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What is your eye condition?
I have Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) which is causing progressive peripheral vision loss; tunnel vision.
Why did you want to get a Seeing Eye Dog?
I lost quite a bit of my independence. I had to rely on my husband more and more. He would take me to work and meet me after work to get home again. My turning point came when I was in a supermarket and I accidentally walked into the path of a man. He was really unkind and spoke to me so horribly it made me cry. I rang my mum and said "that’s it, I’m going to apply for a Seeing Eye Dog." 
Have you had more than one Seeing Eye Dog?
No. Yarra is my first. And she has promised me she’ll live forever!
What has your Yarra enabled you to do?
She has given me my independence back! I’m very lucky to have an extremely supportive husband, but he can’t be with me all the time. Before receiving Yarra, I was avoiding leaving the office at lunchtime because I was scared of bumping into people and falling over. I definitely didn’t go anywhere near Bourke Street Mall or any busy places!
My employer has also been extremely supportive and last year they set up a home office for me, which enabled me to work from home in the afternoons during winter so that I didn’t have to travel home in the dark. Having Yarra now means I can work full-time in the office with my team and perform my job with ease.
I can also socialise a lot more. I’ve been able to visit friends, and enjoy meeting them for coffee or dinner without having to rely on someone else to get me there. My husband and I are big footy fans and love going to the games. Yarra’s been to one game and immediately made a big difference to me. She seemed to relish the challenge of the busy crowd, and doesn’t mind the noise at all!
The other thing that Yarra has done is give a lot of comfort to my husband. He always used to worry and stress about me, but now he’s seen how wonderful and capable Yarra is, he’s happy that I’m able to do things without his help.
Describe the bond you have with your Seeing Eye Dog.
Our bond is really strong. I fell in love with her straight away. The first day I got her, I sat down on the floor next to her and she went all happy-silly and licked my face all over. We became a good team really quickly and within months Yarra was so in tune with me she was able to respond to my voice commands alone, which means that occasionally I can carry a bag with my right hand for short distances, if needed.
At home she is never far from me. It’s like I have a little yellow shadow! She knows she’s not allowed in the kitchen while I’m cooking so she lies just outside the door, and does the same when I’m in the bathroom. I often feel her little wet nose on the back of my leg…just in case I’d forgotten she’s there! Even when I’m using the treadmill!
She loves to play with my husband and work colleagues, but she makes sure she’s never too far away from me. Even when she’s off-duty she’ll ignore people calling her because she doesn’t want to leave my side!
What have public experiences been like?
Yarra and I have had mostly positive experiences so far. I can see that a lot of people are fascinated by her and it’s nice to see people smiling. She’s quite a small lab and a lot of people think she’s a puppy and that I’m training her. I don’t mind people asking about her, it’s good to be able to explain why I have her, because I don’t look like I have a disability so I can see that people get confused. A lot of people comment that they’d thought about caring for a puppy but that they’d be too sad to give the pup back, I always say you can just get another one!
Yarra and I have been refused entry to a shop just once. Walking into a bottle shop with my husband, a security guard literally put his arm out in front of me and told me to wait outside. I pointed out she is a guide dog but he still refused to let me in. I informed him that he was being unlawful, so he then went to ask the shop manager, who was obviously fine with her coming in. I was pretty frustrated by then so I didn’t say anything else, but I wish I had talked to him and pointed out that it’s not up to the shop manager to give permission, it’s the law!
Why should people get behind Seeing Eye Dogs and donate?
So many reasons! Seeing Eye Dogs do such a fantastic job and everyone works so hard to get these dogs trained to such a high standard. I’d love to see everyone at Seeing Eye Dogs get a massive pay rise! I know that it costs up to $50K per Seeing Eye Dog. Donations are needed so that the whole cycle of breeding, puppy caring, training and ongoing support can be expanded and improved – this would mean that more people in need could receive their special dog and reduce the waiting period.