Life of puppy carer Amanda, and vet chat on kennel cough

00:36 S1

On Vision Australia Radio, you're listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show with me, your host, Harriet Moffat. Today I'm joined by two guests. The first is puppy carer Amanda Pritchard, who is a first time carer raising seeing eye dog puppy in training IRA. We're going to be talking about her experiences as a first time puppy carer, and then I'm going to be joined by Doctor Ash Mooney for some information, tips and tricks around kennel cough, what it is kind of diagnosing it and then how to work with your vet to treat it. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoyed this interview. Hi Amanda, thank you for joining me on the show today. 

01:18 S2

Thanks. It's so good to be here. 

01:19 S1

Could you please start off by telling us a little bit about yourself and also your role at Seeing Eye Dogs.

01:24 S2

Well, I have always wanted to be a Seeing Eye Dogs volunteer, but I was traveling a lot and I had my own dogs, or I was dog sitting. And then my circumstances changed that I would be stable in Melbourne. And I thought, yeah, I'm ready, I'm ready to do this. And... I had my first seeing eye dog pup pup trainee Ira. He's a black lab. I got him at four months, which is awesome for a first time because he's already toilet trained. But yeah, he was already just at such a good place, you know? And... it was love at first sight at Kensington, I have to say. Yeah. And it still is... it's been three and a half months now that I've been with him. 

The process is so insane, so different to what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be like really intense, like, you know, this manual. And every week I might get like, you know, 700 things I had to read... and it's not like that at all. It's like, Here's the thing that I want you to do with him, and then we'll see you in two weeks. I was like, what? I just, I kind of freaked out, to be fair, but it was so right. And now it's three months on and I see exactly why. That's the way the trainers do it. Yeah, it's... remarkable.

03:13 S1

I guess that's one of the things that's like, it's like you do have your homework and you've got your specific tasks, but also you're also just living with the dog. He's just doing things with you 100%.

03:23 S2

I remember like when we first met, Abby taught me how to put his jacket on. It's just new to me to reward anything with a dog, because I've had... I mean, I had a beautiful boy who I 100% like love, but, God, he was a shithead. I didn't train him. He would jump. He literally, there was one time we were in a cafe and he stole a baguette from someone.

03:54 S1

So good taste.

03:55 S2

Yeah, yeah. That's Roger. That was Roger. And... we thought that was cute. I don't think that's cute anymore, because I have a whole different perspective of three months doing what I'm doing... and I just, I remember Abby saying, you know, Just reward when he looks at you while you're walking. And that was, I literally went home with him with that. And I didn't see her again for two weeks. And that's what we did. And I was like, I am so good. I'm amazing. Look at me. I was like, walking with him around Saint Kilda, and he was looking at me and I was training him. But then also, like I was like, I know that the less I treat him, the better that is, right. So I was like, so, so, so good. 

And then Abbey sends an email and she's like, group training. And I'm so excited because, like, I want to meet other puppy carers and I'm so excited to go to this group training. And I have had maybe two and a half weeks with Ira at this point where he's just so good, you know, he's doing really well. He's he's stopped looking at birds, for example. He's stopped being, well, not properly at this point, but he's basically navigating around the stuff that he's supposed to do, basically. Yeah. Anyway, and so I get into this group training. It was just not... he just... lost his shit. He was off. I literally had him jumping out of my lead, you know?

05:47 S1

Oh, no.

05:47 S2

Yeah. And I'd got, and we'd gotten there with him being the most perfect puppy. Right. And then all of a sudden, he sees all these other dogs. And we've been around dogs. He's been able to go OK, and be, and not be distracted by dogs. But in this intense kind of, all these dogs. And I have to stop. Oh my God. He just went crazy. And Abby literally comes up to me and just gives me peanut butter. And the peanut butter thing was a new, it was new to me at the time.

06:23 S1

Just drip-feed the peanut butter.

06:24 S2

And so essentially for that entire training session, I had to have peanut butter with him. Yeah.

