For those people outside Scotland

The Documentary will be shown at various times over this weekend and is back on BBC iPlayer

This weekend they are showing my documentary “in Dogs We Trust on the BBC News  Sky 503channel. Presented by myself, wonderfully produced and directed by Nicola Blackmore and I certainly shouldn’t forget the cameraman Chas Ross who did such a sterling job under a tough shooting schedule.   

It was first shown on BBC1 Scotland on December the 17^th. So it is fantastic that more people in the UK are getting a chance to see it. Particularly as so much of it was shot in England.

This documentary is a follow up from one I made in 2010 Called “Taking the Lead” It followed the process of retiring my guide dog Moss and getting my new one Renton. Renton is a large German Shepherd and is my 6^th guide dog. I started young. In fact, this year will be my 30^th year as a guide dog owner. A momentous occasion. Sadly, not all of my dogs saw it through to a full working life. One retired early because he couldn’t cope with the workload and the other passed away early with a sudden illness. 

Other than that, the other 4 dogs had good and happy working life. 

It was fascinating making “in Dogs We Trust”.  We didn’t have a massive amount of time to make it, in fact, we didn’t start filming until the end of October and it had to be in edit by the middle of November. However, fortunately, I knew some of the people to talk to already. so it wasn’t such a panic as it could have been.

If you want to watch "in dogs we trust" (click on this link for the bbciplayer) there are a few opportunities to view it over the weekend, if not, it’s back on the iPlayer. However, it is 3 minutes shorter than the original.  This was to fit in to the news channels schedule. 

  

BBC Iplayer...did you miss it first time around?

people in the Uk can see the film on the BBC iPlayer for the next week

Picture of..PUPPIES!

In dogs we trust tonight Monday the 17th on BBC Scotland 7.30pm or on sky TV 951

In Dogs We Trust 9th December 2012

Picture of Renton giving Ian a paw at the dinner table

It was November 1980, I wasn’t long out of school and my only experience of moving about in the street, park, or school playground was to slowly tap my way around my environment with a white cane. I am completely blind, so my world was full of noises with a cane e.g.... Whack the bin, click some plastic on the ground. tap of the brick wall. I had never moved quickly using a white stick and I will never forget the sensation the first time I got to test drive a guide dog. The dog was a large shaggy golden retriever, the Harley Davidson of the doggy world. The way the dog could move and sway around obstacles was thrilling as I hung on to the handle attached to the harness. I moved down the pavement quickly and smoothly, wind was blowing through my hair and my journey was filled with normal people shopping sounds rather than damn tapping which just reminded me that I was blind and couldn’t easily find my way about.  I loved working with the dog and two years later, I finally got my first ever Guide Dog. I have to say here that  the dogs don't arrive, shrink wrapped ready to go.  A huge amount of work has still to be done building up the relationship and trust, between blind person and dog. 

In March 2010 I made a documentary for BBC Scotland called “Born to Lead.” This documentary followed the process of retiring one guide dog and being matched with a new guide dog.  This new seven stone German Shepherd was called Renton while being a beautiful worker had a personalty to match his bulk!

Daisy the Cancer detection dog chomping on a bone

Now  we are a solid working team as he guides me  across the country covering all kinds of news stories for BBC Scotland.

My latest documentary; “In Dogs We Trust?” not only brings viewers uptodate with Rentons development but introduces the new ground breaking world of assistance dogs. 

I was keen  to explore how dogs are helping people with other disabilities.  The program highlights, the hidden talents of  dogs which can help humans in a variety of ways, not just being a guide or sniffer dog.  For example Serena, trusts the family pet spaniel, Molly to let her know when her ten year old son Steven is about to have a diabetic hypo. Molly can do something that science can’t. That is, let Steven and his mother know in advance that his blood sugar is falling and that they need to take action.  As part of my documentary, we witness the remarkable experience of Molly alerting Steven to his blood level dropping. As the crew and I were filming, Molly was the only one that was aware of Steven’s blood  sugar changing. 

