Vicki and Farrah's story

00:11S1

On this episode of The Seeing Auto Show on Fishing Australia Radio, I'm your host, Harriet Moffat, and I'll be joined by seeing eye dog handler Vicky Jolly and her seeing eye dog Farah. We're going to be talking about Vicky's life, her story and her partnership with Farah and her previous Seeing Eye dogs. If you're blind or have low vision, and this interview makes you want to find out about if a single dog is right for you. Keep listening. For more info or call or email us to chat to the team on 1800 037 773 or email info at Seddon ago for now. I hope you enjoyed this interview with Vicky and Farah. Hi, Vicky. Thank you for joining me on the show today.

01:07S2

Thank you very much, Harriet.

01:09S1

So could you please start by introducing yourself?

01:12S2

Okay. My name is Vicky Jolley. I'm married to Stephen, who some listeners might know that he was manager of the radio station. So you've got some time ago. 

01:25S1

So you've got a bit of a radio legacy here, then.

01:26S2

A little bit, yeah. Not that I know much about the radio station, really, but its workings, of course.

01:37S1

Well, we weren't asking you to run it.

01:39S2

No. Thank you. Not a good idea. And I have a, we have a son who's now a grown up, who's now grown up and has... and we have... and he's living with his partner. And we have a granddaughter who's just started school.

02:01S1

Oh. That's exciting. Was that like, a few days ago? Started school.

02:04S2

Last week.

02:05S1

Oh, well, that's kind of an exciting grandparent moment, isn't it, to have your first grandchild off to school.

02:10S2

It is actually scary in a way.

02:13S1

Yeah, I think that kind of means that we're all growing up. It's like if the kids are growing up, then we're growing up and that's just less palatable.

02:19S2

Yes it is. It means we're getting older.

02:23S1

But, you know, kind of nice to see them also. You know, it means maybe when you're grandparents soon you'll be able to have like a proper conversation rather than, you know. 

02:30S2

Yeah. And it's nice to see them blossom. Yeah.

02:34S1

Well, I mean, I tend to see most of the things that I see blossom are dogs, and they just don't kind of get that mature that quickly, really.

02:41S2

No, I can understand that because I don't think she is sometimes.

02:47S1

So you're, we are joined by your seeing eye dog in the studio. Could you please introduce her and tell us a little bit about how long have you been working together?

02:56S2

My seeing eye dog is called Farrah. We have worked together for almost five years. Would be five years in June.

03:06S1

Are you going to have a little party? I feel like five years is kind of like a pretty good milestone.

03:11S2

I hadn't thought about it, but that's a possibility.

03:14S1

I'm just trying to plug into your mind, you know, ways that you could spoil your dog.

03:19S2

Oh, she gets spoiled anyway. Don't tell Cedar.

03:22S1

Yeah. For anyone that's listening, that's from Seeing Eye Dogs. You heard nothing. You knew nothing. And, you know, it's all tough love here. Yeah.

03:33S2

It's only a few treats here and there.

03:36S1

So how long have you been a seeing eye dog's handler for? And is she your first dog?

03:42S2

I've been a seeing eye dog handler for almost 17 years. And, no, she's not my first dog. She's number four.

03:52S1

Can you tell us a little bit about kind of some of your previous dogs in a nutshell?

03:57S2

In a nutshell. Okay.

04:03S1

I mean, for as long as you like. 

04:08S2

Really? There's Kiki, {?] connects, Linford and now Farrah. So they're all different.

04:19S1

And so Farrah kind of being the most recent one. She's a kind of quite like sprightly little girl, isn't she? She's a bit different to, I think probably one of the ones that I think people would have heard a little bit. But maybe you're an connects a story from SA appeal a few years ago. Or something comes marketing related.

04:41S2

Clinics probably colleagues was the one who was sort of he was a sponsored dog. And I suppose he got the limelight really because comics, um, paid for him outright to be trained. And he was in all their, all their free papers, of course, of him growing up. Of course, he loved that.

05:11S1

A few extra treats for a few extra photos.

