00:10 S1
On Vision Australia radio, you're listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show with me, your host, Harriet Moffat. Today I've got an interview with Lizzie Eastham, Seeing Eye Dogs handler of Lacey, and also someone who is a host of Studio 1 on Vision Australia Radio. So we're going to be joined by Lizzie talking about her story with seeing eye dog Lacey and their life together, as well as why you should get around the Pet Barn Foundation appeal for this year for seeing eye dogs. And then I'm going to be announcing the names for 2024. The name selected and submitted by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community in recognition of NAIDOC week. And then I'm going to be talking to you a little bit about puppy caring and then finishing off this episode with some vet tips. Thank you for listening and I hope you enjoy.
Now to kick off our episode with my interview with Lizzie. And as a note, I was going to... cut out that audio or rerecord, but the puppy that I'm currently raising decided that she would have a drink during recording, a drink of water. And I just think that maybe this is how the Seeing Eye dog show gets its essence. I think this is a dog show. We're dogs and for dog people. So I hope you enjoy my interview with Lizzie. Lizzie, thank you for joining me on the show today.
01:34 S2
No worries. Thanks for having me.
01:36 S1
Please introduce yourself.
01:38 S2
So I'm Lizzie Eastham, I'm from Adelaide, 30 years old, and I am currently an employee of Vision Australia Radio, working on the Studio 1 programme which airs weekly. And I've had my beautiful black lab seeing eye dog Lacey since July 2015. So, you know, that's that's why we're here and that's what I'm here for.
02:01 S1
Coming up to kind of nine years of partnership is... pretty cool. Can you tell us a bit about Lacey? And when we were talking before, you're kind of saying about how she's not exactly your typical ten year old dog, is she?
02:14 S2
No, no. So I would love to say that she's mellowed with age, but sadly, this is just not true. I remember when I first met her, I was working for another community radio station here in Adelaide at the time, and the instructor came out with Lacey to meet me there and then, you know, drive me home and discuss the future and what the plans were for the next couple of weeks of training. But when I met Lacey, she jumped all over me, just about bowled me over and licked me to death. And I knew then and there that she was my dog, you know, she was just as mischievous and boisterous and energetic as I was and still am. So I knew right then and there that she was my dog. I was her her mum and that was it.
03:02 S1
And so, you know, I guess kind of thinking back about the match really did, did work. You know, you had maybe a slightly... silly dog then, who's still silly now and... it's worked pretty well for your partnership.
03:18 S2
Yeah. So actually originally just just touching on that, when the assessment process was getting done, I had actually specified that I wanted a male dog. I had this unfounded sort of fear that I wouldn't get along with another female dog. I'm not sure where that came about or what brought that on, but when I so when I heard that I was going to get Lacey, I was a little bit apprehensive, but that all but disappeared when I got her. And I met up with her, you know, and in the car park at the community radio station, because it was love at first sight, kind of, you know, that was the sort of chemistry and energy that was there. We bonded straight away, and I've never looked back since.
04:03 S1
So is she your, so she is your first seeing eye dog. But thinking back about it, do you remember what kind of made you decide to become a handler? And also, would you mind sharing a bit about, I guess, you know, your diagnosis of or what your kind of sight or vision or blindness is like.
04:19 S2
Yeah. So I have septo optic dysplasia. So this basically means that the optic nerve that connects the eyes to the brain is not fully developed. I sort of like to use the analogy that it's like a frayed television cable, if, you know, you can imagine that. So I've been totally blind since birth. To be honest, the main reason I really wanted to get a seeing eye dog was so that I can increase my walking speed. I've always been quite an active person, quite a fit person, and I've always been a fast walker with a cane. It's just not, you know, it's not that easy to walk fast, especially when you've got a, you know, flick it around and sort of gauge where obstacles are. So that's the main reason I got a seeing eye dog. And it has helped me tremendously because I have been able to walk at a faster pace. And obviously Lacey and I work safely within the community. So yeah, I think I made the right choice.
05:19 S1
Are you planning on continuing your handler journey?
