Carer story - Phil; NSW Roadshow and vet tips

00:11 S1

You're listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio - with me, your host, Harriet Moffat. Today I'm going to play three segments for you. First, instructor Mikaela Smith is joining us to share an exciting announcement about the 2025 New South Wales Seeing Eye Dogs Roadshow in regional New South Wales and Canberra in March. This event will give current and potential handlers a chance to find out about Dog Guide Mobility becoming a handler with us, and also they'll get the chance to meet the team and some dogs and potentially go for a trial walk as well. 

Then I've got an interview with Phil Taylor, Puppy care at Seeing Eye Dogs. Phil is in his 80s and has been a puppy carer for 14 years, showing many puppies the ropes through a busy and active retirement. Then to round up the show, I have a clip and some vet tips from Doctor Jacinta Millard from our dog's vet team talking about arthritis in dogs. 

I hope you enjoy the show. Now let's kick off with our first clip of the day with Mikaela Smith.

01:17 S2

Hi there, I'm Mikaela. I'm one of the instructors based in New South Wales. I'm really excited to share that the Seeing Eye Dogs Road show is going to be heading around the regional areas of New South Wales this coming March. After the success of this road show in Sydney back in November 2024. At the Roadshow, there'll be the opportunity to talk to the two New South Wales based instructors to have a chat about seeing eye dog mobility, what it involves, what the differences are between having a seeing eye dog, using a long cane, or potentially currently using no mobility aid. 

There'll also be some wonderful seeing eye dogs there that you can meet to cuddle, of course... but also to have the opportunity to take for a trial walk. So that will involve doing a small walk around the local area... to feel what it feels like to actually be guided by a dog guide. The road show is open to current handlers that are looking for support or guidance... anyone that's interested in finding out more about seeing eye dogs as a mobility aid and also friends, families and support workers of those who are blind or have low vision that might be interested in using a seeing eye dog now or in the future. 

After attending the roadshow, there is absolutely no pressure to then apply for a seeing eye dog. It's simply just an opportunity to explore that form of mobility aid. Of course, if you are interested in applying, then the instructors there on the day will be able to go through the process with you and support you through the process of applying to be a seeing eye dog handler. 

We've got seven locations for the roadshow coming up in March. Uh, it'll be Monday, March the 10th in Port Macquarie. Tuesday, March 11th, in Coffs Harbour. Wednesday 12th of March in Tweed Heads. Tuesday the 18th of March in Canberra. Wednesday the 19th of March in Wollongong. Monday the 24th of March in Gosford. And Tuesday the 25th of March in Newcastle. All of the sessions begin at 10:30 a.m. and will run until approximately 130 in the afternoon, and there will be refreshments provided as well. 

If anyone's interested in attending, you can register via the website or you can email clients at Vision Australia. So please do register and we hope to see you there.

03:45 S1

If you'd like to find out more about the New South Wales Roadshow, you can, as Mikaela said, email clients at Vision Australia or head to our website. 

Now I'm going to be joined by Phil Taylor, who is going to chat to us about his life and his story as a volunteer. I hope you enjoy. Hi Phil, thank you for joining me on the show today. I'd love to start off if you could please introduce yourself.

04:11 S3

Okay. My name is Phil Taylor. I am the youngest of nine boys born in Perth, Western Australia, 88 years ago. I have four children, 13 grandchildren and five great grandchildren.

04:32 S1

Wow. That's a lot of a lot of family. And the ninth boy in your family?

04:37 S3

Yes. And then there was a girl.

04:41 S4

So what is your role as a volunteer with Seeing Eye Dogs?

04:45 S3

Puppy care.

04:46 S4

And how long have you been puppy caring for? And how many puppies have you cared for in your time?

04:52 S3

I've had... I've been 14 years with Seeing Eye Dogs and I've had 18 puppies... and then five for very short periods, relieving other people. Yeah. Weekend or three weeks... yeah, but I've enjoyed every one of them. I imagine you've got a couple.

05:16 S1

Except for a couple. That's reasonable. I think sometimes you get on with some better than others, and I'm assuming really very much. You found no two are the same.

05:25 S3

No, no, no, you have to sit down with them and and observe them and get to know them. Because like human beings, the docs vary so much in temperament and and the things that you can teach them, some of them you can't teach a couple. Very, very difficult to try and teach.

05:46 S1

They've probably not wanted to learn. Thinking back to, I guess 14 years ago, do you remember why you decided to start volunteering?

