By Julie Power
What does a $35,000 guide dog give a vision-impaired or blind person that a $100,000 bionic eye or the latest navigation app has yet to deliver?
A huge dose of puppy love, judging by the five labradors who were breaking hearts at their "graduation ceremony" on Friday after an 18-month training program by Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.
Brothers Noah, left, and Joel Kenchington are reunited with Viking on the day of his graduation as a Guide Dog.Credit: Janie Barrett
Despite advances in technology for people with vision impairments, nothing has yet to match a guide dog's sharp eyes, malleable brain, desire to please and an ability to anticipate their owner's needs and avoid problems.
"It never says, 'Oh no, you want to go there again! ' It is happy to go, all the time," said Barbara Bonfield, a Penrith retiree who is now on her fourth guide dog, Samara.
Viking, Kari, Wanetta, Wayne and Dee Bee have all graduated.Credit: Janie Barrett
"I can say find a desk, find the queue, find the bank," said Mrs Bonfield, who was born with a retinal eye condition.
"The dog does a lot of thinking for you," she said. Mrs Bonfield also uses a mini-guide (a matchbox-sized device that bounces ultrasonic beams to detect obstacles), a cane, and has attempted and failed in her attempts to love iPhone's Siri's voice-activated help.
Guide Dogs also provides and trains its clients to use these devices, yet nothing matched the care and initiative shown by guide dogs, said its CEO, Graeme White.
"You get a real devotion that you don't get from devices."
Training costs around $35,000 for each dog, and there are 300 dogs in service in NSW. With more funding, as many as 1000 dogs could be trained to help those with vision impairment, said Dr White.
Guide dogs are trained and bred to overcome natural tendencies, including a desire to chase other animals, or to stop and sniff a bush. Mr White said they were attempting to breed dogs that had the right balance of initiative and problem solving abilities, without getting a dog that was too boisterous or, at the other extreme, too timid.
"It is quite extraordinary the care and initiative they take," said Dr White. He said guide dogs had rescued family members from fires or had guided a confused or sick person home.
Like any graduation, Friday's elicited tears and smiles from proud parents, especially considering only 50 per cent of trainees make the final cut. Marilyn Tobin and her grandsons Noah and Joel Kenchington, had cared for one of the new graduates, a black labrador named Viking for the first year of his life.
You get a real devotion that you don't get from devices.
On Friday, Mrs Tobin saw Viking for the second time since she returned him to the Guide Dogs' training centre six months ago. "I saw him once (during the training) and we both cried," she said. "I've always had dogs, but when the last one died, I thought I don't want to take another one to the vet. Minding a pup is a perfect way to have a dog on a short-term basis."
At the graduation, the dogs were paraded for the first time in their harnesses, ready to soon meet their new owners.
"It's like putting on a uniform," said one guide dog official.
Info: Guide Dogs is desperately seeking volunteers to raise its labrador puppies.