B129: Doggy Friends

​My first doggy friend as a little girl was “Tan” Guiry, the dog belonging to our lovely shopkeeper neighbour, Bridgie, three doors up on Mass Road.  At that time everyone kept their front door wide-open and, whenever he wanted, Tan would stroll down the road, cross our threshold step polished red by Peggy and stick his head around our inside door to see if I would play.  

​He was a black and tan mongrel mix (very few dogs back then were pedigree!) …. with a bit more black than tan.  He had the most soulful brown eyes and I would kneel down and tell him stories.  He would listen intently and was never in a hurry.  He would often stay for his dinner (usually leftover meat scraps and mashed potatoes in gravy).  He would only leave to go home to Bridgie once Peggy had given him a bowl of milk….in the days before we knew dogs were lactose intolerant.  Bridgie would often come out to call him home….I remember one day she had come out quite far on the road..but the further out she went, the further in our hall went Tan….as he hadn’t had his milk yet.  And Bridgie barely missed getting hit by a car!

A "Tan" lookalike

​He was the most docile poor dog….he rarely ever ran after a ball.  But he absolutely loved dance music and would come down in the evenings to lie inside our door to watch “Scotch Corner” with Andy Stewart whenever it was on our black and white tele.  Actually, I'm not sure if it he loved the TV show....or me attempting the Highland Fling each week!  Once the show was over and the credits went up, Tan would stand up and go home.  When we moved house in 1974, I was broken-hearted to leave him behind.  Our old house was blocked up as it would soon be demolished to make way for sheltered housing for the elderly.  My aunt Allie who lived opposite told us though, that for weeks after we left, Tan would come and howl outside the blocked up doorway….which broke my heart even further.

Andy Williams on "Scotch Corner"

As well as Tan, there was “Billy” Sheehan who lived opposite our house with Biddy and Martin. Billy shared the house with a pet budgie called “Joey”.  Billy was supposed to stay in his back yard but every so often someone would leave a door open and Billy would do a Houdini.  I always thought he did it to get away from Joey’s non-stop chatter.  In any case, the whole road would be involved in finding Billy and getting him home.  I couldn’t even hazard a guess as to what breeds went into Billy’s make-up, I only remember him as fat and fluffy.

Next door to Billy lived “Lassie” Walsh, my cousin dog.  Lassie was one of the only female dogs around and she had a lovely temperament.  Maybe too lovely a temperament as I remember when she went into heat, dogs came from all the neighbouring areas to court her.  I remember Ned Maher’s dog “Prince” who was an old German Shepherd limping up and down the footpath in pursuit of Lassie even though he was old and had a bad hip!

A "Lassie" lookalike

When we moved to Hill View, we had “Dandy” Walsh as a neighbour next door.  Dandy had been reared with a cat and washed his face by licking his paw like a cat does. I remember trying to feed Dandy some of my cookery class failures but he politely declined every time! Dandy’s nemesis was “Rusty” Wells who lived four doors up.  I know hate is a strong word but they really hated each other….they would bark abuse at each other whenever they could.  Once Rusty ran in through Dandy’s open front door and they had a huge row in the living room before they were eventually separated.

Next door to Rusty lived “Whiskey” Diffily.  Whiskey was a little gentleman and regularly walked up and down the footpath.  He would look in our gate as if to say hello.
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I was a bit wary of the bigger dogs “down the avenue” as I was unfamiliar with them.  I always gave “Shep” Hannigan a wide berth as he had a reputation for being cross.  I was also a bit nervous of “Bruce” Bourke not because he was cross but just because he was bigger than me.

Guide Dogs in training

So, you see, although I never had a dog of my own, I knew quite a few of the neighbourhood dogs.  I saw what valuable companions they can be and the valued members of a family they become.  They are particularly important as guide dogs or assistance dogs and do amazing work keeping their human friends safe.  Therefore, I have always supported Irish Guide Dogs (https://www.guidedogs.ie/) as a charity and currently sponsor the training of a puppy called Brady for a tenner a month.  They send regular pupdates and photos which I love getting!

My Sponsorship Certificate

The dogs from this charity enable people who are vision impaired achieve greater independence and mobility.  Guide Dogs act not only as a mobility aid but also as a constant support providing both safety and social benefits.  They give greater freedom to enjoy getting out and about, both for work and socialising.  One of the initiatives they offer is a 3-week residential training programme where new guide dog owners are invited to their Training Centre where a team of expert instructors give training to the individual and their new doggy on everyday skills, from crossing roads to using public transport, as well as dog handling, feeding, grooming and vet care.  They train people from the age of 16 and there is no upper limit. All services are provided at no cost to the individual.

Irish Guide Dogs also train and offer Assistance Dogs to support the families of children with Autism.
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Lastly, and importantly, the charity supports individuals in all three areas of advocacy: Self-advocacy, Individual advocacy and Collective/Systems advocacy.  What this means is that:

• they give support by providing clients with the tools they need to speak for themselves, primarily providing up-to-date information in areas such as understanding needs, knowing rights and responsibilities, and communicating these to others. 
• Where needed, they speak with permission, on behalf of another person or group of people. It usually involves an access issue which is resolved by education and provision of information about the work the Dogs do and the rights of their Clients. 
• And just as important, they make submissions on policies and laws that impact Clients in a range of areas including transport and planning. 

Brady, my sponsor puppy

You too can support Irish Guide Dogs by:

• Sponsoring a Puppy
• Donating for yourself
• Donating in memory
• Fundraising
• Gifts in Will

 I’m sure you’ll find it as rewarding as I do! ❤️

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Bucket List Items Ticked Off in the above Blog post 129
​Number 44 - Giving Back - Support 8 Favourite Charities

• Irish Guide Dogs

​Other Blog Posts
Blog 11 - Sydney, Australia
Blog 12 - Hong Kong, China
Blog 17 - Beijing, Xi'an & Shanghai, China
Blog 19 - California, USA
Blog 27 - Scotland
Blog 28 - Barbados
Blog 29 - Canada

Have you ever had a dog?  Tell me about your experience in the comments section below.
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