Lindy Hou OAM » News from Harper the Guide Dog - Mar 2010
News from Harper the Guide Dog - Mar 2010
I love March because this is when I get my birthday present. There is no better present for a Black Labrador then a huge bone. For those of you who don’t know, I am now eight years old, that is 56 in human years. I am finally older than Lindy, however I am not sure what she means when she says I still have a bit of maturing to go!
Since my last newsletter, I have been busy helping Lindy celebrate her birthday. I guess a huge milestone needs a whole month to get through.
In this issue:
- Paws Camp for Dogs
- MS Mega Swim
- Training for
- Speaking experience at KL
- Website updated
Early this month, while Lindy went to the Gold Coast for a family holiday, I was enrolled in the Robinson’s Paws Camp for Dogs.
This is the K9 version of a fitness program. It is like Boot Camp for humans, except this is a lot more fun! We, Robbie the white
Lindy has joined the FIT (Females in Training) 24 hours Mega Swim team to raise money for MS. Oh! Don’t be alarmed, she is not going to swim the whole 24 hours. She will be one of the 24 FIT members who will swim an hour each.
This will still be a feat for Lindy as she has never swum for an hour non-stop. The last time she did a long swim was before I was born, back in the early 90’s when she was able to see. Now she can just make out the black line in the pool (sometimes!) Doggie Bets is taking bets on how many times she will swim into the lane rope.
The MS Mega Swim aims to raise funds for people affected by Multiple Sclerosis. MS is the most common disease of the central nervous system and affects over 18,000 Australians. We were surprised to find out that the average age of diagnosis is 30 and MS affects three times as many women as men.
Some of us probably know someone who is affected by this condition. Lindy knows two people, a cousin and a Triathlete friend. If you would like to support Lindy and her FIT team or to find out more about the Mega Swim, you can go into the following website.
http://events.megaswim.com/?lindyhou
Lindy has been busy training for the Canberra Half Marathon. Di, the president of FIT, has been her main guide with the help of many other FIT members. When it is really dark in the morning, Di and Lindy hold on to a short rope so Lindy does not head off into the bush or have another lake experience. Once it is light enough and the surface is OK, they can drop the rope and Lindy just follows another runner in the group.
Thanks everyone for doing such a great job as this certainly relieves me of guiding duties while she is out running. I have actually checked out the Guide Dog Duty Handbook and have not found the bit about being a Running Guide Dog.
There is talk at the
Alright! Alright! The cat is out of the bag. Yes, she is going back to do triathlon – the sport that she first took up in 1989. Back then she was having more and more trouble seeing the balls in squash, softball and hockey, so she decided triathlon was the go. She had to learn to swim and got herself a bike. Back then no one told her that it helps to be able to see well to corner and go down hill properly. She finally had to stop her triathlon because of her reducing sight.
It has now been 14 years since she competed in an Olympic distance triathlon. It was the 1994 World Master Games in
I get tired just listening to Lindy making her plans, but I will try to keep you informed of what is going on.
Early this year, while I went to the Carter’s holiday farm, Lindy went to
It was a conference for 5,400 people. I was a bit nervous for Lindy, as this is the largest audience she has faced without my help.
Lindy has spoken to larger audiences such as the Thank You Speech on behalf of the Paralympic Team in front of
I am glad that Lindy’s Presentation in KL was a success. She received great feedback from Charlie Oropeza the CEO of the company.
His comments were:.
“It was very inspiring to hear how you managed to rise above the challenges that you faced. This could have been a “heavy” presentation. Your humorous
and down to earth delivery was very effective. We will keep you in mind for future engagements and share your information with our colleagues around the
region”
This certainly is a great way for Lindy to launch her Speaking Career. Her next talk will be at the Capital Region BEC Networking Breakfast on the Tuesday 6th April. The details is on the following website.
Lindy’s website has been recently updated. It now has a number of video clips. My favorite one is of her Sky Diving. You can all share her experience through the video. Lindy may not be the prettiest Sky Diver around, but I am still proud of her. After seeing the look on Lindy’s face, I am glad that I didn’t have to guide her through the Sky. I would have passed out once we jumped out of the plane!
Other clips are
- Lindy’s Promo
- Interview with Lindy
- SBS World News
The most important part of her website is the Blog that contains all my previous newsletters.
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“Attitude determines success”
Woof Woof
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