05:14S2

Yes, I think so. Stephen calls him the Prince. Called him the Prince because he sometimes, if he saw anybody he knew he was, he would get up on his on his toes and he would look. So look at me.

05:26S1

I am the spotlight. It's me.

05:29S2

Yes that's right. And she's, Farrah's a little bit more... reserved in that sense. But yet anyone she knows really knows. Like you, for instance. She's playful as.

05:47S1

She's definitely got a lot of... spirit in her, I think, like, in a nice way. Ah.

05:52S2

She has, she's a little challenge sometimes, but she's beautiful.

05:57S1

So looking back or kind of thinking back, I guess, to, um, probably your first dog. What? Or prior to your first dog. What made you decide to apply for a seeing eye dog? And have you always been blind or had low vision?

06:12S2

I've always had low vision from birth, so I've never known any different. And it has sort of got worse over the years. But what really, I suppose, made me think about it was I happened to be talking to a trainer because I was working at seeing eye dogs for a little while, and I was hoping just talking to a trainer, not thinking it would lead anywhere. And he said, would you be interested in going on the list? And I thought, Oh no, I haven't even that hadn't entered my head. I said, why? I said, because I thought. I could say too much and all I got was a laugh. I didn't get an answer because then I thought from now, because I really thought people had to be totally blind to get a dog to be eligible for a dog. And I was not totally blind, and I certainly didn't consider myself in that range at all.

07:16S1

And prior to that, were you using a cane?

07:19S2

No, I was as independent as they came.

07:22S1

And and kind of just working your way through things.

07:27S2

Bluffing my way through probably with...

07:28S1

Challenges.

07:30S2

Challenges. And big challenges really, when I think back now. But yeah.

07:33S1

It's probably one of those things where you think, Oh, had I considered it, you know, ten years earlier or five, I mean, everything, you know, everything would have been very different. But, yeah, you wouldn't kind of have gone through some of the things that you've gone through now.

07:46S2

But no, I wouldn't if life would have been a lot easier, I can tell you, but I just it didn't enter my head. So to me, so.

07:54S1

For anyone who has low vision and hasn't really considered it, maybe it's just worth kind of thinking about.

08:00S2

It certainly is. At least it certainly is, because the amount of freedom that these dogs have given me is amazing, and I thought I was as independent as they come.

08:13S1

Well, it's quite interesting to think about, especially that kind of like that perception that you've had haven't grown up your whole life with low vision and just assuming that that was kind of how it had to be.

08:23S2

That's right. Well, I grew up in a family of six children, and five of those, all my siblings could say, except me, and I did almost everything they did does the occasional thing I got banned from doing because I've had to call upon them to help me.

08:45S1

Bail you out for something.

08:48S2

Like, get me down out of a tree.

08:50S1

Oh, yeah, I mean, heights and kind of just depending on, I guess, your kind of vision condition, but heights and especially something like if you had short sightedness a little bit tricky, a little bit tricky to judge.

09:03S3

Just a little bit as well.

09:05S2

I didn't know where my brother went to start with, oh dear. Let alone follow him, and then look down and think, how do I get down from here?

09:18S1

I'm quite afraid of heights, so the idea of kind of getting stuck up in a tree really gives me the heebie jeebies. I'll be honest.

09:25S2

I wasn't frightened. I just suddenly realised I've got to get down, but I don't know how to.

09:30S1

And so then they said, from this moment on, you're going to be staying on the ground. Yes. So with your kind of current dog, Farrah, what are your favorite things about her and why do you think that you might have been matched?

09:46S2

My favourite things about her is she's. Sprightly always that she's a tease artist and she'll give me come and want to play with me, give me a toy to play with. But then they'll take it off me. Go to take it from me. Won't let it go for me to play it, throw it or whatever. And then there's other things like she works which will work brilliantly, and then all of a sudden she'll just decide, No, I want to go that way.

10:25S1

Is there typically a reason? No, not that you know of.

10:29S2

Not that I know of. No. She's just there's a little bit of a stubborn streak. And I often thought, Is it me? Partly me. And somebody did say to me, well, we did match you.

10:42S1

Oh, I thought...