So, we discover that dogs can work with humans who have an array of requirements, diabetes, epilepsy, deafness, physical disability and autism. With epilepsy, the dogs have an astonishing ability to predict seizures, 100% of the time. A remarkable figure, which is backed up by the Support Dog Charity who we visit during the programme(they train the dogs) 

If that wasn’t impressive enough, we meet a dog on the edge of medical science. It’s being trained to detect one of humans prevalent diseases, cancer. There have been no shortage of anecdotal stories of dogs discovering cancer in their owners. Yet, there is still plenty of scepticism among the cancer research community about using dogs to detect cancer. We talked to one dog training charity who claim that they are getting closer to finding an affective way of training dogs to detect this decease. 

Dizzy the diabetic alerter dog with his young owner 

So, we humans are trusting dogs to assist in saving lives where technology is struggling to find the same practical solutions.  It is amazing to think that there are over 6 million dogs in the UK and yet such little research has been done to understand how the dog\human symbiotic relationship  can be developed further.

Ian and Midas  the dog during filming

“In Dogs we Trust” Monday 17th December on BB1 Scotland, presented by Ian Hamilton   @ihamiltonbbc

Camera Charles Ross

Director/Producer Nichola Blackmore

Executive Producer Marcus Ryder

Blast from the past - what is in a name?

A number of people have been asking me about Rentons' name. So, here is what I have found..this a repeat..hey I work for the BBC what can I say?

It is from day three of my blog way back in October 2010 - 

Among friends and colleagues there has been some discussion about the origin of Renton’s name. I’ve heard: Ring tone, Rent boy and to top it off Rectum. 

Well, to throw some  more light on the reasoning  behind the names, I did some digging about and it appears all 7 puppies from Renton's litter  are named after characters and writers from Scottish literature. Two of his brothers are called: Rebus and Rankin. Rebus after the Edinburgh detective and Rankin after it’s author Ian Rankin.   Renton’s name comes from the book “Train Spotting” by Irvin Welsh.  The main character in the novel is Renton, which  is played by Ewan Mcgregor.

I’m currently trying to find out about the other names in the litter. 

It could have been so much worse though, his litter could have been named after diminutive characters from Walt Disney and I could have ended up with Dopey.  What was that?.I've just heard my first virtual global blogger groan......made me laugh!

Seize the day

Cartoon fo elderly man climbing rope by Lorne Brown

Being blind, I never get hung up on appearances and so am open to people just being - well…just being themselves… no matter how they may look.  I guess my prejudices tend to be dictated by what age they are, but even this is proving to be deceptive. Adventurous, thrill seeking, willing to learn new things, not hung up on appearances, keen to get out and “do” things; does this describe a seventy something to you?  Well, at the moment I appear to be surrounded by a gang of four of them, who all appear to be mutating into some strange adventurous characters and it’s all happening without the aide of plastic surgery and medication.  It’s occurring because the changes are happening in their attitude to life as opposed to their appearance and physical condition. 

I’m not aware of them looking any different from when I could see them years ago.  However, by all accounts, they just look like any 70 plus year old men have always looked.  Either thin with grey hair and beards, or not so thin with not so much hair. Faces, by all accounts, have definitely seen a bit of life with some certainly looking wiser than others.  Most of them have more than one pair of glasses for every circumstance, reading, driving, seeing when the glass is empty! .   They all have their own limbs and can walk upright more or less unaided. So all and all, they aren’t doing too badly.

However, the four mature chaps I’m talking of aren’t growing old without a fight; it’s more a fully blown nuclear attack. The difficulty is they are leaving nothing for us younger generations to aim for. I’m not naming them, but they know who they are. 

Cartoon of mature gentleman ski-ing by Lorne Brown

The first pensioner took up skiing again six years ago at the age of 65 after a spell away from the hills. He’s not down on the nursery slopes quivering with the beginners and the toddlers. No! He’s on the Black runs leaping off six feet slopes whilst slaloming in and out of ice moguls. To illustrate his toughness; three years ago after a fall on such a run, he hadn’t realised that he had dislocated his shoulder, until he had removed his jacket back at the hotel.  Tough or what. Every day he’s in the gym for an hour training and just to add insult to injury, he can still drink me under the table.

