Our Guide Dogs partnership
Kleenex® Cottonelle® is proud to have a long standing relationship with Guide Dogs Australia and The Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind. Each year we raise money and awareness to help train more puppies to become Guide Dogs, ultimately enriching the lives of people with vision impairment.
This year in Australia, on top of our ongoing support, Kleenex® Cottonelle® will be sponsoring one very special female Labrador puppy as she undertakes a two year training program to hopefully become a fully-fledged Guide Dog.
The new puppy was named through a staff competition at Kimberly-Clark and the winning name was… ‘Casey’. You can see some photos below of when Casey was presented with a new collar with her name on it.
Casey will stay with her Puppy Raising family for the next year and at 14 months will return to the Guide Dogs Centre for assessment to see if she is suited to becoming a Guide Dog. If she is selected she’ll then undergo the months of intensive training to learn the complex skills required for the job. Not all puppies are suitable to be Guide Dogs and if Casey is not selected she’ll become ‘Pets as Therapy’ dog to help people disadvantaged because of age, illness or disability.
We’ll keep you posted on how Casey is getting on.
Did you know?
- It takes approximately two years to fully train each Guide Dog.
- It costs about the same to raise and train a Guide Dog as it does to buy a new car – about $26,000.
- A Guide Dog walks approximately 9,000kms throughout its working life
- Guide Dogs usually begin work with their clients at about 20 months old, with a well-earned retirement about 8 to 10 years later
- Guide Dogs give the gift of independence to people with vision impairment.
To find out how you can sponsor a puppy, to learn more about the services provided by Guide Dogs or to make a donation:
- In Australia call 1800 804 805 or go to Guide Dogs Australia
- In New Zealand call 0800 787 743, go to Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind
or visit www.redpuppy.org.nz
