Jack the Guide Dog!

Written by Julia and Lisa.

On Friday the 13^th, we received a visit from Tony who is part of the Irish Guide Dogs Association. Our school decided to support the Guide Dogs along with a fundraiser with the Barrs Club. They brought in a dog called Jack who was absolutely gorgeous! Tony told us that Jack was too playful and energetic to become a guide dog. Instead he is used to go to different schools and colleges to show what a guide dog is and to relieve stress from students before major exams. We learned that it takes about €40,000 to train a guide dog. The entire business costs about €5 million to run each year and about 85% of this is covered through fundraising. It takes about 3 weeks for a blind person to learn how to use a guide dog in the centre. It takes only one week for the parents of an autistic child to learn. The Association are currently looking for dog walkers to play with the dogs in the evening. Tony asked us to remember a few important points mainly to always keep the path clear of wheelie bins and not to park cars on the footpaths. Being vigilant of our surroundings is really important for blind people and is known as sight saving. We hope to do a fundraiser later in the year to help the Guide Dogs with their amazing work. Remember to visit the Irish Guide Dogs Website for more information.