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Jenny was born with only five percent vision. At 21, she underwent surgery that left her completely blind. It was at this point that she was first introduced to Seeing Eye Dogs. Her first dog quickly became her best friend.
Jenny and her dog bonded quickly. They had many wonderful years together but when he had to be retired later in life, Jenny couldn’t bear the thought of saying goodbye.
‘I was so attached to my first dog that I went without one for 25 years. I was so emotionally connected to him – I refused another dog.’
Now a retiree, some changes in her neighbourhood made her consider a new pairing.
‘In my area there’s a lot of construction going on. After a couple of minor falls,I decided to look into getting a new Seeing Eye Dog.’
When Jenny met Elvis, her happiness skyrocketed. Elvis is a great fit. Best of all, he helps keep her safe.
20 years ago, Jenny was in a terrible accident where she was hit by a train. She was scared and avoided using them for many years, but when she fell in love with her partner, she knew she had to overcome her fear.
Thankfully, Elvis could help her. ‘We did the training together so I could surprise my partner. It was the longest ten minutes I’ve ever spent at that station, but the way Elvis carefully took me from one end to the other, that’s something I don’t think I’ll ever forget.’
It seems that Elvis is quite the gentleman and, while he ‘ain’t nothing like a hound dog’, like his namesake, he is partial to the spotlight. In fact, while on holiday Jenny took Elvis to see an Elvis impersonator, who invited them both on stage.
Jenny says, ‘The impersonator told my Elvis to take a bow. It’s safe to say that he was quite shocked when the dog actually did it! We left the show with some members of the audience commenting that Elvis was indeed leaving the building.’
It’s a wonderful story and thanks to your support, Jenny now has the confidence to leave the building too, whenever she wants!