05:22 S2
I think so, yes. I was reluctant to because I had planned on keeping Lacey until she passed on, which I'm still planning on doing, but I wasn't going to get another dog once she retired. But I think that I will because I've tried to go out in the community using a cane, and it just provokes a lot of feelings of anxiety for me. I'm not as confident using the cane. It is more unsafe for me. I've never been the best cane user, I've got to admit. But with Lacey, you know, I'm able to move about the community safely and effectively. But with a cane, it's just it's too it's too much, really. And and I think the anxiety over the long term would prevent me from leaving the house as much. So yes, I am planning on continuing with another seeing eye dog once Lacey is retired.
06:15 S1
So what is the kind of typical day in the life? Or if you don't have a typical day, kind of, I guess. What are some of the typical outings that you might get up to in a day in your life together?
06:24 S2
Well, you can be rest assured that between 5:30 and 6:00 on any given morning, Lacey will be up wanting to go to the toilet. It's become even more so a priority now that she's gotten older. You know, older dogs need to go to the toilet a bit more, I suppose. We don't really have a typical day, but our week usually follows a structured routine, so I'll give you a Wednesday as a typical example because we attend a walking group. So we'll get up. I'll take her to the toilet, give her a feed. I'll get ready for the day and then, you know, before lunch, we'll usually go on a 7 or 8 K walk with the walking group, and it can be at a walking trail or during the summer months, we go to the beach. And that's where I'm able to let Lacey free off the lead and give her some time to run and play and just be a dog. And we really enjoy that.
And then we go out for lunch. And then, you know, we'll come home and rest a while and then, you know, she'll inevitably want to play and, you know, dinner. She has a nice, healthy dinner and then off to sleep. But yeah, we do a lot of walking out and about in the community. She comes with me to work. She comes with me to walking, group board meetings, all sorts of things. There's not many places that I don't take her.
07:46 S1
Seven and eight Ks walking is quite a fair amount for you and her together, but I can definitely think about if you're not a super confident cane user, that would be a really long a large amount of walking for something that kind of, is not comfortable for you either.
08:03 S2
Well, I just didn't do it back then. I didn't do that sort of walking. I had to rely on other ways to to keep my fitness. And, you know, this is one of the great things about having Lacey. We are able to go on long, fast walks whenever we want, and and we're safe. We're. You know, she keeps me safe. She guides me really well. As she's gotten older, we haven't been able to do as many of the long walks I keep the longer walks to once a week, and then we go on a few shorter walks during the rest of the week. You know, and then obviously there's all the incidental sort of work, such as when she comes with me to the studio and things like that.
But, you know, I believe in keeping her fitness up and keeping her mobility going. And even though she's getting older, just keeping one long walk in once a week, it's really important for her. And it you know, it's a way for us to bond together and just be out in nature together.
09:08 S1
Thinking, over the time that you guys have been a partnership, are there any kind of particular outings that you've done together that you know, have either been favorite or kind of memorable?
09:20 S2
I don't have one in particular, to be honest, because we've had so many. And to pick one would be I would have to sit here and rack my brain for hours to find one in particular. But I will say that in the summer months with the Wednesday walking group, when I'm able to take her to the beach and she's just free running and rolling around in the sand and the seaweed. It brings me so much joy and happiness to see her just letting off some steam and being a dog. And she's so cute and energetic and oh, it's just it. It instantly makes you smile just because of how happy and content she is.
10:05 S1
She sounds like she has a very good life with you. She sounds very... well loved and very well looked after.
10:12 S2
She is. I, you know, I think she's probably more spoiled than most dogs. We've been on so many adventures together. Not only does she get to go to the beach, but she's gone hiking. There's a really big hill here in Adelaide called Mount Lofty. I guess it's classed as a mountain. But it's there's a whole national park, um, based around this hill. And we've gone for many hikes in and around the park and to the summit of Mount Lofty. She's been to Deep Creek, she's been to Kayapo Forest. She's been on holidays with me, not interstate, but we've gone around South Australia. She's a really well travelled dog, and there isn't much that I do without her.
10:59 S1
So just to kind of finish off, why should people get around, you know, Petbarn and the City Farmers campaign. Do you have any messages for the supporters of Seeing Eye Dogs?
