The Sniff Of Approval

Tags

Acceptance, Animal and children, Awareness, Blind, Blindness, Connect, Counselling, Diversity, Dog, Education, Equality, Free spirit, Guide Dog, Munch, Non Judgement, Pet Therapy, Visual Impairement

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Going to counselling for the very first time can create a mixture of feelings. From nervousness to relief, most people will feel something about what lies behind the counselling door. Most people however, will not expect to be sniffed and may be a little perplexed when they are met with a friendly dog who has no personal space boundaries and happily sniffs them to analyse their whole entire life.

Munch’s initial sniff of approval will first tell him if of course they are “one of his people”. If said person enters the room with a hint of Suzi the Schnauzer scent on them, he knows they will be best friends forever. Anyone who loves dogs in his eyes, is a trustworthy person. To be fair, he accepts cat people too but may not go and get his toy to offer them a game of fetch as he knows that feline friendliness operates on a totally different level.

A quick sniff of their bag, will determine whether there is a chance they can bond over the love of food. The beauty of working in schools means that lots of young people carry food with them and therefore the cupboard love will begin from the first nostril full of beef crisps. In all honestly, he is a little more partial to the meat eater clients taste palate as he gets far too bored with his maid’s vegan one. Chicken will always be preferred over cucumber. He has tried to convince her to bring a far more exciting lunch to work each day but she stubbornly refuses. Sigh, you just can’t get the staff these days.

The mud lovers in life also come top in his favourite type of people as they are seen as the fun ones who would play with him outdoors. A sniff of a sweaty sports kits tells him that these are good friends to go on free runs with. They may not want to chase squirrels up trees with him but at least they would be more energetic than his maid he is stuck with. Despite the fact they are there for counselling, he will have ideas in his head that they have come to pick him up for a play date.

When tears begin to fall from their eyes, he is the first one there to catch them as they fall. He gives his doggy kisses to shaking hands and a gentle paw in their hand to know they are not alone. He smells unhappiness and won’t leave their side until they want him to as he snuggles in beside them. He sniffs cut knees through their trousers and unless stopped will try to lick them until they heal. He sniffs out emotions along with everything else , to tell him what is really going on with the clients.

He may not be a trained therapy dog but he is therapeutically active in each session. Guide Dogs chose him to become a Guide Dog due to his loving and clever temperament which has in turn given him the opportunity to meet people who need him in their lives. This friendly scruffy face they meet each week, always accepts them and has been there for them since they received his sniff of approval. Luckily they are all pre warned that there is a dog in the room before they come , to give them the option of having a dog free counsellor if they wish.

The sniff test is not part of the assessment for counselling don’t worry. The patient clients who choose to work with an over friendly dog who is best friends with everyone, are so lovely. They allow him to be Munchlike in the room and still accept him just the same. The sniff of approval does go a little unbalanced however when he gets a little over excited and let’s out a rather noxious anal exhale and fills the room with green smog. The clients are so brave to come back into the room a week after such events but they do.

Dogs always know far more about a person upon meeting them then other humans ever will.

Loving Yourself Like A Five-Year Old

Tags

Acceptance, Acts of Kindness, Alternative, Animals and Children, Blessings, Blind, Connect, Expansion, Guide Dog, Meaning of lIfe, Munch, Perfection, Service

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What does my Five-year old granddaughter love about herself?

“I love my hands as they help give things to people. They can also do sign language to people who cannot hear.

I love my eyes as they can help see things for people who cannot see, just like you Mam.

I love my ears as they can listen out to help people who are deaf.

I love my mouth as I can talk to people who need to chat”.

I have always known that she was a beautiful soul, but I never realized just how bright her light within was constantly alight until I asked her this simple question. This glimpse into the mind of an innocent five-year-old who has yet to query her worth in life, took me to a place that I wish we could all live. These ideas have not been forced into her mind in any way, they have just emerged from her authentic perception of what it is really like to live in a world  with others with needs that are sometimes greater than her own.

She was just nine months old when Munch my adorable Guide Dog came to live with us so she cannot remember a time where Munch was not a permanent fixture by my left-hand side on days out. She has always been my eyes. When I drop something, she picks it up without being asked.  She holds things close to my face so that I can get a better view of the blurry object and she mastered using my white cane as soon as she could walk, just because she felt like it. To her sight loss is no big thing, it just is part of her grandmother’s life.

Munch to her is not a Guide Dog, he is just family.  I was told once by her teacher when I picked her up from school, that they had asked that morning what the name of my dog was. She looked puzzled at them and asked what dog ? With Munch weighing six stone and his head measuring thirty-three inches from the floor clad in a bright yellow and white harness, she thought they were talking about some other dog.  She told them he was not a dog; he was just Munch.

When children grow up with disabilities and other differences around them, they can only see normality. They accept the whole of a person as they are and know no different. Children who grow up alongside difference see an expanded version of the limited world other’s live in. They learn that for every problem there are a multitude of different solutions and they learn to love unconditionally and never with condition. They are the teachers that speak with the wisdom that we never thought we would here.

When a five-year old talks of including those in society that are often left feeling excluded, they will never be alone. It is this type of child who accepts without effort or limit and sees beyond barriers that need never exist. Kindness can only come from a place that it organically exists if it is to be omnipresent in every situation in life. When we are choosing to be kind in life, we are choosing to live an enriched path that will never see us alone.