05:57 S3

Yes. We got we decided we'd have a puppy for the children's sake.... from then onwards, we'll always have a dog in the house. And when my wife had to go into care, the dog I had had to be put down because it had medical complaints. And I just wondered what I was going to do. And then I saw the advertisement for seeing my dogs, and I thought, Oh, this would be terrific. I'd have, wouldn't have to bother about the dog getting old. I could have... puppies all the time. So that's why I decided to contact seeing eye dogs.

06:44 S1

And, um. And now you've very much made made up the time, you know, that's like eight, 18, uh, 18 puppies is very much a good cycle of different dogs. And you don't have to watch any of them grow old, which is quite nice in some ways.

06:57 S3

Right. I just look forward to having another little puppy to train. I've loved every minute. Loved every minute of training. And I find it so challenging. Yeah.

07:11 S1

Challenging, but in a positive way.

07:14 S3

Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Want to know what my puppy is? Current puppy is Linda. She is due to go in soon. I don't know what they can't... they've got to make up their mind what they're going to happen to her. She's either going into breeding or going into training or the other. I'd like her to go into training, because I've had quite a few puppies that have gone into breeding and they, they're changed. Have one go into the training. And... Lingo is the daughter of Quiver - the best, as I'm concerned, the best puppy that I ever had. 

She was so eager to learn and so gentle and quiet. It was just perfection as far as I was concerned. When they said that, we just had a litter of puppies and I was due to get a new one, I asked if I could have one of those. They gave me Lingo.

08:27 S1

And how have you found Lingo? I guess with the idea of, you know who Quiver was?

08:34 S3

Well, my last post, I've been comparing them.

08:38 S1

Yeah.

08:39 S3

But Lingo - very good. Extremely good. She's quiet and loving and obedient. And then they, she... hasn't quite come up to the standard that Quiver has.

08:55 S1

Probably got a bit of a of a legacy in your mind, and it's very hard to come out of her shadow, but I'm sure Lingo is going to try her very best.

09:05 S3

Yeah, yeah. All she does is, she's very good at what she does.

09:12 S1

So what is the typical day in the life of you and Lingo - or potentially, you know, what do you get up to in some of your weeks together?

09:20 S3

Well, it varies during the week. On a Monday and Tuesday, I'll go and play table tennis in Mornington at a large club there, and the ones I play with are all over 40. I called, they called the Teenagers... because they came... we have fun. We don't take it too seriously. All the puppies, except for a couple, have just laid down next to the court while I'm playing, or table while I'm fun playing and just watch. Watch what's going on. So they've all been extremely good. Just being quiet and just observing atmosphere and things like that. 

Well, each day I get up at about 8:00, take the puppies out the toilet, and give them their breakfast. And then we do what we have to do on a Wednesday, we go out for a nice long walk and come home, have a bit of fun in the garden. The rest of the day we just work in the garden or do other jobs around the house. And the puppies usually follow me around and observe what I'm doing. And then on a Thursday, I bring in a large choir or youth choir - people who are retired at the moment, was about 80 people in the choir. More practice, or about 2.5 hours each Thursday when we come home and I do whatever jobs are necessary. 

So on weekends I usually get up and go for a walk and then do what we have to do. And I usually my son comes and visits me and he's got a little dog, and we go out for a walk on Sunday morning together. And that's that's about the what I do, except for going shopping, you know. So very good walking along beside the trolley. And I'm doing my shopping. Never, never trying to go and say hello to anyone. She just stays by myself. So she's very good in that way.

11:57 S1

It sounds like you've got a very busy life with quite a lot of extracurriculars too. It sounds like she's got a lot of different things that she accompanies you to.

12:06 S3

Yeah, there's a lot of stimulus for her or any of the puppies to keep fit. I think they enjoy going around with me. Of course, we have training sessions every month where Claire organises... go to different places with other dogs.

12:29 S1

So what do you find the most rewarding or enjoyable about caring?

12:35 S3

Oh, the training challenge is the most enjoyable. Each dog has its own challenges to bring up, and I have to find some way of teaching them and overcoming those challenges. And, of course, that's the company... I'm... raised by myself and mine are... having a dog is a terrific company owner.

13:07 S1

And when it comes to, I guess, those challenges, what do you find the most challenging about puppy caring?

13:15 S3

I suppose the most challenging part is teaching them to walk. Quite a lot of them, put the lead on them and take them out the front... they don't want to go anywhere. I've had to find means and ways of getting them to walk. So which... quite a few of them, I pick them up and walk about 200m, put them down and let them go and they usually head right hand. So that's one way of getting them to... and another trick that Tim taught me was to try a soft toy on the end of the stick and walk along with that in front of them. But that's been the biggest challenge, just getting them started. The bare walking.

14:12 S1

Is that kind of for your eight week old puppy?

14:14 S3

Yeah, with the eight week old puppy. Just need that little bit of encouragement.

