Instructor Michaela and Lina's Lunar New Year

00:11S1

On Vision Australia Radio. You're listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show with me, your host Harriet Moffat. On this episode, I'm joined by two guests. We're joined first by Seeing Eye Dogs instructor Michaela Smith, who's going to talk to us about her life, her background and role as a Singing idols instructor. Then we're going to be joined by seeing puppy development trainer Lina G. Who's going to talk to us about Lunar New Year and the special puppy name chosen in celebration of this year of the Dragon. Now let's kick off this show with my interview with Michaela. Hey, Mikayla, thank you for joining me on the show today.

00:54S2

Thanks for having me.

00:55S1

So it's, uh, pretty exciting to have you across. So I think this is maybe your first time on the show. And you're coming from interstate, right? I mean, not not in person, but, um, where are you based? Can you please introduce yourself?

01:08S2

Yes. Yes, it is my first time. Um, so, uh. Yes, my name is Mikayla. I'm a senior mobility instructor, and I'm based in New South Wales. So, um, I look after the region of New South Wales and also the act.

01:21S1

I act being how many like do we have many teams across that kind of massive big region. So quite geographical. Um, quite geographically large area.

01:31S2

Yeah. So um, in total it's around 50 teams, um, all throughout New South Wales. So as far north as Grafton, all the way down to Wagga Wagga. Uh, and then yeah, as I mentioned also in Canberra itself.

01:45S1

Amazing. So probably keeps you pretty, pretty busy. Um, outside of work so that, you know, people get a bit of an idea of, you know, you're not not just a person in a Navy uniform. Do you have any hobbies or interests that you'd like to share with us?

01:56S2

Well, um, after I spend all day working with dogs, I come home to many dogs. Um, so I keep myself busy there. I have a, um, a pet dog. He's a coolie. His name is Cooper. Um, he's pretty high energy, so he likes to go to the beach and go for for walks, which I love to do with him. Um, I'm also a, um, bit of a notorious foster carer, so I always have foster dogs that come from various pounds and rescues. Um, so spending lots of time with them as well. And lots of.

02:28S1

Love. I think anyone that has a foster dog that's, um, I like, fostered by someone with as much training skill as you. That's pretty lucky, I think. I think those rescues must think you're like, lifesaver.

02:41S2

Yeah, and I'm always terrible. I always take on the dogs that need a lot of work. Um, because I know that I've got, you know, the capacity to look after them. Um, but it makes me. Yeah. Very, very busy.

02:53S1

Yeah, but you know what? And if you're not, like, adopting all of them, then that's the true win, isn't it? That's that's foster success.

03:00S2

That's true. Yes. Cooper is very happy to have, um, dogs come and visit for a little bit, but he he doesn't like them staying too long, so I always. Yeah, make sure I help find them the best home, which is really rewarding.

03:13S1

And also kind of bring brings a little bit back to some of our, um, you know, foster carers on, on your scheme, for example. It's quite handy really, to be able to have dogs for just a short period of time, um, without the commitment, for example, 4 or 5 months whilst they're in formal training, just as a little casual plug there.

03:31S2

Yes. Thank you for the plug. Uh, no. It's awesome. And being a foster carer myself for other organisations and often for seeing our dogs as well, um, I really appreciate the work that our carers do and I realise how, you know, how important is. But it's, you know, it's a great thing to do to have a short term commitment, knowing that the dog's going to go on and do something pretty incredible. Um, so yeah, we've got awesome carers all over, but particularly I think in New South Wales, we've got the best.

03:59S1

Hey, hey, now I consider myself the best personally.

04:04S2

Ah, you might have to move up to New South Wales then.

04:07S1

Done. Um, so I think you kind of mentioned that you are a seeing eye dog mobility instructor. Could you tell us a little bit more, a little bit more about what that role means or what that role is?