06:30 S1

And if you weren't used to, like, actually treating your dog, training is not a thing that you did with your previous dog. Like, why would you give her a reward? And suddenly it's like, here's a special reward that means more. It's like, what? What is that about? Yeah. 

06:44 S2

Yeah. And it's like, I'm learning this stuff and I'm like, Oh, that makes sense. Like, why doesn't every single dog owner do this basic training, you know? That was and continues as I get more and more, you know, involved in this, becomes something that I realise, you know, more and more people should do. Yeah.

07:12 S1

Have you done a group session since?

07:14 S2

Yes, yes, we've done a couple and they've been way better. Yeah. So, like, you know, he's still a dog, all distractions are still his major. For other dogs, it might be birds or it might be burgers. Oh, like Ira is amazing. When he gets in a zone, he's in his zone and nothing can distract him but a dog in close, in close proximity especially. Yeah, that's his hardest. But yeah, we've had... sessions since, and that's still really tough. But Abby, I and Abby. Abby herself is the biggest thing that he loves. Like, nothing is actually nothing more that Ira loves than Abby the trainer, because she... 

Oh my God, like, I can't even explain to you how mental... like he and I live in a tiny flat, right? And when the buzzer goes off for, say, someone's coming to just, you know... drop off a parcel or Deliveroo or whatever... he just doesn't even move. The moment that it's Abbie, Boom! He knows, it's really weird. Like, he... will sit still when it's anyone else. But when Abbie calls, he's up.

08:48 S1

He's like, Oh, I don't know.

08:50 S2

I don't know whether he can smell the van on the street or anyway...

08:56 S1

Yeah. I mean, the breeding dog that I have, who's almost three was on ABC and... whenever we see Abbie, she still is like mesmerised. And I've had, like, Abbie on the phone when we've spoken for work purposes or the radio interview and Iris has gotten up and she's been like, where's Abbie? I'm like, mate. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So it's really strong and they don't seem to grow out of it. They seem to always love their [?pets. pdts]. It's just the nature of things.

09:23 S2

He adores her. I think, like the last time we caught up, I was so, so proud because we were able to walk together with him, not looking at Abby for like, probably the first time.

09:38 S1

Oh well, yeah. And it's all about gradual improvements. All of this stuff, you know, if you expect them to be like, you know, not weird about Abby in one session, it's not going to work. But eventually they start to get get their brain in order. Just a little bit, maybe.

09:55 S2

Yeah, something like that.

09:58 S1

What else have you been up to together?

10:01 S2

So it's just me and him... I don't have any kids. I don't have a boyfriend or a husband or anything. And so... and I work in the musical kind of comedy industry, so I love to go and see a lot of that. He goes to the footy a lot with me and my family, and we've had great experiences at Marvel Stadium and but there was one time, most of the time it's been amazing, but there was one time and I, because I was booking for a huge group of us and I knew that it would probably sell out. And so I was really specific and I called them and I was so super specific with like, Hey, I've got this, I've got a seeing eye dog, I've got this, and I've got kids and family and concession. 

Anyway, I spent probably half an hour on the phone, and when I got there and... the ticket, the only space for him was on a stairwell of people going up and down stairs. And it was really horrible. And I thought to myself, if I was a visually impaired person, holy shit. What would I do right now? You know what I mean? Like... and so anyway, I basically I went out and I just said to the person on the aisle, I said, Look, you know, there's supposed to be a space for him. I really tried hard to make this happen. 

Anyway, they dealt with it so beautifully. I ended up having, like, the manager, and they moved me and eight of my family. Wow. Yeah, they moved us into, like, the Medallion Club... which was nice, you know, pleather seats and Ira had all the room in the world. It was nice. But also, I just think, Can't we make that a little bit easier for someone? I just, my mind just went to the person who isn't... doesn't have their their sight, you know, and I just thought, Far out. Imagine if that person had to deal with that. It really, yeah, it freaked me out. But they were brilliant in terms of dealing with it. So yeah.

