[stylist] Fw: Bonnie & Clyde

[Judith Bron]

A very well written article.  But I'm not just sending it to you for the 
writing.  Read on.  Judith
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Nancy Lynn" <freespirit52 at charter.net>
To: "Missouri Chat List" <chat at moblind.org>; "mcb List" 
<Missouri-l at MoBlind.org>; "ccb list" <CCB-L at ccbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, August 28, 2009 3:45 PM
Subject: Bonnie & Clyde


>
>
> Bonnie and Clyde are a bonded pair of Border Collies-but, in a 
> one-of-a-kind
> twist, Bonnie serves as a seeing eye dog for Clyde, who is completely 
> blind.
>
> By Kathryn Hawkins
> August 02 2009
>
> The original Bonnie and Clyde were together until the bitter end-and, 
> though
> they're not robbing any banks, the
> same goes for another couple named for the reckless gangsters: a pair of
> Border Collies.
>
> This canine couple was discovered wandering the streets of Norfolk, 
> England
> a month ago. They wore no tags or collars, but were obviously tame: when a
> woman discovered the dogs running loose on the street during a rainstorm,
> she opened her car door, and they instantly jumped in. Because she 
> couldn't
> find their owner, she took them to the Meadow Green Dog Rescue center, 
> where
> the staff and volunteers could help them find a new home.
>
> The Meadow Green Dog staff soon realized that these were no ordinary dogs
> although they both seemed fully functional when they were together, Clyde
> was lost without Bonnie-literally. As it turned out, the five-year-old dog
> was completely blind, and relied upon two-year-old Bonnie to be his own
> seeing eye dog.
>
> "If Clyde's unsure where he is he will suddenly go behind her and put his
> face on her back so she can guide him where he is going," the center's
> Cherie Cootes told The Telegraph.
>
> "He totally relies on her the whole time. When she walks she tends to stop
> and make sure he's there - she does look out for him."
>
> In the initial article about Bonnie and Clyde in The Telegraph, Cootes
> stressed that the dogs would need to be homed together. Such special
> requests can be challenging to fill for any bonded pair of animals, but
> particularly for a disabled dog like Clyde. She wasn't sure whether anyone
> would be willing to make the commitment to care for the special pair.
>
> But Cootes' worries were unfounded: after the article's publication, more
> than 500 people called the Meadow Green Dog center, offering to take in
> Bonnie and Clyde.
>
> The two dogs have now been adopted by an animal lover who has a large home
> in the country, providing ample space for the pair of Collies to run 
> around
> and play together.
> It's a perfect solution for the canine couple, whose story is one of a 
> kind.
> While many dogs have been trained as guide dogs for human companions, 
> Vicky
> Bell, a spokeswoman for Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, says that
> she's never heard of another case in which a dog acts as a guide for 
> another
> dog.
> "This is a very unusual case - it's such a lovely story," she said.
>
> "Some dogs take to guiding better than others because they naturally have
> the right temperament.
>
> "It very much depends on the individual dog."
>