Scottish association of guide dog owners SAGDO
Sagdo
Sagdo Scottish Association of guide dog owners is a unofficial self help group for guid dog
27/06/2024
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/YZHahVBg413R7MnR/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Goodbye and good luck in Australia, Laura!
It was a bittersweet moment when we said farewell to Guide Dog Mobility Specialist Laura Davidson, who has been offered an exciting opportunity working with Guide Dogs Victoria.
Laura began her career at Guide Dogs in 2015 as a Mobility Services Support Worker (now known as OSC), then as a Dog Care and Welfare Assistant, before becoming a Guide Dog Mobility Specialist within our Hamilton team.
She says: "I have loved my 9 years working with Guide Dogs and I am grateful to everyone that has supported me along the way. I have lots of amazing memories and a million photos (we all know I love a selfie) to take with me on my travels."
Wishing Laura all the very best! 💙
[Photo shows Laura holding her qualification certificate as she kneels next to a trophy and trainee guide dog Flynn, golden.]
09/06/2024
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/kJD55xLjHvw4RMgx/?mibextid=WC7FNe
We’ve just launched our Guide Dogs General Election manifesto! Our ambition is for a future where every person with sight loss can live the life they choose. Here are 7 key actions we’re calling on the next government to take to make this a reality 👇
1) Support a national law on pavement parking, like the ones in place in Scotland and London. Four out of five people with a vision impairment said that pavement parking makes it difficult to walk on the pavement at least once a week.
2) Update guidance and standards to make sure our streets are accessible and safe for everyone. Clear paths with consistent features such as tactile paving are essential for people to get out and about safely. However, our streets are increasingly becoming less accessible.
3) Make sure all rental e-scooter and e-bikes must be parked in fixed-docking stations and not blocking pavements. Fast, almost silent e-scooters are often being ridden anti-socially on pavements, and rental e-scooters and e-bikes are frequently abandoned and blocking paths.
4) Put the safety of people with sight loss at the centre of the development of self-driving vehicles. Self-driving cars, also known as automated vehicles, could be a hugely positive development for people with sight loss. But they must be fully accessible and safe.
5) Deliver a National Rail Accessibility Strategy to ensure our railways are accessible for everyone. From inaccessible stations/trains to a lack of passenger assistance and accessible info, our railways all too often act as a barrier to getting out and about independently.
6) Strengthen the law to stop guide dog owners being turned away from businesses and services, and ensure staff know the legal rights of guide dog owners. Over 80% of guide dog owners have been refused access to a business or service because of their guide dog.
7) Make sure all children and young people with a vision impairment can access the life changing services and support they need, when they need it. Ensuring all children and young people can access high-quality specialist support will empower them to reach their full potential.
Over 2 million people are estimated to be living with sight loss in the UK, including 41,000 children and young people. We're calling on all political parties and candidates to commit to these 7 actions, and to improving the lives of blind and partially sighted people.
If you’d like to read our full manifesto for July's General Election, you can find it on our website 👉 https://bit.ly/3VAqBqE
[Visual description: A golden retriever, with their tongue sticking out, is sitting in front of a brick wall. Beside the dog is a white A-board with "polling station" in black capital letters printed on it]
08/05/2024
01/05/2024
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/UR1CMbog46VFVh74/?
‘A Buddy for Life’, our special collaboration with Beano and the first audio comic strip story created especially for people with a vision impairment, launches today! 📢
In the comic strip story, available as an insert in the Beano issue on sale Wednesday 1st May, Erbert, Minnie, Dennis and Gnasher discover all about our life-changing support when Erbert reveals to his school friends that he is living with sight loss.
