An Ontario woman who tours the country speaking about the Lions' dog guide programs was in North Battleford recently.
Bev Berger spoke to about 200 area Lions alongside her seven-year-old dog guide Jasper. She spoke from her dog guide's perspective, about the dog guide program and the Lions involvement in it through the Lions Foundation of Canada.
She was part of a busy agenda of the Lions District 5SKN convention held in North Battleford Feb. 10 to 12 at Western Development Museum.
Lions discussed various topics important to their clubs, but their efforts towards helping the blind and disabled were the focus of the morning session Saturday.
Berger, who lives in Nobleton, Ont., has toured the country with her dog guide as national spokesperson for the Lions Foundation of Canada, which runs a dog guide training school out of Oakville, Ont. It is a national foundation set up over 25 years ago by a group of Lions to provide working dog guides for Canadians with disabilities."
It's a charitable foundation, and all the dogs are provided free of charge to their recipients. Recipients go to the training school in Oakville to learn how to use their dog guides, with room, board, training and costs covered.
"The only time they have to put their hands in their pockets is if they decide to go to Tim's for a coffee," said Berger.
There are various different dog guide programs available: canine vision dog guides, hearing ear dog guides, special skills dogs for those with physical and medical disabilities, seizure response dogs and autism assistance dogs trained for children between four and 12 who have autism. All the programs are administered by the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides.
The program now has its own breeding program where they breed about 80 per cent of the dogs, including Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, standard and miniature poodles, terriers and other breeds. They also accept donations of dogs from other breeders and sometimes from humane society.
Berger's dog guide was donated by a breeder in northern Alberta, explaining the name Jasper.
Berger has been using dog guides for the last couple of decades. Jasper is her fourth dog guide and she has had Jasper for six years. All her dogs have been yellow Labrador retrievers.
She became blind three decades ago due to detached retinas in both her eyes. Berger admits it was a traumatic experience for her whole family but also for herself.
"I was angry. Trust me. For two years you didn't want to be around me - I wasn't a very nice person."
But she finally realized all that negative energy was getting her nowhere.
"I was internalizing it, it was all about 'me', and that wasn't good."
Berger's initial experiences were in dealing with the CNIB, who taught her how to use a white cane and also how to use Braille, which she said was useful.
"But when I realized I could have greater freedom and mobility and be able to go out in the rain and the snow and do all those things with a dog, that's when my life changed - totally changed."
Using a white cane by itself wasn't perfect, because there were few sidewalks where she was living and she got lost a couple of times using it.
The Lions Club in helped her apply for and set her up with her first dog over 20 years ago. She did the training in Oakville and "the rest is history," she said.
Having a dog guide made a big difference when it came to getting around, particularly when it comes to safety and looking out for traffic.
"He gave me the opportunity to go out freely to the post office, go to the library, just do normal, everyday stuff."
Berger says she crosses a busy highway daily with the help of a dog guide. "The dogs keep me safe," she said.
Each dog guide costs about $20,000 to raise and train, but are provided to recipients at no cost. Local Lions clubs are able to sponsor dogs for the recipients.
A Lions club can sponsor a canine vision dog for $6,000, a hearing ear dog for $4,000, special skills dogs are $10,000 and autism dogs are $12,000 because they are custom trained.
The whole cost of the dog is $20,000, so there's extensive bit of fundraising that goes into making up the difference, said Berger.
"That's what my job is," said Berger, travelling around the country "sharing my experiences not only with Lions but with whoever will listen."
She speaks to schoolchildren and says kids hear the message that "people who have disabilities are still people first."
They also take home another important message - that it is important not to pet the dog guides, because you don't want to disturb the dogs while they are on duty.
She credits the Lions for the work they do in helping the blind and for the programs they have established all around the world to assist people and help eradicate blindness, and for helping the blind to be independent.
"Their mission - they take it very seriously," said Berger.
