Dogs live to please their human companions, and Dolly is no exception.
The two-year-old golden labrador retriever is Conner Standingready's constant companion. She goes everywhere he goes.
She tags along on his walks.
She travels with him in vehicles.
She even accompanies him to school.
"Right now I'm going to school on White Bear," explained Standingready. "I'm taking a couple university classes. Me and Dolly always go up to the campus there. We go to school like that."
Dolly accompanies Standingready to school, and anywhere else he goes, because the young man is legally blind.
"In my left eye I am completely blind," Standingready explained. "I had a surgery and after that I never regained any sight in my left eye. In my right eye, I can see enough to get around at times, but with Dolly it really helps. It's really at night that my vision is reduced to where I have to get a little help. So Dolly really helps out there."
Dolly came into Standingready's life about three months ago, after the Carlyle Lions club identified him as a person who could benefit from the assistance of a guide dog and had then completed the application process.
"About a year-and-a-half ago, our club identified Conner [Standingready] as someone who would benefit from a dog guide," said George Anderson, a Carlyle Lions club member. "We went through the process, and it wasn't very difficult to do. We applied and it actually happened a lot quicker than we thought it would. Conner went down to Oakville, Ontario for - we thought it would be six weeks, but he was good at it and his dog was so smart, he only had to spend four weeks there."
Standingready received Dolly through the Dog Guides program that is apart of the Lions Foundation of Canada.
"I don't know if anyone knows this, but since 1983 when Dog Guides started, 1,200 men, women and children, from the ages of eight to 84, have been enriched by the services of specially trained dog guides from the Lions Foundation of Canada," Anderson explained. "These dog handlers, which Conner is now, are from as far away east as St. John's, Newfoundland and as far west as Victoria, B.C., have experienced enrichment of their lives through newfound freedoms and independence with the companionship and assistance of devoted dog guide partners."
After finding out he would receive a dog through the Lions Foundation of Canada, Standingready travelled to Oakville, Ontario for his training.
"I went down to Oakville, Ontario on Aug. 9, and I had to stay there for three-and-a-half weeks," said Standingready. "During that period, it was basically time to bond with our dogs, get to know them and get to know all the commands."
During Standingready's three-and-a-half weeks of training, he learned all of Dolly's commands. But before he spent time with her working on the commands, he worked on them in a fairly unique way with the trainers in Oakville.
"We didn't get our dogs until couple days after we arrived," Standingready explained. "What the trainers would do is they would actually put themselves in the harnesses that the dogs wear and they would lead the people around and pretend to be the dogs. We would tell the trainers the commands to get used to the feeling of having a dog guide and being guided around. It was pretty funny."
Since coming back home, Standingready said Dolly has fit in well with his family and all the people she has met.
"The name Dolly, it just suits her personality because if you knew Dolly, she is the most gentle dog that you will ever know," said Standingready. "She is so good with children and little puppies. Sometimes she gets too friendly and she'll start licking you."
Standingready could not thanks the Carlyle Lions club enough for all help and support its members provided with attaining Dolly.
"My stay [in Oakville] left a lasting impression - memories that would last a lifetime," said Standingready. "I would just like to take this opportunity to thank everybody in the Lions club that supported us, because without all of [them] this would never have been possible. Thank you so much."
Standingready was a special guest speaker at the Carlyle and District Lions club's 47th Charter Night anniversary held Nov. 16. This provided him with the opportunity to, not only tell but, show its members the impact Dolly has left on his life.
