Thursday, January 24, 2008

A Man and His Best Friend

On one of my walks at the Da-an Forest Park, I chanced upon a visually impaired man and his guide dog. He is Mr Li Zheng Zhong (李政忠) and his Guide dog, a 7 year old yellow lab by the name of Turk sits patiently by his side while he performs beautiful melodies on a round flute made of clay (陶笛). They belong to the Taiwan Guide Dog Association and with the help of Turk, they move around the city to give performances to the public.



Taiwan currently has about 50,000 visually impaired people, but there are only about 20 qualified guide dogs.

Guide dogs work in very demanding situations, they are the eyes of their owners and their owner’s safety depends on the dog’s concentration.

If you see a guide dog working, please do not pet him, talk to him or distract him with food.




Mr Li has a blog where he details his music and his adventures with Turk, click on the following link: http://blog.yam.com/turk1123

It was a joy to watch both of them at work and experience their mutual love and trust. The music is awesome too! Watch the following clip to enjoy his music.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dino, thank you for sharing another encounter on your daily journeys. You lead a good life and you enrich the lives of others with your website. I did enjoy the flute music and meeting someone who has persevered through difficult challenges. And of course, you know I love to come here to visit you, sweet Dino. I see it won't be long until your birthday. You might want to drop a hint for Frosty Paws to celebrate, although I'm thinking there will be a lot of treats already planned.

Dino and Family said...

Hi Rachel, I am so happy to see you again! Glad you enjoyed the little introduction to Turk and his owner.

Yes, I will be two on Feb 11 and that is less than 2 weeks to go! Yay! I look forward to all the yummy stuff coming my way. I have been getting home made frosties very often nowadays, that should really go into my next blog post. :D

See you again soon and have a good week!

Love, Dino

Amber-Mae said...

Wow, that's just beautiful! That guy sure has a wonderful dog. That fella must be very well trained...My mommy has always thought of me becoming a service dog too but neh, that will never happen as I love tennis balls too much & I have too much energy. I agree! That guy's music is really nice...

Love licks,
Solid Gold Dancer

Opy - the Original GruffPuppy said...

Hey buddy,

Welcome to www.dogswithblogs.com.au - it is great to meet you and I am sure you will make lots of new friends here :-)

Love
Opy

Dino and Family said...

Hi Amber-Mae,
Thanks for your comment on my blog. Big Furry hug for you!

Love, Dino

Dino and Family said...

Dear Opy,

Thanks for being my friend!

Woof with Love,

Dino