04:20S2

Yeah for sure. So, um, in New South Wales it is a little bit different to the role, how it looks in Victoria where the majority of my colleagues are. Um, so we have sort of two roles that we do at the same time. Um, the first one is that we do the training of the dogs. So when the dogs first come in to us, they're a year old, we complete their IFT, um, we take them to all of their medical appointments to get their initial medical tests done as well.

04:47S1

So just quickly, what does it stand for? Yeah.

04:49S2

Uh, infiltrating. So their initial assessment, when they finish their puppy raising journey, we do an initial behavioral and medical assessment to determine whether they have a high probability of being successful in the program, and then we'll bring them in to complete their five month training. If they're looking really promising.

05:07S1

Whilst you're doing that, are you also providing some of that client kind of support and follow up?

05:12S2

Yeah. So that's the way that, um, I guess the instructor role in New South Wales. I know it's also the same for Queensland is a little different to Victoria. Um, when I was working in Victoria, we sort of do half the training dogs and then half the year on clients, and you're really just doing one or the other, whereas here we're doing training. So like I said, we're doing those initial assessments. We're training dogs for their five months of training. Um, but we're also placing dogs with clients. We're doing follow up care. We're doing retirements assessments for, uh, you know, prospective clients as well. So we're doing it all at the same time, which I really like. I think it keeps the job really interesting. Um, and I love both sides of it. So it's really good that, you know, I think we get to do it all year round, which is great.

05:53S1

You don't have to kind of miss the dogs when you're spending all of the time with the clients, and then vice versa. And a bit of variety is the spice of life.

06:01S2

Absolutely, I think so.

06:03S1

So before you began, you know, your, um, seeing eye dog, um, the instructor traineeship, what was your background?

06:13S2

Yeah. So, uh, funnily enough and completely different to what I'm doing now, I started off as a ballerina. Um, so when I first left school, I was a full time ballet dancer over at an academy in Perth. Um, unfortunately, um, injuries are very common in that field. Um, and it took me out quite quickly. Um, and, and then I just, I guess I fell into the animal industry. So I've done a few different things. I've worked as an animal attendant, um, in a lot of, uh, pounds and rescues, which is where my passion for, for welfare really comes from. Um, I was also a zookeeper for a while, which is random, but was really fun. Um, and then I also got into I got my fitness qualification as well. So I'm an accredited fitness. I've worked in, um, you know, small animal clinics with that. But I've also worked as an equine nurse on farm, which I thought was, um, yeah, it doesn't really help me now, more of my my dog training helps me, but I really enjoy enjoy that as well. Something different. I don't know how.

07:17S1

I don't know how you had the time to qualify and learn and do all of these things.

07:21S2

Yeah, I don't really know either. I've. I've just always, um, found myself studying, uh, so it's actually quite nice at the moment. Now, since I finished my, um, seeing eye dog traineeship, uh, a bit over a year ago. Now, I haven't studied anything, and it's been actually kind of nice.

07:39S1

It's kind of kind of a refreshing change, although not necessarily a whole lot less busy.

07:43S2

No, definitely not less busy. Just, uh, just different, which is, you know, not a bad thing.

07:49S1

And so you were working a little bit as well with kind of the puppy racing side of things.

07:54S2

Yeah, yeah. So um, through I guess sort of, um, through my work as a foster carer, I was living in Dubbo at the time, uh, I was foster caring a lot of young puppies and also kittens. Um, but using my, you know, my experience as a vet nurse to look after the young, quite unwell little pups. Um, but then once they got to a certain age and they were healthy, I got really interested in the training side of things. And I got really, um. Yeah, interested in dog training, particularly with pups. And through that, I was very lucky to get the opportunity to work for guide Dogs in Act. So I set up their puppy raising program back in 2018. Um, so I set that up and then ran it all the way through to when I started working at Virgin Australia.

08:38S1

So you've mentioned that you're kind of looking after that whole, um, that whole kind of New South Wales region. So where are you kind of currently based on training your, your dogs from because you guys don't have kennels and stuff, right.