Follow them on their journey from Beanotown to Guide Dogs’ National Centre as they meet two new characters along the way, inspired by real life partnerships, Hester and guide dog Pickle, and Alex and buddy dog Chance 🦮
Learn more and listen to the audio comic on our website here 👉 www.guidedogs.org.uk/beano
[Visual description: A cartoon graphic which shows (from left to right) illustrations of the Beano's Dennis the Menace and Gnasher lying on the floor with two illustrated guide dog puppies, the Beano's Minnie the Minx holding an illustrated guide dog puppy, an illustration of guide dog owner Hester with guide dog Pickle (Black Labrador) buddy dog owner Alex with buddy dog Chance, Beano teacher Miss Mistry and Bash Street kid Erbert. The background is a giant blue pawprint which has been distorted with lots of tiny blue pawprints surrounding. The Beano and the Guide Dogs logos are at the bottom of the illustration]
22/04/2024
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/2S9VjZYYMn3ig51K/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Doing a talk for Scottish Association of guide dogs owners 😀
16/04/2024
06/04/2024
https://www.facebook.com/share/Smse5dFmDZNh3Pad/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Congratulations to guide dog owner Steve who has just been partnered with his new guide dog, Golden retriever x Labrador, Garner 🦮
Coincidentally Garner has been matched with Steve exactly 10 years to the day that his now retired dog was matched with him!
Garner proudly wears a red and white checked harness which signals a guide dog owner has both sight and hearing loss. Steve says he is 'very grateful for everyone who has been involved in Garner’s journey to get him to where he is today' 💙
[Visual description: Steve is standing in a garden with guide dog Garner, yellow Golden retriever x Labrador, sitting at his feet. Garner is wearing his red and white checked harness]
17/03/2024
17/03/2024
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/ZVuUfVrQVwAxDW8X/?mibextid=WC7FNe
Did you Know? This is our new weekly update!
For the next two months, we will share information every Sunday that we believe you, as our reader, may find interesting. As promised, we will kick this off with tactile paving.
Please remember that this is our interpretation of guidance on tactile paving. Please follow the Department of Transport for accurate and up-to-date advice.
Guidance on tactile paving states that there are six different types. We will feature each type of paving over the next six weeks.
Tactile paving surfaces are important because they convey vital environmental information to people with low or no vision. These include hazard warnings and directional guidance, thereby supporting independent mobility. Tactile paving surfaces can be read by foot or cane.
1. Blister paving
The profile of the blister surface is a series of tactile (raised dots all in a uniform sequence). This is used to mark road crossings.
The guidance states that red blister paving with a stem/tail (much like an L shape), which extends from the drop-down kerb to the shoreline (wall-line), is used to mark a controlled crossing. However, there is an allowance for the colour to fit with the heritage of the location.
The control box should always be positioned on the right. However, this guidance is not always followed.
Image description: controlled crossing with red blister paving
NB: Tan/sand-coloured blister paving is used for uncontrolled crossings.
22/02/2024
https://news.sky.com/story/guinness-world-records-oldest-dog-bobi-stripped-of-title-13078220
Guinness World Records' 'oldest dog' Bobi stripped of title Bobi died in October at the reported age of 31 years and 165 days. His breed typically has a life expectancy of 12 to 14 years.
02/10/2023
19/08/2023
29/07/2023
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=606727038254225&id=100067508021769
Chef Craig has partnered with Vision Australia to share his journey 👨🍳
‘Cooking up a Storm’ is a children’s book and the newest addition to the Big Visions book series. The series was developed to educate children about what blind and low vision people can achieve, following their dreams just as Craig did.
Last week, Craig visited 6 different bookstores across Sydney, signing copies of his book.
‘Cooking up a Storm’ is also written in braille.
Learn more: https://bit.ly/3Dp5o8T
13/07/2023
Interesting article
New headsets bring Wimbledon to life for visually impaired fans Device trialled at tournament captures images with camera and projects them into sight line
12/07/2023
09/07/2023
The little girl in this photograph is Ruby Crane.....from the age of 3 years old Ruby walked blinded soldiers around a rehabilitation centre called St Dunstans at Brighton in Sussex, where Rubys Father was the head gardener....she knew they were blinded and just returned from the first World War.....wandering in the grounds she would take ahold their hand and ask them where they wanted to go ( individual workshops ) and guide them there....people were so affected by little Ruby walking the blind soldiers around they would send her dolls and toys as a thank you for all the support she was giving to the men and women affected by sight loss.....little Ruby was rewarded with a long life as she passed away in her late nineties, in 2011.