10:44S2

Oh, okay. Yeah, there may be. Maybe I'm as stubborn as her.

10:49S1

I think I had a similar thing with one of the puppies that I, uh, that I was raising a few years ago. That was a little bit, um. Yeah, a little bit smarter, too. Too smart phone. Good. And and I kind of said about that and I think I had a similar, you know, well, you know, she's with you for a reason. Oh, okay. Okay. I'm going to be quiet about that one now. Yeah.

11:07S3

Same here. 

11:10S1

So you think you might have been matched a little bit for having some sort of kindred spirit, in being independent maybe?

11:17S2

I think so. And there's also the speed how you how you walk with, you know, speed, how much you walk, and what you do. Really.

11:34S1

So what is the kind of typical day in the life of of you two?

11:38S2

Well, I suppose we... rapping about most days we'll either go out shopping, up the street and out shopping, which she knows very well. Unless if I want to go somewhere else. She's not. She's questioning me.

11:59S1

Are you sure you're all right? You've forgotten our routine?

12:03S2

Yes. That's right. Or she would decide. I want to go that way. That's the normal way. I keep thinking, no, I want to go that way. But, the other thing. I go out and meet friends a lot, either for lunch or we go to the supermarket, go to big shopping, some big shopping centres, but they're not too big. So there are I know my way around pretty much. Or she does.

12:35S1

One of the two of you. Between the two of you, you can kind of muddle around and don't get stuck in a labyrinth where you have to, like, live that the rest of your life in the food court.

12:42S2

No, it's been the occasion that we've walked around the food court a couple of times, and I've said to her, can you find the way out? Find the door. And she she sort of thinks this is a circle, ma'am. Where do we then? She'll work it out. She's fine.

12:59S1

She's like, Hold on a minute. We've kept going around and I keep following a curve, and it's just taking us the right way back around.

13:05S2

Yeah. But we get there.

13:09S1

So what are the kind of, I guess, reflecting on almost five years together? Are there any particular kind of best outings that you've done together?

13:19S2

Going to places like... a restaurant that we've gone to on a number of occasions and the people tend to know her, have recognised her because she gets played with her out of harness. But forget my name.

13:41S1

Oh dear.

13:44S2

And I often remember that that happens a lot. But it's actually a nice feeling that knowing that she's well and truly accepted.

13:54S1

Yeah. I mean, you're you're just kind of like the person attached to the dog, but she's...

13:58S2

I'm not the handler, mind you, but yeah.

14:03S1

I think that's quite kind of funny, though, really, isn't it? Because, you know, like the reverse of, you know, kind of not being accepted into somewhere is it's, you know, really awful. Whereas, you know, they're like, Oh, great. Our friend Farrah is here to visit. You're like...

14:16S3

Okay. Yeah.

14:18S1

As long as they hopefully still serve you really nice food.

14:22S2

They do fine. They do. Oh we're lucky. Yeah. Yeah they do.

14:26S1

So do you have any kind of plans for the future or any trips that you'd like to do with Farrah?

14:34S2

No, not not really. Not at this stage. At the moment, I have taken her on planes and she's she's very good on them, but we haven't long... oh, okay, that's a few months ago now... come back from an overseas trip. But I didn't take her because it was too, too much work to do to worry about taking her across, taking her over. And it did stress her anyway.

14:59S1

Yeah, it sounds like the paperwork of it makes it sometimes not particularly valuable. Unless...

15:04S2

Yeah, yeah. So she goes back to a puppy care and has a ball. Anyway, she's she's on holidays like we are. And that's what I often do. Otherwise we'll go up to the country. That's no problem.

15:15S1

And what does she kind of do when you're up in the country?

15:19S2

Oh, well, we'll go up to Euroa by train and she knows where to get off now, and... because as soon as I say yes, she's up and ready to go, we get out of the train. I don't have to give her any directions of which way to go.

15:46S1

Okay, so you've been there a few times, then.

15:47S2

Now? Yeah, because we have family up there and she loves it.

15:52S1

And probably nice for her to be able to kind of breathe in some of that country. I just as much as for you guys, it.