08:52S2

Yeah. That's correct. So we're based on the New South Wales Central Coast, which is about an hour north of Sydney. Um, so it's myself and Luca who's the other instructor up here. So we are very lucky, like I said at the start, to have definitely the best foster carers in the country. So our wonderful foster carers look after the dogs, um, generally on at night time and on weekends. So we have the big yellow, um, seeing eye dog vans that many people would know about, and we go and pick all the dogs up in the morning. We take them out training for the day, and then we drop them home to their carers at night time. 

So it's really great. It gives the dogs an opportunity to get used to that, that home lifestyle, um, which they obviously don't have an opportunity to do as much when they're in the kennels. Um, we obviously have great foster caring, um, happening in Victoria as well, but here it's just the norm. So that's really, really excellent. Um, we train the dogs. Yeah. All over the Central Coast. We've got different shopping centres, um, that we've got relationships with. Uh. We also sometimes take the dogs into Sydney to do their more busy training. Towards the end of their training period as well.

10:02S1

So I like that. It's kind of like you've got your little, like, yellow bus and then you're going to come and pick them up. It's like a, you know, magic school bus and then take them on an adventure. Um, and the dogs kind of will just get out and then like, okay, well, now you're working now.

10:15S2

That's it. I mean, the school bus, I got lots of Nala bones and Kongs and their buddies to play with. So they they always go home to their foster carers. Um, pretty worn out from from a hard day of work, but also a hard day of play.

10:27S1

Well, and it's really nice for them to be able to kind of have that decompression time. Um, to like, I probably almost from the training to the van and then just go and just get conked out at the, at the carousel houses.

10:38S2

It's it's so nice. It's so good. And we've got such a range of care as you know as well. We've got some who've got young kids, some have other dogs. So all the dogs get to experience really normal home behaviours and, and things that they'll experience when they go out to their handler as well. So it's, it's great to have that opportunity for us as trainers to be able to really find out as much as we can about the dog's home behaviour, because that's a really important matching consideration when we're placing dogs with clients. Um, so that's yeah, really beneficial.

11:09S1

And for a client who can't see is very important, I guess for them to be really trustworthy in the home, isn't it? It's not just kind of like, you know, oh, I can I can monitor and then I can watch and supervise. If you don't have that site, um, you have to have a dog that's not going to be taking advantage.

11:25S2

Yeah, absolutely. And we've got things, you know, tools like crates and tethers, which the puppies get used to from a very young age. And, and most of the puppies really enjoy being in crates as well that the handlers can use. But of course, it's nice to have a dog that you can trust, and over time you can, you know, just have roaming around with you.

11:43S1

So are you looking for more training dog carers at the moment?

11:47S2

Yes, all the time. Um, so we are looking for training dog carers around Gosford and the Central Coast peninsula. Um, so down around Woy Woy, Yamana Beach. So if anyone listening lives there or know someone who might be interested, um, it's a great program. Like I said, it goes for five months, but we are taking the dogs out pretty much every day for a full day on on weekdays. Um, everything's covered. Vet costs, food, equipment, training as well. We provide lots of training. Um, so that's. Yeah, if anyone knows anyone, that would be great. Um, and we also have our puppy raising program, uh, in New South Wales as well. And I know Jeff's our puppy expert here, um, is always looking for carers in Central Coast, Newcastle and parts of Sydney as well.

12:33S1

So, you know, I think the New South Wales program is really coming along quite strong. You've got a quite little nice little community there but it could always be a bit bigger. We could always have a few more dogs up there.

12:44S2

Yeah of course. And obviously the more dogs that we can, um, train up here, the more dogs that we can place to clients up here. So it really benefits, um, you know, the whole the whole system. Really? Yeah.

12:56S1

And, and the clients are very lucky for the, for you guys being based up there, I think it's, uh, it's a real game changer as of, you know, I think in the past, there was always that thing of, you know, seeing others can be, you know, we are Victoria based, but, um, but, you know, it's really not the case. It's very much a national organization.