14:20 S1

I guess that's one of those things that requires quite a lot of patience in those early days. But I'm assuming that kind of, you've got it nailed pretty quickly after that.

14:30 S3

You have to be extremely patient. You can't lose your temper with them, that's certain - very patient, and let them learn at their own pace. Some learn very quickly. Others it takes a little time. It's all very challenging and heartwarming to see them grow.

14:51 S1

Like you said, if the challenge is one of the things that you like the best about it, the fact that it is difficult, kind of adds to the fun of working them all out.

14:58 S3

Yeah. More challenge, the better. Yeah. So you only have to look at the statistics of the reading and that small percentage of the puppies that ever get through to become seeing eye dogs. I feel I'm doing a little bit towards that challenge.

15:22 S1

Yeah, definitely. Without carers you wouldn't have the program that you would... you wouldn't have dogs that know how to live in homes.

15:30 S3

Yeah. Yeah.

15:32 S1

Well, I'd like to just ask if you're happy to finish off, if you have any messages to share with anyone considering volunteering or caring?

15:42 S3

You have to remember that the dog is happy, that you are given is not a pet. That's how you have to treat them. I think, can't be too familiar with the dog, I... can be very, very happy to see you. And you can treat them as a working dog, not allowing them to get up on the furniture and making sure that they go to sleep in their cage. I think they thrive on discipline and routines, they thrive on routine.

16:22 S1

Well, thank you so much for all of the work that you've done and for coming on the show, sharing your story.

16:28 S3

Oh, my pleasure. I've enjoyed the last 14 years trying to train the dog up to the standard that was required for them to become adults.

16:48 S1

You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interview with Phil. We are looking for puppy carers across parts of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland regions that are listed on our website. If you'd like to find out more about puppy care, and you can head to that website at npr.org. Or you can attend an upcoming information session on one is online for all states, which is on Tuesday, February 18th from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time or 5 p.m. to 6 p.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. 

So don't forget to head to that website, or you can head to our socials at on Facebook or Australia on Instagram to find out more information and keep up with the upcoming events where you can come and meet our puppies. To finish off this episode now, I'm going to be playing an interview with Dr Jacinta Millard from our Seeing Eye Dogs vet team, talking about arthritis in dogs. Thank you for listening. Hi, Jacinta, thank you for joining me on the show today.

17:50 S5

Thank you for having me, Harriet.

17:53 S1

So we're just gonna start off talking a bit about... arthritis in dogs and kind of how to manage it and what that looks like. So just to start off with what is arthritis in dogs?

18:03 S5

Okay, so arthritis in dogs is pretty similar to arthritis in humans. It's degenerative joint disease where... the joint itself, any joint in the dog... I guess wears away at the cartilage on the edges and we get some bone deposition and bone growth, which can increase the pain in the joint... slowing them down and making them uncomfortable.

18:23 S1

So as far as kind of symptoms or what that looks like, what are the symptoms of a dog having arthritis?

18:29 S5

Yeah. So commonly people will come in and say that their dogs are slowing down. They notice that they're a bit slower on their walks, or they're reluctant to walk or reluctant to run and do activities that they've normally... done quite frequently. They might play less, they might be just slowing down. In general, a lot of the time we notice that dogs with arthritis will be slow getting up from their from their bed and slow getting down again when they're laying down. And yeah, generally just a slowing the slowing down of activity and that sort of thing.

18:59 S1

So I think a lot of the time we kind of... what's the word, kind of arthritis to kind of age is... arthritis only in older dogs.

19:09 S5

No. We can get arthritis in young dogs as well. Any disruption to the joint? Say they've had surgery in the joint or anything like that can increase the chance of arthritis forming in that joint... because it's altering the mechanics of how force is being applied through the joint. And that alters the structure of the joint. Yeah. So it's not just old dogs, though. It's more commonly seen in older dogs.

19:31 S1

Is arthritis progressive? And is there anything that can be done to avoid it becoming worse?

19:37 S5

Yeah. So arthritis is progressive. We have multiple treatments available at the moment which slow the progression, but nothing actually can stop the progression of arthritis similar to that in that in humans. So there's a few things we have up our sleeves, a lot of nutraceuticals and things that we can add to their food. So it's not necessarily a drug, but it's like a supplement that we add into their diet. Something like fish oil with omega three and omega six has a lot of anti-inflammatory properties on the joint. So it can reduce the inflammation which is causing the pain associated with the arthritis. 

We also have ingredients that we can put in as supplements that increase joint fluid production and protect the cartilage that's still existing in the joint.

20:22 S1

So are there any other factors that would make the symptoms worse... for a dog, even things like, say, kind of weather, other conditions and like, say, the types of exercise that you do?