12:38 S1

And how does Ira go at the footy? Does he, you know, is he kind of confident? Because it's a pretty challenging environment, I mean. 

12:45 S2

Well... the first time it was so cute. Just fell asleep. There's a TikTok of it actually. A friend of mine made a TikTok of it and it's literally like, Hey, here I am on my way to the footy. And then like, kind of looks at it. And he did. He kind of looked and he was like, Yeah. And then he went, Hey, this is boring. And he fell asleep... yeah.

13:08 S1

If I can't play, I'm not staying awake.

13:11 S2

Exactly, like... and then, but the time, the other time... so we've been a lot. And most, like I would say, 90% of the time he falls asleep or chooses Kong, then falls asleep. But there was one time where he literally just sat up and watched, and it was when we were in the Medallion Club. It's when we got upgraded. Oh, and he, and we were behind the goals and it's very weird. I was I was like, What are you doing? What's your interest here? And he just was like watching very nonchalantly, like in the cutest way. Yeah. So cute.

13:58 S1

I mean, you know, I guess if he can actually properly, like, see it, then you've got the balls and you've got all of the little, you know, tiny looking little players kind of running around. Like, it would be quite, quite bizarre, you know.

14:09 S2

I imagine so, yeah. Because like, so you know, obviously seeing eye dogs, we don't want them to run for balls. Actually, one of his early things was people playing football. He loved that. But he not at all anymore. Actually, it was really... it was kind of... I feel like I was watching him processing in his own mind. Like I want to be there. It's a long way away. I can't, you know.

14:49 S1

There's glass blocking me. Settle. I'll settle for watching. But next, next time let me on the field. And I'd be faster than the players. 

15:00 S2

Oh, and he would. Yeah, I'll kick that goal. Nick Daicos, who are you? Oh, I'm Ira.

15:08 S1

I mean, I'd buy a footy card with his face on it, you know, whatever. Whatever you do, if...

15:15 S2

Oh my God, I would, everyone. It was like. I remember in the school holidays, the first school holidays that I had with him. And I live in St Kilda, and so I'm right near the Palais. And The Wiggles were playing, oh, like three shows a day, right? Wow. And I live just around the corner, and we would walk every day, and these kids would come out and they'd be with their merchandise and blowing bubbles and wiggles and da da da da da. And then I was like, they all adore him. You know, the, like they've gone to the Wiggles and then they're just looking at Ira and wanting to do, you know, and like, yeah, there's he's a superstar on his own. He just... 

Yeah he makes that's of being a carer probably of I love every single aspect of it. There's really not much to say. That's not, I honestly, I love so much of it, and I keep learning more things that are great about it. But the part where people smile at your puppy when you're going past them or... you're on a tram and someone strikes up a conversation with you, like it just happens all the time, you know? Or people, like, so many times, like, even just at the 7-Eleven the other day, like, I had him and I was getting a cheap coffee, and the guy opens his phone and shows me a photo of his lab. Oh, yeah.

16:59 S1

Like people love it. Yeah, just love it.

17:05 S2

He makes people so happy. And that makes me happy. Well, and even just walking past someone. They don't have to even look at you. I love just seeing that they're smiling at him. It makes me so, so, so happy. And anyone that that happens with any dog like I remember that would happen with Roger. My dog, my dog. But the, there's this different kind of respect and understanding when they've got that coat on as well. You know, people kind of look and go, Ah, I have to respect the boundaries. But that dog is going to become someone's hat, you know, someone's guide, someone's seeing eye dog. And it's yeah, it's really oh, that's so good. I just I adore him. It's going to be very hard. It's going to be very, very hard to... give him up, that's for sure.

18:08 S1

And when you do, are you planning on taking on another one?