13:14S2

Yeah, for sure. And that's some of the really, really positive feedback we've been getting from the clients that both myself and Luca have been working with. Um, is that. Yeah, it is a change and changes sometimes. Tricky, but I think in this case it's quite a, quite a positive change. And, you know, the handler is having an issue with something where a, you know, a short drive away as opposed to a flight away. So we've really, really enjoyed that. Um, we've obviously been getting our name out as well. But seeing our dogs is, you know, much more present up here. We've got two instructors and a student up here. So, um, we've had a lot of new inquiries and new applicants in the region. Um, and last financial year, we actually had 13 teams graduate, which is the highest number New South Wales has had. Um, so that's yeah, a really a really big testament to the fact that we are getting, you know, more regionalized. And there's a lot of a lot of potential in Wales than in Canberra. So yeah. Yeah I think, I think it's working well. Yeah.

14:09S1

So for any, yeah. Any client that's um, that's at the, you know, a while ago thought that, you know maybe New South Wales isn't as well serviced. Uh, you know here you are.

14:19S2

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, if anyone is, is considering, uh, seeing eye dog mobility, I definitely recommend that you just, you know, reach out and just inquire and see see what we can help you with.

14:31S1

Just have a start with a friendly chat. You know, eventually we'll send you up with a dog.

14:36S2

Yeah. That's it. And there's no pressure. You know that that friendly chat is really just to to see, you know, what information you want and whether it's the right mobility aid for you.

14:45S1

So what is your kind of favorite part about being an instructor?

14:50S2

Well, that's a hard question. I like a lot of it. Um, I'll have to give you two. So my first one is more, um, when I'm working with clients. So my favorite thing when I'm working with a client is when they've been having, you know, a challenge with their dog, a particular issue. And we've been working through it for maybe a couple of days, maybe a couple of months, however long it is. Um, but I love when you get the phone call from the client or you go out and do a visit and you just see that they've, you know, come over that hurdle and they've made progress and you can see, you know, those massive improvements start to take place. And that for me is really rewarding. 

And I can just imagine, you know, for the handler, that must be so rewarding as well. You know, making it to that really, really positive part of, of the training. Um, my other one though. My other favorite thing is whenever I go and see Jess, who I've mentioned is the puppy trainer. Up in New South Wales, I always get to cuddle puppies, so that's really fun too. Oh, and that.

15:50S1

Brings you back to your whole puppy puppy racing routes. You're not too far away from it at the end of the day.

15:55S2

That's true, that's true. And I, I truly believe there is nothing better than a Labrador puppy. So I will always take my Labrador puppy love when I can get it.

16:04S1

I mean, surely I think if your dog is listening you can say a coolly puppy, but you know, um.

16:11S2

That's true, that's true. He's he's fast asleep on my couch, so he's not listening. It's all good, I say.

16:17S1

So is there anything about the role of the instructor that kind of surprised you, or that you didn't know? Or, I guess, think about before you started?

16:28S2

Um, I guess when I started my, my traineeship, I obviously had quite a bit of background in the dog training side of things, but I just I'd never worked, um, you know, in the disability sector before, uh, or worked with clients who had low vision. So just that whole learning experience was really interesting for me. Um, and yeah, I really enjoyed working with such a range of clients. Um. Yeah. Through throughout Victoria when I, when I first started and now in New South Wales in ICT as well.

16:59S1

And like you said, it really is a bit of a range, isn't it? Like you said about the foster carers, it's like you've got people from all different stages. I mean, I think I had on the show maybe last year at some point, probably one of the older handlers at age 80. And then you've got, you know, your young or older teens or young young people as well. It's very varied. Your work.

17:21S2

It is. And, you know, that's the other thing that I really enjoy is when you're working with dogs, they're so different to. Right. They've got such different personalities, different paces. And I love, um, now that I've, you know, been working with, with more clients and more dogs, I think I have a better ability to look at each dog and see what type of handler, um, would really benefit from them, uh, which is, yeah, really rewarding.

17:46S1

So just to kind of finish off, is there anything that you would like to tell anyone who is a either is a currency product handler or someone who's considering applying for a senior dog?

