![\"\"](\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/surfcoasttimes\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/05\/Untitled-design-9-3-1024x538.png\")
Anglesea puppy raiser Mandy Mitchell-Tavener (with Alex) and GDV chief executive officer Karen Hayes (with Willow).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
She said GDV would supply all the food and cover any veterinary costs for the puppies to the puppy raisers.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody says \u2018oh, but how do you give it back at the end?\u2019 I’m not going to lie; there\u2019s always tears.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what I find with our puppy raisers is that they continually focus on the greater good of what they\u2019re doing, and that is to provide a beautiful guide dog to somebody who\u2019s blind or has low vision, and therefore give them the independence, the freedom and the safety we all, as sighted people, take for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mandy Mitchell-Tavener knows this better than most – the Anglesea resident trained Willow, the GDV ambassador dog Ms Hayes brought to last week\u2019s event.<\/p>\n
Ms Mitchell-Tavener has raised 16 dogs full-time over the space of 20 years, and said she wanted to start while she was pregnant but was wisely advised to \u201cwait a while until you apply\u201d.<\/p>\n
For more information, head to the Guide Dogs Victoria website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GUIDE Dogs Victoria (GDV) already has about 100 volunteers in the Geelong region but is wagging their tail to find a few more. As part of National Volunteers Week, the organisation held a celebration on Thursday last week at the Narana Aboriginal Cultural Centre to recognise all the fantastic guide dog volunteers in the local […]<\/p>\n