20:30 S5

Absolutely. So more... I guess intense exercise. Lots of stopping and starting things like that. That's putting a lot more pressure on the joints or running on a particularly on flat surfaces like concrete... is putting much more force through the joints than, say, slower gentle walking or hydrotherapy where you're not you're not putting as much force through the joints at all, so they can generally exacerbate it. Cold weather also will exacerbate the signs of arthritis, which is similar to humans. The barometric pressure changes with the cold weather, and that changes... I guess the pressure on the joints - which means they can expand a bit more, and then as they expand a bit more, they can become sorer. So we see worsening signs in often in winter. 

And I guess in terms of avoiding it becoming worse, we're avoiding things that might, you know, increase it... playing up. So we're avoiding activities where it might be exacerbated. So, like, we avoid rough play, we avoid intense exercise off the lead and things like that.

21:35 S1

What about things like weight?

21:36 S5

Yes. So weight is a very big one. So I probably....

21:39 S1

So body conditioning.

21:40 S5

Probably should have started with that. So essentially what we want to do to... I guess reduce the signs of or the clinical signs associated with arthritis is, we want to reduce the force being constantly put through the joint. So by reducing the weight that the animal is carrying, we're reducing extra loading on the joint, which slows down the progression of arthritis and will reduce the pain associated with putting loading through that joint. So keeping dogs in a good body condition, at an appropriate weight, not overweight and obviously not too skinny is... a really big factor in ensuring that the progression is slowed and that it's manageable.

22:18 S1

So if you've already noticed those symptoms, what are the types of things that a vet may do to assist management of the symptoms?

22:25 S5

Yeah. So that might prescribe a particular type of diet or something that is... can be added to the food. As I was saying before, that helps with protecting the existing cartilage, reducing the inflammation in the joint. And just aimed at weight loss and weight loss maintenance. Um, that also might look at there's different types of injections we can give. one is called calotrophon, which... is an injection that we usually give off as a course of four injections over four weeks. So once a week initially, and then we continue on once every 1 to 3 months for maintenance. 

This injection has a lot of ingredients that, one, increase the joint fluid production in the joint - so increasing the lubrication of the joint... and then, two, also increases... the protection of the cartilage that still existing in the joint... so that can be added in from a really early age. And it's been found to be quite beneficial because it does slow the progression of arthritis to some extent. 

A new one that's just come out that we can also add in is an injection called Branza, which is similar to that used in humans. So it's a monoclonal antibody that blocks the neuropathic pain pathway. So this one doesn't necessarily slow the progression of arthritis like the Pentosan will, but it will stop the animal from recognising the pain associated with it. So it has... had really good reports in terms of bringing return to comfort,  in a lot of animals. However, it's usually added in at the very sort of end of stages because it's not actually going to slow the progression of the arthritis. It's just going to help with managing the pain. 

Other things we also add in are sort of either some medications that we can give daily. So something like... something similar to a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory can be used. Obviously these need to be weighed up with cost versus... risk type benefit thing. So we're looking at whether it's worth using it every day at that stage. But because obviously all these medications can have some side effects as well. But these medications are generally targeted at the pain, not at like slowing the progression of the arthritis. And then things like... referring on to hydrotherapy and physiotherapy type clinics as well, which sort of look at keeping the dog active without putting through too much force through the joints.

24:53 S1

So I guess the kind of the main thing really will be then going to your vet and working out what approach works best for you and your dog?

25:00 S5

Absolutely, because it will always be a multi-modal approach. That'll never be just one way that we target it. And we'll be looking at probably a combination of things and what your dog tolerates best and what works best for you and that sort of thing as well.

25:21 S1

You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interviews and the clip from Mikaela talking about New South Wales Road show. Don't forget to head to our website for more information on that or email Clients at... Our interview with Phil Taylor, Seeing Eye dogs puppy carer talking about his volunteer to your story. And with Dr Jacinta Millard from our Seeing Eye expert team talking about arthritis. Lots of good tips from our team across the show. 

So if you are looking for more information about dog care, you can head to our Omni Seeing Eye Dog Show page or your preferred podcast provider for more interviews from our lovely vet team and our staff. If you'd like to find out more about puppy caring, don't forget that that next information session is coming up online for all states, Victoria and New South Wales and Queensland on Tuesday, February 18th from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Australian Eastern Daylight Time or 5 to 6 p.m. in Australian Eastern Standard Time, which is Queensland... so not on daylight savings. 

I thank you for listening to the show. Don't forget to tune in same time next week for another episode, or head to our social media to keep up to date with all of the latest happenings. Thank you for listening and have a lovely week.