15:57S2

Is actually it's nice and relaxing and she has a lot of fun.

16:01S1

So really the the main, the main kind of trips, like going up to somewhere like Euroa is really, that's what you need to be doing more of.

16:10S2

Yeah we do. Yeah.

16:13S1

So do you have any particular kind of funny memories or stories that you'd like to share?

16:25S2

One time with conics in particular. We went down a gold mine and, he was in the lift and the g... he was in the lift. And the guy said, oh, I didn't put a helmet on him or, you know, couldn't get earmuffs small enough to go over his years or anything like that, you know. And he said, but the helmet, he said, I really worry about that.

16:53S1

That's so interesting. Was that like a kind of you do one of those, like kind of Ballarat tours? 

17:00S2

Yes. And and the mine shows. And he got a little bit scared of the noise, but other than that he was fine.

17:07S1

And he didn't need the helmet.

17:09S2

He didn't need the helmet neither. Neither did we did. Neither did us. We just manage. So he was just brilliant.

17:19S1

There are some pretty cool places that you've probably been to with the cicadas. I feel like the mine shaft is one of the more... unique ones that you just wouldn't think of. Oh, can't you know, can you go there? Would you take a single look there? I don't think that would have to be one of those things that I would think. Oh, yeah. Well, you know, seeing our dog handlers obviously take their dogs on public transport to cafes, restaurants, to workplaces and also down the mines.

17:42S2

Not, that's a once in the blue moon. That one's a rare one.

17:49S1

Is that one's a bit more rare? I mean, you know, you could say it's a gem, but I feel like that might be a bit too much of a dad joke.

17:54S2

And there is one, one other one it's to do with comics again, that we went to a Tuka and we went to a winery, but it was over in Moama. And we've got on the boat. All right. The the steam boat. Okay, fine. No, no stairs or anything, but we get across to your or to Myanmar, and if we've got to go down this up and down ladder, it's just a straightforward ladder to get off. And he stood there and just looked down and thought, how am I going to do this? This kind gentleman picked him up, harness and all. Lifted him straight off, 35 kilos and carried him down the ladder and he couldn't hold on.

18:52S1

Oh my gosh, that's quite impressive balance for him.

18:55S2

Somebody said to me later, the look on the dog's face was incredible. It was much to say as I'm in harness. How do you... stop touching me. I'm a working dog.

19:12S1

People aren't going to take me seriously if I'm being carried up and down this ladder.

19:16S2

That's right. And when we got back, we had to do, we had to get up the ladder, didn't we? To get off where we got on.

19:24S1

Oh, and he had the same thing.

19:26S2

No, no, somebody was going to do it. But he decided no, nobody's going to carry me anymore. He just walked. He just started walking, took a jump, jumped up two rails of the ladder. Yeah. And I thought, hold on, I've got the lead. I had to I had to go up after him. Oh, no. He just walked up the ladder.

19:47S1

How tall was the ladder? I can make, like a meter or half a metre or something.

19:51S3

Half a metre. Okay, but it was straight.

19:54S1

Oh my gosh, that would have been quite alarming.

19:57S2

It was. But he got a good clap at the end when he came up.

20:02S1

I like that he took that into his own paws. He's like, okay, well you know what? I think I know what I need to do now to avoid being manhandled.

20:09S2

Exactly. I'm not being manhandled again.

20:13S1

I think you should give that a crack with Farrah and see what she makes of it.

20:17S2

I think she'd freak.

20:19S1

You probably not be as keen. Okay. Fair enough. Maybe that would be less fun though.

20:22S2

She wouldn't even walk across the water and walk across some rocks in the water.

20:28S1

She's like, No thank you. Why would I then? Maybe that's maybe that's her princess side coming through.

20:33S2

Maybe Chronixx was no princess. He just didn't know how to do it. But he wasn't going to be carried up. The step up the ladder again?

20:41S1

No, I like that. I've had a few times where I've had a dog, and I've kind of either not been like either, like the lifts not worked or something. And I've, and because with the puppies in training you can't use like translators and I've had to pick them up and I can see the look on their faces like it really is like, Please stop embarrassing me. Please, like, unhand me.