18:12 S2

Oh, 100%. I found out so in the mums group of the I litter, of Irish litter... they are amazing and I am so glad that I got hooked up with them really early in the piece... because a lot of them have had dogs, you know, six, seven years more.

18:33 S1

Oh, wow.

18:34 S2

Yeah. And I so one of the I because I was, I was really curious about the breeding program. Because being a single woman who hasn't had kids and isn't able to have kids, kind of like, Mm, that's interesting to me. So I wanted to ask about that. But then also I just wanted to ask because in preparation for him going, because he will at some point. And one of them told me she likes to get her next puppy, like, a month before. Yeah.

19:15 S1

Overlapping.

19:16 S2

I'm like, What? That's a thing. She's like, Yeah, of course it's a thing. I'm like, How do you do that? Anyway, so I don't think I'll do that this time because I'm not that, like she's been doing it for ten years or something, but it's nice to know. And it's just nice to know that I can... you know, I'm very invested in him graduating very, like, hugely. I want him so badly to go to someone that needs him. But I'm never going to stop doing this. Yeah. So I'll get my next puppy. When? Yeah, I want another puppy.

19:59 S1

And it's essentially like each different puppy is another kind of chance to to get the same goal that graduation, you know, each different one is a is a new story, and you can apply what you've learned from from Ira to the next one. It's pretty cool, isn't it?

20:16 S2

It's so amazing. I learn something new every single day. Abby is probably. I know Abby love... I know Ira loves Abby more than me. It's fine. It's, he's always going to.

20:33 S1

You can... call it novelty. I sometimes I say it's the novelty because you're there all the time. They take you for granted, you know?

20:39 S2

Oh, yeah. Well, I'm seriously I honestly, sometimes I'm like, Ira, you always do this. Exactly like this. Now Abby's here. You're not. Come on. Like, what's going on? But here's the thing. Abby's gorgeous. You know, there's nothing not to love about her, so I can kind of... I get him, I totally. Yeah, I'm a bit the same. I'm, like, a bit in love with Abby as well. So she's the way that she has... it's honestly, I can't even, if I look back and think, I can't even believe how it works, and it works, and how brilliant the process is... as a first time person, do you know what I mean? 

Like, I'm just... I get floored. I have realisations, like, every day I'll go, Oh, that's why, Oh yes, I'm so smart now, boom boom! Germaine. And it's just little, little things. The process of... it's intense. It is like... it's not easy. It's not. But it's actually more rewarding and more fulfilling and more fun than I thought it was going to be, ever. Yeah.

22:14 S1

Well, thank you so much for joining me on the show and talking about your experiences as a first time carer, and as well for all of the work that you're doing with them with Ira, it sounds like he's making awesome progress and he's very lucky to have such a good team behind him.

22:29 S2

He's doing so well. He's... been sleeping. So yeah, he needs some exercise now.

22:36 S1

I think he'll be... ready for his, he'll be ready for his walk. You know at least just leg-stretch and then go back to napping.

22:44 S2

That's it.

22:50 S1

You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interview with Amanda, talking about her life as a first time carer and her life with Ira. If you'd like to find out about becoming a puppy carer, head to our website at Sydney Vision Australia. Org you can read about it or you can attend an information session upcoming. 

And now I'm going to be joined by Doctor Ashe Mooney from Seeing Eye Dogs vet team talking about kennel cough. Can dogs get a cold?

23:19 S3

So dogs can often get something called kennel cough, which is a disease complex. That's most often when you hear a dog coughing or sneezing. It's typically kennel cough, at least in Australia. And the signs often present as a little bit of what we call a goose honk cough. So a really kind of hacking, almost like a goose... making their yeah, their honk sound, coming from the dog. Sometimes they'll have sneezing, sometimes not. They may or may not have discharge from their nose, just like a human when they get a cold. Or they could sound audibly congested, just like a human would sound.

23:55 S1

So why should owners ensure that their dogs have up-to-date vaccinations for things like kennel cough?