11:10 S2
I suppose the message that I have for supporters of seeing eye dogs is that the impact that they have on our lives cannot be bought. There's no... you can't put a price on that sort of companionship or, you know, and you can't put a price on the confidence that they give us out and about in the community. As for Petbarn, I get a lot of my products from Petbarn, for Lacey, her food, her bedding, her toys. They supply us with good quality products all year round. And the Petbarn staff just love to see her. So if you know you're thinking about donating to Petbarn or to the campaign, just know that the money does make such a difference to us. It ensures us, you know, sorry... it ensures that we get great quality products. It ensures that seeing our dogs has the money to continue raising these amazing dogs and putting them through the rigorous training that they put through. So I would encourage anyone that's thinking of donating or considering donating to seeing Eye Dogs or Pet Barn. Please do so because it really means a lot to us as a blind and visually impaired community.
12:26 S1
Well, thank you so much for joining me on the show and talking about your partnership with Lacey. You guys sound like a very special team together.
12:33 S2
Thank you. And thank you for having us. And thank you to all of the donors and supporters out there for seeing our dogs and for Pet Barn. We really do appreciate you. And from the bottom of our heart, we say a big thanks.
12:51 S1
You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interview with Lizzy Eastham talking about her and seeing Lacey and their life and partnership together. If you'd like to support the Swiatek's Papillon Foundation appeal, head to your local city farmer's or Petbarn store and make a donation in-store. Those donations go to support more partnerships like Lizzie and Lacey, so we really appreciate the support of that campaign.
And now I've got a few announcements for you talking about NAIDOC week and about our puppy caring why and how you can give up a puppy. I'm proud to announce the selected names for puppies recognising Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander culture as part of our Nadc Week 2024 celebrations. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee. The theme for NAIDOC week this year is Keep the Fire Burning Black, Loud and Proud. NAIDOC this year turns 50, and this theme celebrates the unyielding spirit of our indigenous communities and celebrates one of the oldest continuing living cultures on Earth.
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year, observed this year from the 7th to the 14th of July 2024. To celebrate and recognize the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The selected names from our NAIDOC week puppies this year come from the Yorta Yorta Nations and have been submitted by a member of our community, considering their culture and the themes of NAIDOC week. Stay tuned to our Facebook and our Instagram pages for photos of these puppies, who we do hope will do these meaningful names proud.
The selected names are picture meaning fire, which is chosen as it aligns with this year's theme, and Gowalla, which means kind. To signify our need for more kindness in the world, these names were considered to be meaningful submissions by our panel, and that they demonstrate a strong connection to country and recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage. Newly named Tabichi and Gwala are young puppies currently living in a puppy centre. They will soon go off to carer homes and commence their puppy development journey with volunteer carers. We'd like to thank all those who've submitted a name and shared their culture with our team.
Don't forget that if you'd like to raise a puppy like Beka or Gowalla and you live in our selected areas of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria, you can help us by becoming a puppy carer. One of the common questions we are asked is how can you give them up? Or people tell us they think they could never do that. But I'm going to talk to you a bit today about how our marvellous volunteers do it. Our cameras definitely miss the puppies that they care for when they go to another home or in for training. This isn't like having a pet dog though. You spend the puppy's whole journey working towards a goal and reminding yourself that they have a job and a purpose. We know that they're not our pet dogs. It's a very different bond you have, and when you're working through things with your dedicated puppy development trainer, you also feel a sense of accomplishment in overcoming obstacles and watching the puppy learn and grow.
This means that when the puppy goes off, you also feel a sense of pride at what you've helped the puppy achieve. That's one of the reasons that our community finds the work that they do so very rewarding. You also get support from your puppy development trainer and the community when it is time to say goodbye. You are not alone and you have people with you every step of the way who are there to guide you. You also know that the dogs who go on to make it really change the life of a handler, which is something really special. To be part of raising a puppy means you get to help make a difference, and carers can remind themselves of that mission. When a puppy you cared for goes off into the world and helps bring increased independence and freedom to someone who is blind or has low vision. You know that giving them up was right for that dog and that they found their purpose.
Lastly, many carers take on another puppy once they've handed one in for training or that puppy moves on to another home or career. Channelling yourself into raising another puppy can be a perfect way to focus on not missing the last dog. So what are you waiting for? Attend one of our information sessions. You can head to our website to read more, or spread the word to friends and family who you think might be keen to raise a puppy. We're looking for puppy carers now and have wonderful puppies who are looking for their homes to help them reach their potential. Seeing eye dogs couldn't make amazing partnerships without the support of our volunteers, so we would love you to think about whether puppy caring is right for you.
And now I'm going to play a piece of audio from one of my interviews with Ashe, talking about Body Condition Score. Just to round off this episode, I hope you enjoy and thank you for listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs show.
18:14 S4
So we'll talk about body condition score in dogs. What... is that? What's the body condition score? So, body condition scoring is pretty much our way of telling whether or not dogs are under or overweight. Given that there's so many different breeds of dogs. So it's not like humans where you can kind of go based off of BMI or just a weight. Because, you know, a Chihuahua obviously weighs significantly different than a Great Dane. So... and going by numbers, you know, if you have a cross breed or anything, it can be quite difficult to to know what amount of kilograms your animal should weigh. So body condition score is much easier. And it's what that's used in conjunction with the weight, to determine whether or not your animal is a healthy weight.
So you can always do a little Google search for a body condition scoring chart. Sometimes those are quite helpful because you can see the little pictures and kind of match the picture to your own animal. But a really basic rundown of it is what I like to do is run my hands along the ribs of an animal. You should feel their rooms with gentle pressure if they're a nice, healthy weight. If the ribs are just sticking out and you barely have to touch the animal to feel their ribs, they're definitely too skinny. If you have to dig your fingers in to feel the ribs, then they're definitely overweight. So I think that that's a really easy way of judging whether or not your animal is an adequate weight at home.
You know, obviously things like pregnancy and stuff like that can affect it. But, in general it works pretty well for animals. You can also do things like looking to see if they have a waist, um, you know, a nice little tuck of their tummy. Again, there are lots of lots of photos of these. And the body condition scoring is something that there are charts for pretty much every species for. So if you have... a cat or a bird or a horse, you can look up the body condition scoring for those animals as well. And they're just a bit different because the animals have different anatomy.
20:17 S1
But I guess I was thinking that my next question is going to be about kind of why, you know, is weight a metric of fitness, even kind of with like littermates or dogs in the same breed, which you've kind of covered it? It's interesting, isn't it, because you'll have two litter mates and one of them's tall and one of them's, you know, a completely different build, even of the same breed. And I know kind of standard breeding makes it a little bit less that that way. But you can't really just say ours should be the same weight because they're even siblings. Can you?
20:45 S4
No, you can't, because, yeah, they can be different sizes. One might have been the runt of the litter. You know, it can really vary between animals, and there are medical conditions that can make it really difficult for an animal to either gain sufficient weight or lose sufficient weight. So, you know, if your animal is at and non-ideal body score and you modify the diet and the exercise and you're not seeing results, you're, you know, either not seeing a skinny animal get to a more healthy weight or a chubby animal get skinnier. Then it's probably worth discussing with your vet, maybe running a blood test to make sure that there isn't any sort of endocrine or hormonal cause that's preventing them from achieving a healthy weight.
21:31 S1
So are there even any kind of other factors that would make, say, a dog of like the same height as another, a different weight?
21:40 S4
Some of it can be musculature. So that could be the actual diet they're being fed. So you might be, you know, at a dog park or something, and you're talking about how you both feed two cups of food to your Labrador a day, but every food has a different amount of calories, so you can't actually go by volume. You have to go by the calories in the food that you're feeding. And pretty much all animal foods have a feeding guide on the back where they tell you how much you should feed. And you know what kind of volume equals the appropriate amount of calories. o not all not all foods are the same for sure. And that could be a really big factor. And it's something that's often lost, when people are talking casually about their animals' diets.
22:26 S1
And I suppose with the kind of feeding chart as well, that would be something to kind of keep in mind, that actually that will also depend on dogs' exercise. So you can't can actually just go, That's got to be it. So if they're fat then that's not correct because that's what the chart says.
22:43 S4
Yeah. So some brands will give you, like an active versus inactive animal feeding guide. So if you have a really kind of couch potato animal, it'll tell you to feed a bit less if you have, you know, like a working dog that's running 30k a day, you're gonna have to feed it more because it's expending more energy. And and usually they there is a guide on that. Or if you speak to your vet, they might discuss an alternative diet that's more appropriate to your animal's activity levels. I guess it is important to note that the main way that we manage weight in animals is through diet, rather than through exercise. Exercise is great for their muscles and their bones and all of that, but it's not going to make a massive difference in their body weight. So if you have a chubby dog that you're trying to get to lose weight, walking an extra K a day will work as effectively as reducing the amount of food you're feeding it.