21:01S2

Well, I couldn't see that it was someone else who had said the look on that face dog's face was priceless.

21:08S2

Fuming. I wished I've had a photo.

21:12S1

If you kind of zoom in enough to see. So is there anything that you wish the general public knew about seeing eye dogs?

21:20S2

I wish the general public would know, would take notice of the fact that these dogs are not pets. They're our guides and they're working. If they're in a harness that they are working. Not not a toy and that they don't just distract them walking, you know, just walking along and just putting their hand down and just touching them like some people do. And you know, they are animals. So they're going to just turn around and investigate. Investigate like anyone else, like a little child does.

22:02S1

Yeah. It's it's really important that one for people to kind of understand even even things like making noises can be really kind of problematic. Yeah. I think that kind of cooing and that type of thing is, can be...

22:17S2

Like a dog whistling to the dog, you know.

22:20S1

Can be quite dangerous quite quickly.

22:22S2

Of course it can.

22:24S1

Yeah. Are there any other messages that you would like to share with, kind of the some of the supporters of seeing eye dog like donors or volunteers?

22:31S2

I'd like to thank the supporters and volunteers for what they do, because if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have these dogs working for us in the first place because there wouldn't be, um, they wouldn't be as well trained because the school wouldn't be able to run as easily without the supporters and volunteers.

22:53S1

There's a lot that goes into getting dogs like that, even when you like you said, they're not they're not perfect, but they come out to be pretty nice dogs overall.

23:01S2

Oh, but we're not perfect, so why should they?

23:04S1

I like that, and you know what? Like, you know, imperfect people, imperfect dogs. You know, it's kind of a match made in heaven, isn't it?

23:10S2

It is. Exactly.

23:12S1

Well, thank you so much for coming on the show and talking about your story and your dogs.

23:17S2

Thank you very much for having me, Harriet.

23:24S1

You've been listening to the Seeing Eye Dogs Show on Vision Australia Radio. I hope you enjoyed my interview with Vicky. Talking life of a handler and her seeing eye dogs. If you're blind or have low vision and you would like to find out if a seeing eye, dog or dog guide mobility is right for you, call us on 1800 037 773 or email us at info at Seda for you to chat to the team. We'd love to chat with you and there's no obligation to just discuss your circumstances. 

We're on the lookout for more awesome volunteers to help us raise Seeing Eye Dog puppies. Volunteers are essential to creating well-rounded, lovely canine citizens who will hopefully go on to become seeing eye dogs for people who are blind or have low vision. We could not match partnerships like Vicky and Farah without our lovely volunteers. We are looking for volunteers currently in parts of Victoria including Greater Melbourne Region, Geelong, Mornington Peninsula, Macedon Ranges, Bendigo and Ballarat regions and surrounding areas, and in Queensland in the Sunshine Coast region and selected areas of Brisbane and Gold Coast and in New South Wales. We have a caring program in the Central Coast and selected areas of northern Sydney. We have a wonderful community of volunteers, so while you help a puppy hopefully grow into a seeing eye dog like Farrah, you'll get to experience watching the puppy grow and learn whilst making friends and being part of something special. 

Personally, I've just taken on another canine co-host on this show and I'll be raising cash for the next year until she's ready for training. Cassia is a small black lab Golden Cross, and she is the daughter of Iris, who has been part of this show for about two years now. I am very excited to see what she'll be able to get up to, and I'm looking forward to getting to know her more and getting her happy and confident in the world. Do you fancy joining me on this amazing journey and raising a puppy of your own? Well, all costs are covered and training is provided through dedicated expert seeing eye dog staff. You can find out more about Puppy Caring by heading to our website at Sydney, Australia. Org and don't forget to check out our social media such as Instagram and Facebook for more puppy content and information about puppy caring, seeing eye dogs, news, events and community matters. 

Thank you for listening to this Seeing Eye Dog show on Vision Australia Radio. Don't forget to tune in same time next week for another episode of the show, or head to your preferred podcast platform for more episodes of this and other great Vision Australia radio shows.