HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2007-09-05, Page 1MORTGAGES
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'Tools,
valued at
$4,000,
stolen
from
garage
near
Brucefield
Tools and
accessories, valued at
more than $4,000 were
stolen from a locked
garage on London
Road in the Brucefield
area sometime
between the evening of
Aug. 24 and the
morning of Aug. 26,
reports the Huron
OPP.
The garage door was
pried open and the
latches broken in the
break-in. The pried
door is readily visible
to London Road traffic.
Anyone with related
information is asked to
call Crime Stoppers at
1-800-222-T.I.P. S.
(8477) or the Huron
OPP at 1-888-310-
1122.
Kevin Bennett takes
flrst...Harpurhey man
wins Seaforth men's golf
toumament...pg. 3
$125
get included
Wednesday,
September 5, 2007
Channing Century hors
You will be impressed!
Lot 105x210 $196,9900
Seaforth man, Joe Boyd, is first in
town to use a guide dog for the blind
Susan Hundertmark
Seaforth's first guide dog
has been leading Joe Boyd
along the town's streets since
late June.
And, while onlookers may
be tempted to pet or praise
the friendly two-year-old
black Labrador dog, Boyd is
hoping to educate
Seaforth's i
residents that a
guide dog is a
working dog
that should not
be approached
when it's
wearing a
harness.
"Once the
harness is off,
he's a pet to me.
But, when the
harness is on, he
doesn't move
until he gets a
command from
me," says Boyd.
Blind from
glaucoma for the
past six years,
Boyd decided to apply for a
guide dog when he realized
the greater independence he
could have with a dog.
But, switching from a white
cane to a guide dog has been
an enormous amount of work
which included a 26 -day
training session in Oakville
with Canine Vision Canada.
"It was boot camp. From 9
a.m. to 4 p.m., they work you.
You're out walking or indoors
doing obstacles and the
trainers are hard on you
because they have to be. A
couple of times I wanted to
hang it up because they yell
at you when you make a
mistake, correcting you and
the dog," says Boyd.
The final day of the
training in Oakville was a
solo walk back to the school
after Boyd was dropped off
somewhere within the
vicinity of the school and had
to find his way back alone
with his guide dog.
"They wouldn't tell us
where we were but they
followed us in a van. When I
got to the school driveway
and heard the cheer, that felt
good," he says.
While Boyd's been home
with his dog for
two months, he's
still training the
young dog to
follow orders
and learn his
way around
Seaforth.
He says he's
run into a few
difficulties,
mostly because
the Seaforth
community is
not used to
having guide
dogs around.
For example,
Boyd says he's
having some
trouble when
other residents
walk their dogs with long or
retractable leashes since the
other dogs sometimes lunge
at or distract his guide dog.
"(When another dog gets
too close) my dog will stop me
and get confused and will be
suddenly walking me in the
opposite direction or into a
wall," he says.
The same goes for dogs who
are chained in yards with
leashes that can reach the
sidewalk or dogs that are tied
up outside of the post office.
"There is a bylaw that says
people have to keep their
dogs back four to six feet from
the sidewalk," he says.
He adds that while his
guide dog is able to walk him
around obstacles, he's still
having difficulty with those
who park their vehicles on
the sidewalk.
See BOYD, Page 6
'One the
harness is off,.
he's a pet to
me. But, when
the harness is
on, he doesn't
move until he
gets a
command from
me,' --
Joe Boyd,
of Seaforth
Susan Hundertmark photo
Joe Boyd and his new guide dog, a two-year-old black Lab, set out
from his George Street home for a walk.