24:01 S3

So kennel cough is often spread... one, in a kennel environment, as the name states, or a lot of the time in dog parks and things like that. But the virus can actually live on surfaces. And you can, your dog can get it from just walking past another dog at a cafe who might have it. And it's really important to vaccinate them, because then you're ensuring that your dog will have a much lower chance of getting kennel cough if they are exposed to another dog that might have it. And sometimes the other dog that has it isn't even showing symptoms of it. 

Kind of like when Covid was a big deal. You could have people spreading Covid who weren't sick. And also similar to Covid, the vaccine doesn't always 100% prevent the dog from getting the disease, but it significantly lowers their risk. That being said, if a heavily infected dog is coughing and sneezing right in your dog's face, it might still get the disease - just because the load of the virus is so high that it surpasses what the vaccination is able to do.

25:03 S1

And if your dog is not vaccinated for kennel cough and it does... get it, is the... I guess virus likely to be worse in symptoms?

25:15 S3

Yeah. So typically, because their immune system hasn't had a chance to formulate a response through a vaccine, they will get much more unwell. And in private practice, I've actually seen a number of kennel cough cases turn into a full blown pneumonia in which the dog has to end up staying in an oxygen cage on multiple antibiotics. And that that can be quite scary because obviously when you can't breathe, things can get very serious very quickly. And any time an animal ends up in an oxygen cage, it also ends up becoming quite costly to the owner.

25:48 S1

So I guess when we're talking about, I guess, kennel cough being a little bit like a cold. Also like a cold, not something to be taken super trivially either.

25:57 S3

Yeah. Definitely not. And you know, if it's really mild, you just hear your dog cough once or twice... you can you can use sort of common sense, like you would if you had a child or yourself. You know, if they're still bright, you don't want them spreading it around. And so you don't want to be taking them out to the dog park and stuff. But if they're starting to become lethargic, you're noticing discharge from their nose or their mouth, or they just don't seem quite themselves to you, maybe they've stopped eating. Those are all signs that you should probably take them to the vet, just to make sure that it isn't turning into something more serious, or they might need antibiotics or something like that.

26:33 S1

Is there anything else that we've missed that is good for owners to know about kennel cough?

26:38 S3

I guess it's important to know that kennel cough is not contagious to humans. Sometimes I get asked that in private practice. So if your dog has kennel cough, you don't need to stress, you know, if you're immunosuppressed or something, you're not going to get it from your dog. And if you have cats or anything like that, they won't get it from your dog either. There are certain animals that can get kennel cough from dogs... but it's not very common. And that would be on a case-by-case basis, to speak to your veterinarian about it.

27:11 S1

We've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interviews with Amanda Pritchard, puppy carer of IRA and Doctor Ashe Mooney from Arsenio Dogs Vet Team. 

We've got a lot of upcoming information, sessions and events where you can find out more about puppy caring. We're looking for puppy carers in parts of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria to help raise our puppies to become life changing seeing eye dogs. We've got an upcoming information session online for all states on Tuesday the 22nd of October from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm Australian Eastern Daylight Time, which is going to be via Zoom. 

We've got a stand at the Nillumbik Pet Expo in Diamond Creek on Sunday the 20th of October, or you can come and see us at the Main Street, Mornington Festival in Mornington. On Sunday the 20th of October, we'll also be at the Portarlington Markets in Portarlington, which is on the Bellarine Peninsula. The following weekend, Sunday 27th of October, or the Avoca markets on the 27th of October, which is in Avoca Beach, New South Wales. If you would like to meet us at the Whittlesea Annual show, we'll be there at the Whittlesea Showgrounds Saturday 2nd of November and Sunday 3rd of November. We'd love to have you along and come and talk about puppy caring. 

Or if you'd like to find out more about the work we do or how you can help, you can head to our website at sed.visionaustralia.org - including heading to part of our Puppy Caring page to find out all of our upcoming events. Thank you for listening and don't forget to tune in, same time next week for another episode of The Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio.