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Jeff Green | Sep 10, 2009

L-R  Walk Chairperson Carolyn Bond, Lion VP Dawn Hansen, Lion George Hiles, Pres. Gail Jackson, Foster Family Dog Guide Host Jean Graham & (Centre) Future Dog Guide Argo

The Sharbot Lake Walk for Dog Guides will be held on Sunday, October 4. The Lions Foundation of Canada, the founder and primary supporter of Dog Guides Canada, is a unique charity. With no government funding, the Lions Foundation has grown from a dream of a few to an established and rapidly expanding charity that contributes in a very real way to the day-to-day lives of Canadians with disabilities. Since its inception in 1983, Lions Foundation of Canada has placed hundreds of Dog Guides with Canadians who have visual, hearing, medical or other physical disabilities.

Dog Guides are provided at no cost to clients and all costs are funded entirely by donations. Dog Guides are provided in the following categories:

Canine Vision Dog Guides: For those with a visual impairment, the help of a Canine Vision Dog Guide to navigate streets, buildings and transit means he or she can travel more widely and independently with greater confidence.

Hearing Ear Dog Guides: For someone with hearing loss, a Hearing Ear Dog Guide offers reassurance that he or she will be alerted to important everyday sounds, such as a baby’s cry, a knock at the door, or an activated smoke alarm.

Special Skills Dog Guides: For those with physical or medical disabilities (e.g., muscular dystrophy, cerebral palsy, etc), a Special Skills Dog Guide offers greater independence and mobility by helping the clients into or out of bed or picking up dropped items.

Seizure Response Dog Guides: Seizure Response Dog Guides are trained to bark continually until help arrives or they will activate an alert system in the home in the event of a seizure. Depending on the specific needs of the client, a Seizure Response Dog may also be trained in similar skills as Special Skills Dogs such as helping clients into or out of bed or picking up dropped items. The skills of these highly trained Dog Guides mean that Canadians who regularly have seizures can live safer, more independent lives.

Dog Guides give the gift of mobility, safety and independence at no cost to Canadians from coast-to-coast. There is a growing waiting list for Dog Guides – donations help recipients receive their Dog Guides sooner. You can help by participating in your local Walk for Dog Guides on October 4 in Sharbot Lake.  Your pledge can change the life of someone who is disabled and could mean that he or she “Will never walk alone”. For more info about the Walk for Dog Guides, please contact our Walk Coordinator at 613-279-2502 or go to www.dogguides.com. Pledge forms are available by calling Betty Anne at 613-279-2329 or Dawn at 613-375-6318. 

Watch for our ad in next week’s “Frontenac News” to learn how you can participate in this very important fund-raiser.