Guide Dog of the Year 2009

Guide Dog of the Year 2009

The category winners are announced!

Three extra special guide dogs have been announced as the category winners in the Guide Dog of the Year Awards 2009.

Buster (Life Changing), Carmen (Beyond the Call of Duty), and Vegas (Outstanding Work) will all now travel to London for the prestigious Guide Dog of the Year Awards Ceremony on 1 October, to find out which dog is crowned Guide Dog of the Year 2009.

Read more about the Guide Dog of the Year Awards 2009

Read their nominations below.

• Buster

Buster’s owner Marie Nicklin from Lancaster explains why she nominated him for the award: “Buster is my great friend, companion and guide dog who has changed my life in so many ways for the better. He has given me the confidence to return to work when I believed I would never be able to return to work again.

“I also cannot explain sufficiently in words alone what an incredible difference to my mental wellbeing it has made having Buster in my life. I can now get out in the dreary winter months to see friends instead of feeling trapped in my home by darker evenings.

“He has proven to be my personal stress Buster!”

• Carmen

Ivy Needham, Carmen’s owner, owes her life to her guide dog Carmen. Here she explains why: “I would not be here without her!

“I cooked my lunch and accidentally knocked the gas tap on my cooker to ‘on’ when I finished. I have no sense of smell and so didn’t realise that for the next six hours I was breathing in gas.

“I was lying collapsed in my arm chair when my guide dog Carmen woke me by tugging and eventually tearing my sleeve. She was trying to drag me off the chair but I was so sleep I couldn’t wake up.

“I use oxygen regularly and managed to put my mask on for a regular dose, when my two carers arrived. They immediately opened all the doors and windows and phoned for an ambulance and I am fine now. I cannot thank Carmen enough. She definitely saved me. She's my hero."

• Vegas

Vegas is the first dual purpose guide dog and Canine Partner to guide someone in an electric wheelchair. Her owner Stephanie Read from Devon only has a very small amount of vision and has Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, which affects her joints and organs and has been a wheelchair user for the past 10 years. Stephanie explains; “Vegas’ level of her work has astounded both myself and the trainers. She has had to learn to work ahead of the chair, to have the courage to move across in front of the chair, and to be leading rather than lead. She is one amazing dog!”