17:58S2

Yeah, well, I guess like I mentioned before, for anyone considering applying. Um, I think if it's something that's on your mind, it's worth just having the phone call. So feel free to give me a call. We can have a chat. No pressure. And just see sort of where you're at and how a dog might assist you. And yeah, it might. It might just be the phone call, and and it might end up that in eight months down the track, you've got, you know, your first seeing eye dog. But for my current, you know, clients that I've been working with in New South Wales and Act, I did want to take this opportunity to thank you all for being so welcoming, um, to have Luca and I up in New South Wales. We've had a lot of support from you. Like I said, with our recent graduations, but also just seeing the, you know, the community around the handle is in the state is really, really awesome. So we're just very, very grateful to be up here and being able to work with you all.

18:53S1

I mean, you know, there is always obviously always going to be some sort of like kind of Victoria and New South Wales rivalry. But you do make it enticing. You know.

19:01S2

It's it's very nice up here. The weather is nice. Uh, I live literally two minutes from the beach, so it's, uh, it's the place to be, truly.

19:12S1

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show today and, uh, talking a little about your your life, your work and and seeing IDoc handling. Yeah.

19:18S2

Thanks so much, Harriet. Appreciate it.

19:26S1

You've been listening to the Singing Auto Show on Virgin Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interview with Michaela. If you are interested in finding out about dog mobility, eligibility assessment or hearing from our team. If a single track is right for you. Head to our website at Sydney, Australia. Talk for information on seeing eye dogs or you can give us a ring and check to our friendly team on 1800 037 773 or email us at info. Accident. Wow! Instructors like Michaela are really happy to have a chat with you to find out about if we can help you with a life changing seeing eye dog. And now I'm going to pass to my next guest, Lindsay, a puppy trainer, to talk about Lunar New Year and about our special puppy named in honor of the start of the year of the Dragon. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy. Hi Lena, thank you for joining me on the show today.

20:23S3

Thanks for having me, Harriet.

20:24S1

So you are coming on to talk a little bit about Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year. Could you please explain to us a little bit about Lunar New Year? And then what is the kind of year this year?

20:36S3

Well in India this year falls on Saturday the 10th of February. Um, I say this year because it does change every year. The lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon. So the dates. That's why it changes every year. Um, this year is so every year we have a different zodiac animal representing that year. And this year we've been quite lucky to have the year of the Dragon. So one. And I think the dragon is the only mystical creature of the zodiac elements.

21:10S1

The others are, um, things like rats and ox and tiger. And yes.

21:16S3

You've got actual animals that we have, but the dragon is the only one that I guess doesn't really exist.

21:22S1

So what does the dragon kind of represent in the zodiac?

21:26S3

So the dragon represents, uh, good luck, strength and health. Like I said, it's the only mythical creature of all the animals in the Chinese zodiac. Often people who are born in the year of the dragon, they have, you know, personality traits of those that are considered to be, uh, charismatic, intelligent, confident, powerful as you think, and naturally lucky and gifted.

21:54S1

Okay, so. Yeah. So not not a bad thing. If that's your birth year, then really, you know.

21:58S3

Yeah. You'd want to be born in the year of the Dragon, I guess.

22:02S1

So how is Lunar New Year celebrated?

22:06S3

Uh, it is a very festive period that's typically celebrated from the first new moon of the lunar calendar, and it ends on the first full moon. So generally, it's about a 15 day celebration. And, you know, in preparation to celebrate this. A period of time. We tend to begin a be clean of the house prior to the date. So it's everything that we do is very superstitious, so we clean the house before the actual new year comes to remove any lingering bad luck, and we sweep away all the bad stuff in preparation for the new year.

22:46S1

Kind of like starting with a clean slate.