What do I love most about my granddaughter? Her pure existence and everything that it entails.

Why Fear Should Never Win

Tags

Acceptance, Animal, Connect, Disability, Expansion, Fear, Full Circle, Guide Dog, Hidden Disability, Labradoodle, Life lessons, Unconditional Love

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If I had stayed in fear, I may never have a chance to kiss this gorgeous velvety nose.

Dogs were never really my thing. I never really ‘oohed and aahed’ over cute little puppies running around. This was partly because I could not really see them but also partly because I never really trusted them. I did not have full blown Cynophobia, but they were not my favourite animals to be honest. I was never bitten by a dog growing up or was scared in anyway by any, but I always had a healthy respect for the fact that they could turn if they felt threatened.

We had a cross Collie whilst growing up called Cindy who was with us for ten years until she passed when I was around fourteen. She was more human than dog so I kind of forgot that she belonged to the canine kind as she would come with my brothers, friends and I as we played Fox and Hounds and football. I was surprised that she was never scouted for a top team as she scored more goals than any of us put together. Cindy was one of us, other dogs were not.

I had a healthy respect for the ability of dogs to turn if they were threatened and therefore kept away from them.  This was one of the stumbling blocks that I was hanging onto when I decided to apply for a guide dog. The  main excuse I gave myself from applying for a guide dog was that maybe people I knew would question why I suddenly turned up with a guide dog when the majority of them never knew I had been registered as severely sight impaired (previously known as registered blind)  for a number of years. The other main reason was however that I was not sure if life with a dog was really for me.

What would happen if I did not learn to read the dog’s signs of distress or if they were too hot and frustrated? What if I could not pick up on the cues that they needed something that I did not know about? What if the dog did not like me? What if the dog did not like coming into schools with me for me to carry out my job? The negative ‘what if’s’ snowballed more than the positive ‘what if’s’ until I got over myself and started turning the scenarios on their head and saw love instead of fear.

What if I tuned into the dog’s happiness as soon as I met him/her? What if I used my knowledge of their dislikes to arrange our lives to avoid them? What if our intuition synched so that we naturally picked up on each other’s needs? What if the unconditional love between our both species had no limit? What if the dog became part of the staff at the schools that we worked in and had his/her own fan club? My natural positivity trait began to chase away this alien negative frame of mind that had invaded my life. How would I know what life would be like with a guide dog if I was not going to try?

Three and a half years on, it is easy to look back and laugh at the imagined fear that nearly kept us apart. This face that lights up the life of many may have rested upon another sofa if I had not opened my mind beyond the sticky pit of fear. His strands of hair that lay across the house may have had to be vacuumed up by another hoover and his muddy paw prints would have to be mopped up into another bucket. Most devastating however may have been that his big squishy velvety nose may have been kissed by another pair of lips.

Facing you fears and doing it anyway will always bring about the unexpected and for me, it was magical. This mischief maker was worth the gamble. Turning fear into love may not be that hard after all.

A Personalised Hello

Tags

Connect, Happiness, Inspire, Kindness, Loneliness, Love, Positive mental health, Positivity, Support

Hello to the child that nobody sees. As the world zooms by when you feel all alone, we will be here waiting for you to want company. We can’t wait to hear what makes you happy in life which we will listen to for hours and enjoy it all. Tell us your problems and we will find a way together to destroy the power that they have over you and find the solution that you need. We see what an utter piece of perfection you really are.

Hello to the teenager that feels so many emotions. When you feel different from your friends that you were once so close with, we will notice your sameness in your ever-changing world. As you talk about your hopes and dreams that everyone else wants to quash, we will help you make the plans that you need to turn them into a reality. We will be your sounding board to things that need to be said. We are so excited to see you transform into the contented adult that you will become.

Hello to the first-time mother that has just entered a whole new world. When you feel overwhelmed with change, we are here to help you find the normality in this. When everyone is cooing over you baby and forgetting you, we will pay attention to you as a person as well as you as a mother. When you feel like you could cry endless tears, we will assure you that our waterproof shoulders are always waiting for you. As you grow with your baby, we will all have happy hearts.

Hello to the middle-aged man who feels lost in life. When things are not what they used to be, we will be there to watch you find a new way of life. We will be there to admire the new you that you were once fearful of creating. When you are looking for a simpler life in a complex world, we will help you feng shui the things that drain you in life. When you realize that the best part of your life is yet to come, we will be there to capture the memories.

Hello to the older lady who spends most of her time in her own company. When family and friends move away and get caught up in their own lives, we really want to hear about your life. Your experiences in life should be shared with us to help us appreciate the things that we sometimes forget. If you feel forgotten, we will remind you of your worth. We will spend time with you celebrating everything that you have created and are yet to create.

When people feel lonely in a world with over 7 billion people, we need to act.

When people feel like misfits in a world full of conformists, we need to include.

When people feel fearful of change, we need to preserve.

The stories behind the people that we meet we may never truly know, but we should always be there to listen if they ever want to be told. Loneliness can not thrive in an environment full of positive connections so how do we create more? The power in the simple word of hello should never be underestimated. It can threaten the loneliness that may have taken hold in a person’s life. When we all begin to be there for one another, our own lives will take on a whole new meaning. Taking time to say a personal hello may mean more than you will ever know.