23:40 S1
When we're kind of looking at that, judging the the body's condition by touch with that kind negate some of the issues with people, you know, kind of thinking, Oh, my dog's just fluffy or or long haired or something?
23:55 S4
Yeah, yeah, you know, it definitely does affect it. A lot of people, especially now that poodle crosses are really common and they're very, very fluffy. You know, it can be really hard to tell how large a dog actually is when it's furry. So the the running your hands along the ribs, I think is the easiest way of getting an objective measurement. Certainly easier than putting it on a scale and trying to piece together what the number means. Your animal might be fat and fluffy, and that's fine. I think the other big thing is kind of changing our mindset on what a dog should look like.
So, for example, I have a golden retriever who is a great body condition. She's kind of right on where I want her to be at, you know, being a vet's dog. I mean, you'd hope that be the case, but people often come up to me and tell me that she's too skinny, because they're so accustomed to seeing obese golden retrievers that they think that the obese ones are actually what they should look like normally, and that anything that's a healthy body weight is actually too skinny. So I think that if we're constantly seeing overweight animals, it's easy to normalize them. But you need to recognise that just because a lot are overweight, it doesn't mean that they're all healthy. It might just mean that there's a lot of unhealthy animals of that breed.
25:14 S1
Isn't something like half of dogs are overweight? There's some statistic and it's like mind blowing.
25:21 S4
I don't know the actual numbers, but, you know, colloquially, from my experiences in private practice, I would say that it would be at least half of them. And sometimes it's, you know, people genuinely don't know or, you know, they do think that they're supposed to be bigger. It can be quite difficult when people just get a lot of enjoyment out of feeding their animal. And, you know, their animal loves it and their animal's happy when they give them food, stuff like that. But, I guess it's important to remember that you can kill something with kindness. And making them overweight does predispose them to a lot of issues, issues with their heart. They can get arthritis earlier. They can have things like gastrointestinal or pancreatic issues. They can get diabetes. Really, the list is endless. And and on average, an overweight dog actually lives two years less than a normal dog.
26:21 S1
And then the last thing I was thinking is for people that have breeds that are kind of made bigger or more muscly, and they're not entirely sure what that should look like. So I've got a friend who's got, you know, a Bull Arab, so quite kind of big and and chunky and it's just like, solid. Can you work with a probably what, say, work with a vet to work out what that body score should look like?
26:41 S4
Yeah, definitely. You know, it can be a bit difficult. I find things like Bulldogs and yeah, Bull Arabs, some some kind of really muscly Staffies. Those kinds of dogs can be hard to body condition score because they have so much muscle on them, that you can't really tell. And that's also an issue that human athletes face because their muscle weighs so much that it actually puts them in a BMI that's considered overweight, even if they're an Olympian or something, and they're clearly a very fit individual. So you can... that's definitely a situation where I'd work with your, that, the body condition scoring to some degree will work because typically the muscles that overlie the ribs don't get super massive. You know your dog isn't out there doing any like, lat exercises and stuff like that.
So, usually you can still do the running your hands along the ribs trick with a very muscly dog. But if your dog just has a kind of awkward body shape and you really can't tell, just bring them into the vet. And it's it's not a big deal. We can always discuss a plan and figure out if it's actually a good way or not. For your animal, it's just us giving you that advice because we want what's best for them and what's going to keep them healthiest for longest. It's not a commentary on who you are as a person or your lifestyle or any of that. It's not meant to be offensive. It's we're just meant to be, I guess, championing the welfare of your pup.
28:10 S1
You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interviews with Lizzie Eastham, talking about her life and partnership with Seeing Eye Dog Lacey, talking about the new NAIDOC puppy names for 2024 and a bit about puppy caring, and then the vet tips that I shared with Ashe about body condition score.
If you'd like to find more episodes of this and other Great Vision Australia radio shows, you can head to our Omni FM podcast platform or your preferred podcast provider. If you'd like to find out more about seeing artworks, the work we do, or how you can help, head to our website at sed.visionaustralia.org - and don't forget to tune in same time next week for another episode of the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you have a lovely week.