22:48S3

Exactly, exactly. The night before, and usually the day of. We spend a lot of time with family. We hold a lot of religious ceremonies to honor our ancestors as well. So we do a lot of praying and things like that. Uh, on New Year's Day, family members often, uh, come together. We visit each other because, you know, we live at different houses now, uh, visit each other. We receive, uh, red envelopes often. You hear us say, uh, lacy or humble in Chinese. And inside the envelope you get money. So money, money. I know the best thing to receive. And it's really just to wish good luck and good fortune to those that you give to and throughout the days, and on the rest of the days. And on your last day, people often celebrating by lighting up their houses with like lanterns and and just eating lots of lots of food, lots of traditional foods as well. You might see, like the glutinous rice cakes come out. Um, and just any food really, to be honest.

23:52S1

Probably depends who's hosting.

23:54S3

Yes, exactly. Lots of eating, lots of eating. So we love to do so.

23:58S1

Obviously kind of. Australia is one of the countries that, um, many people will celebrate. Um, and but it's not necessarily an Australian kind of tradition. What kind of countries is Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year celebrated in?

24:11S3

Typically, this holiday period is honored and celebrated in China and other, uh, Asian countries. So it's very big in those countries. Often they get public holidays for that period of time. Um, although I, I think this has become a quite a significant celebration globally as well, since a lot of that countries have become so, uh, multicultural. Um, yeah. We just don't get the public holidays, I guess.

24:38S1

So we have, um, named Asing Idexx puppy in honor of the new year. Um, a pup that will be kind of pretty due to leave the center soon. So when we, um, I guess name them at what, kind of around six weeks? Um, yeah, we wanted to have one that was kind of ready to go. Um, and starting his journey in this new year. So could you please tell us a little bit about the name that we chose for this puppy?

25:05S3

So the name that we chose for this puppy. His name is Jin. In Chinese, you'd say. As Jin Jin means gold in Chinese. So, uh, the significance of this name? Obviously, gold is often associated with wealth, longevity, and happiness. You'll often see the decorations of the Lunar New Year to be a combination of golds and reds. Um, for this very reason, as you know, we harness that good fortune and good prospect for the upcoming year ahead. So hopefully little Jin will bring that to seeing our dogs and have a great year ahead. Gold isn't also necessary just for Chinese New Year. It's a very significant, I guess, element in our Chinese culture. Yeah. Like I said, it's it's really associated with, you know, wealth and happiness, longevity, all the good stuff that you want to wish someone. So it doesn't have to be a Lunar New Year. 

But, you know, back then we used to gift each other gold, little gold plates, you know, back in the old, old days, it plays a very significant role in our Chinese culture and lots of clothings. Uh, back in, you know, when it was like the, uh, emperors would wear whatever color clothing, but there'll be lots of lining of gold in it to, uh, indicates that signify, like superiority. So, yes, hopefully. I mean, it's all good. It means all good stuff. And hopefully Jin will bring good stuff to seeing idols.

26:41S1

And is a little kind of like yellowy boy. He's got some kind of golden tones in his fur himself, so, you know, he can kind of, you can kind of carry that with him. To the more.

26:49S3

Gold, the better.

26:52S1

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show and talking to us a little bit about, um, our, uh, young Jin and and about Chinese Lunar New Year.

27:00S3

Thank you so much for having me.

27:08S1

You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interviews. The first with Michaela Smith, a singer instructor based in Central Coast, New South Wales, and with Lina ji, a singer puppy development trainer talking about Lunar New Year and our special puppy named Jin in honor of Chinese New Year. If you'd like to find out more about seeing dogs, the work we do, or how you can help, head to our website at. Sydney, Australia.  [indistinct] puppies like Jen need puppy caring homes in parts of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. So if you'd like to find out about puppy caring and if that works in your lifestyle and you would love to give back by raising your puppy for 6 or 12 months, we would love to hear from you. 

Please head to that website at visionaustralia.org to find out about puppy caring and if you are someone who is blind or has low vision and are interested in finding out from our team about dog mobility assessment or eligibility. Head to our website again or you can give us a ring on 1800 037 773. That number again is 1800 037 773. Or you can email info [indistinct]. Again, thank you for listening to the show and I hope you tune in sometime next week for another episode of the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio.