.E.C. to check its validity, they didn't know what was happeneing so I hung on to the tickets and waited for what came next ... they sent new tickets. When we arrived at The Best in Show event, we discovered that I had been given a ticket in one place and my two companions were to be seated some distance away (possibly 50 seats between us). Hardly a good advert for equality and inclusion N.E.C.!

Thankfully, the ladies who were charged with showing us to our seats had more sense and seated us together, but that was nowhere near the seats that we had booked and paid for last September!

It was brilliant to see and meet so many assistance dog partnerships at the show, to share experiences, and chat over common ground.

We took part in a couple of press briefings and photoshoots, one to promote the launch of The Year of the Assistance Dog and one which involved Virgin Trains being awarded a Dog Star Award for their helpful service to all assistance dog partnerships. We also received a very generous cheque from Samsung on behalf of Dogs for the Disabled and chatted to many people our role in the upcoming Olympic Torch Relay.

Let sleeping dogs lie!

2008-03-03T18:16:00.001Z

After a bath and full grooming session there's nothing else for any self respecting assistance dog to do than settle down and catch up on some sleep before the busyness of Crufts later in the week!

Mixed Messages!

2008-03-02T17:10:00.004Z

Followers of this blog will know my feelings about shops and other premises displayng "Guide Dogs Only" signs on their doors when in reality UK law allows all Registered Assistance Dogs Access. To be fair, a lot of places do allow all assistance dogs, but the signage is behind the times and doesn't always reflect this.

I was quite surprised recently to find a sign at our local shopping centre entrance, they not only had the "Registered Assistance Dogs Only" sign that is promoted by Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK) but right underneath it the words "NO DOGS except Guide Dogs"... I am still trying to work that one out!