‘Confessions of a Guide Dog’ has been written by the guide dog’s owner, sharing how she still loves life, living it blind, with an animal that changed everything. It’s a funny and heart-warming read, made all the more compelling as it’s written from a dog’s eye view.
Joanne is now appealing to Pets Magazine readers to help raise money for Guide Dogs – please see below for more information. 25% of the royalties will go to Guide Dogs and will help to fund dogs like Uska.
The love between Joanne and Uska is expressed by the dog as he tells the story of their first momentous year. Like when they originally met:
“Before Mr Nick’s finger touched the bell, the door flung open and there she stood, my new mam, a vision in odd socks. She looked like fun, but the silly moo burst into tears as she knelt down to put her arms around my neck, hugging me like I’d never been hugged before. What more could a young handsome lab do but lick her face. I never have forgotten the taste of those tears.” ‘Chapter 3, Me and my Mam’
But what did Uska mean to Joanne? She puts it like this:
“From day one, Uska gave back something precious, something most of us take for granted. I’m talking about day-to-day independence. The freedom to choose if, why and when I got out of the house, without asking for help, brought back some of the old, sighted me. And God, had I been missing her!
“He’s still taking the pressure off my family as he helps me get safely down busy streets, on to buses and trains, across the town, the country and over SO many barriers I could never express to him what he has meant to me. O.K., I shouldn’t forget he’s a dog and this is his job, BUT every time he guides me down a flight of stairs, or round a manic shopping centre, or head butts me out of bed to get his breakfast, I want to shout out to the world exactly what Uska means to me.”
Joanne continued: “Writing about it felt like I was doing just that. Using what I love about his character, I imagined his side of our first year together, with all its mishaps, fun, dramas and love. At the same time I visited schools and relayed my favourite tales, making everybody laugh. So, I brought it all together in this book, and electronically self-published it, alongside some gorgeous photographs. He is such a handsome boy, you know…”
The book is a revelation about living blind, helped by a guide dog, who’s also a dog, and a Labrador to the max!
Things don’t always go according to plan, as Joanne explains:
“Those Business Breakfasts smelt lovely, of dribbly eggs, salty bacon and buttered toast. I was only ever given a sausage once, by an old man, like Big Granddad, but with a suit and teeth. He pretended to drop his sausage on the carpet, again just like Granddad, so I knew to be quick and swallowed it, whole ,when he winked at me. Mam couldn’t get too cross, you can’t when you’re marketing. But I was sick on her shoes outside the office. After that, she insisted nobody fed me at those gatherings.” ‘Confessions of a Guide Dog,Chapter 5, Hair of the Dog’.
‘Confessions of a Guide Dog’ is available to download from Amazon and iTunes, for around £3.99. 25% of royalties will go towards Uska’s bid to raise the fee to sponsor another guide dog like him. Search for the book by title when you visit Amazon or Apple Books online, or follow one of the following links:
Amazon UK: Link to book.
Apple UK: Link to book.
Read more about Uska’s adventures in the April issue of Pets Magazine.
Uska is now nine, and grows more precious to Joanne with every new, silver hair. He will have to retire soon, and Joanne will have to join a long waiting list for a new guide dog. As each amazing dog takes £50,000 to fund she really would like to help. She hopes to raise enough money to sponsor another guide dog and call him Uska II. As this will take 5,000, anyone who is moved by his story can make further donations, in his name, direct to Guide Dogs for the Blind UK.
This can be done in the following ways:
Donations by cheque: cheques should be made out to ‘Guide Dogs’ and posted to ‘Uska Appeal, Guide Dogs, Hillfields, Reading Road, Burghfield Common, Reading, RG7 3YG.
Donations by phone: people should call 0870 240 6993, and stating that you want to donate to the Uska Appeal.
Online: at www.guidedogs.org.uk, you can donate and should select ‘Uska Appeal’ from the drop down option.
For more information about the Uska Appeal, please contact Joanne Roberts:
Mobile: 07973 192 724
Email: Uska@hotmail.co.uk
Twitter: @uskadog
Facebook: Joanne Uska Roberts