You know, it strikes me as peculiar that both this and my previous article are about sport – after all, the closest I usually get to sport is walking or dancing. But I guess sometimes that’s just the way life turns out.
Here is a photograph taken when I was guest speaker at the recent SA Guide-Dogs Association golf day in Cape Town.
Fiji and I spent a fun day meeting and chatting to other guide dog owners and their wonderful companions – from some of the young Z-litter German Shepherds who are being puppy walked, through to a 2-year old Labrador named Leo, who will be on class with his brand new human partner by the time this article comes out, as well as working guide dogs ranging from 2 to 9 years. It was a wonderful day of sharing stories and laughing at the often bizarre situations we find ourselves in with our dogs.
At the prize giving that evening I was invited to share a little of my story with the golfers. Knowing the golfers had spent a long, hot afternoon on the course I decided to keep it short and to the point. The golfers loved my story of how profoundly my life has changed since getting Fiji.
After the prize-giving several golfers shared with me how hearing my story had made the day more meaningful for them – it made them realize that, not only had the day been about playing a fun round of golf, it had also been about helping to make a difference in someone’s life!
As for Fiji, I suspect the day may have been another of those “Peculiar human behaviour” experiences for her. I can imagine she must have been totally perplexed about why she and her new guide dog friends were being kept off the grass while those strange humans walked up and down hitting little white balls around even though no one was chasing the balls and bringing them back.
I would have asked her what she thought, but she was far too busy playing with her new friends Leo, Ascii and Doobie.