Ruby recalled..... " I always remember how my little hand seemed so small in their big hands....they were so pleased to have a child come and talk to them....it was something different away from the monotonous grind of not being able to see things, I think. "
Ruby was so popular that she featured on the front page of the St Dunstans first Annual Report for 1915/1916 and later Flag Day emblems incorporated a similar design that featured Little Ruby.
Evaline Brueton Consulting Historian-Disability Pride month series
08/07/2023
Too good to go breakfast ..
was it worth dirtying the box?
05/07/2023
Sent in by SAGDO Gordon Omar and Sage at the filming of the Antiques Roadshow at Pollok House
05/06/2023
Everyone at Guide Dogs was saddened to learn about the passing of the well-known and much-respected Mary Bolland, aged 102.
Mary was a big part of the Guide Dogs family over many years and left a lasting impact on the staff, volunteers and supporters who knew her.
Mary qualified with her first guide dog in 1962. She was a guide dog owner for 55 years and had seven in total: Flash, Enid, Annabelle, Wanda, Onyx, Hannah and Veda. These guide dogs helped Mary lead an active and independent life, together dispelling misconceptions around people with a vision impairment at that time.
In an interview with the Glasgow Times in 1991, Mary spoke about how having a guide dog had changed her life. She said: “For the first time in my life I could get out and about whenever I wanted to. I always feel totally secure when I’m outdoors with a guide dog. If you have faith and trust in your dog, it’s not frightening at all.’
Mary had been totally blind from the age of two, having lost her sight after contracting measles in 1922. Despite that diagnosis at a time when medical advances had only come so far, she spent many years working in a Glasgow factory, where she met her husband. The pair had a daughter Anne, who spoke lovingly about how her mother has inspired her.
Anne said: “I’ve always been very proud of my mum and feel so lucky. I had a great childhood. She was a very good guide dog owner, she always did very well and loved her dogs. She’d overtake a lot of the younger ones, so Flash was very well named! I think that’s what kept her going all those years, the walking and adventures she had with a guide dog by her side.”
Mary also inspired her town of Larkhall, and in March 2021, her local community raised £5000 to name a guide dog puppy in her honour. Scott Cunningham MBE, who along with other supporters, helped raise the sum, said: “Mary was a great help to me when I lost my sight as a young adult, giving me indispensable advice and helping to teach me how to read braille. Naming a guide dog puppy seemed a fitting accolade for an incredible lady and friend.
“The generosity is testament to what Mary Bolland meant to the people of Larkhall and beyond and how highly regarded this lovely lady was. To have a guide dog pup dedicated to her after her magnificent life means so much to so many.”
We would like to offer our heartfelt condolences to all who knew Mary, particularly her family, friends and the local community in which she was a very big part. 💛
[Photo shows Mary with her second guide dog Enid, black.]
30/03/2023
Myself and Yara will be going for a visit
https://www.facebook.com/Wee-Dog-Shop-104518205716665/
Wee Dog Shop Wee Dog Shop is a stall in the historic barras market. We stock dog toys, treats & accessories 🐾
05/07/2022
Happy 70th birthday to Margaret Cowie chairwoman of SAGDO
09/05/2022
Search dog Bute and Trainee Search Dog Lewis along with their handler Christyne attended The Windermere Manor Hotel this afternoon.
The Scottish Association of Guide Dog Owners were at The Manor Hotel for their AGM and wanted to hear all about our association, what we do and to answer questions.
We also got to meet just some of the beautiful guide dogs.