Cartoon sketch of an elderly gentleman climbing a rope by Lorne Brown

The second pensioner is a keen climber. five years ago at the age of 76 he tried ice climbing in Austria for the first time.  There is nothing he loves more than hanging off mountains by one arm. In the last two years he’s got his husky licence in Greenland and climbed eight Via Ferrata in eight  days for his eightieth birthday in the Italian Dolomites.  Raising 8,000 pounds for the Guide Dogs on his way)

Elderly gentleman rowing in a choppy sea cartoon by Lorne Brown

The Third pensioner bought himself a Canoe. Nothing he enjoys more than going down to the loch in front of his house and paddling up and down.. This may sound sedate, but with health and safety always uppermost in his thoughts, no matter the time of year or temperature, he will deliberately throw himself in as a test to make sure he will survive should he fall in accidentally. The air may  just be above freezing, but yet he believes it’s a thrilling experience and makes him “feel alive.”  He says “wet suits are so good these days.” Hang on! Aren’t pensioners meant to be prone to hypothermia and that’s just sitting quietly in their living rooms watching the snooker with not enough cash for the electricity meter.  

Cartoon sketch of man and woman sharing a cocktail and some love across the table..cartoon by Lorne Brown

The Forth pensioner has a different perspective on the world.  It appears love and romance is always uppermost in his mind. A man who has already had two marriages and umpteen long term relationships.  At the age of 70 he’s now embarking on another one. Clearly, he’s exhausted the supply of eligible women in this country, as he has now crossed the Atlantic for his new conquest in the USA. Sadly the state pension and the exchange rate make it hard to sustain a long distance romance, but his determination and love will always win through.

We all discriminate,  age, sex, weight, clothes, money, disability and appearances. When I was a child, men of a certain age would sit around tables playing dominos, smoking in dingy bars and coughing their last.  I knew where I was with this kind of male pensioner.  I guess they were my inspiration, of sorts.

How can my generation compete with today’s pensioner? I shudder at the thought of trying to live up to their lofty standards. What’s waiting for me: blind naked sky diving, blind crocodile wrestling, what about blind bungee jumping into a shallow bath of piranhas?

Come on guys, calm down a bit and give us a chance. Leave something for us that wont result in permanent injury or death. Given that my generation is very much part of the baby boomers, perhaps future Governments wont be too unhappy with these hobbies . At least it will save them paying out future pensions should the parachute fail to open.       

   

Mr Moss

Picture of Mr Moss looking really happy

It’s hard to believe that it’s two years since Moss my black faithful old Labrador retired after many years of hard work. Friends and colleagues are regularly asking me how he’s getting on, so on this milestone of his retirement this is probably as good a time as any to bring you up to date with his progress.

For those who don’t know, The reason why he had to stop working a little earlier was because the arthritis in his hips was making it tough for him to work on any longer. So after some advice from the vet it was decided Mr Moss should hang up his harness for the final time in June 2010. This resulted in me having no dog to guide me about for a few months while the Guide Dogs searched for a suitable replacement.  I thought it would be best for Moss to stop rather than me working him while he was in pain. 

Moss loved working, but in the last few months of his working life, he had certainly lost his enthusiasm for slipping on his harness and hitting the road. He had slowed down so much, it would have been faster some days for me to pick him up and carry him. Plus at his peak he would run to get his harness on. By the end he would go back to bed and reluctantly come back down stairs to go to work. So the signs were clear, Moss had to stop.

Oddly, or perhaps not that oddly when he stopped working his enthusiasm for life returned. Keen to go for a walk, run around the park with other dogs, Moss certainly got his mojo back for a while. In fact, he was so full of life I was beginning to wonder if he had anything wrong with him at all. Perhaps I had retired him too soon. It could be he stopped liking me, because he perked up when he was at home with Christine while I was at work.  [Clearly, that can’t be the case] maybe it wasn’t physical, may be it was mental and Moss was suffering from depression. Then when he stopped working his depression disappeared. 

Unhappily, Moss is now really struggling to get up and down stairs. We’ve now had to significantly increase the strength of his pain killers. Their is no doubt in the last six months he has declined quite considerably.

The muscles in his back legs have wasted away at an alarming rate. The vet said once the current pain killers stop working their isn’t much left for Moss to take apart from very strong medication that would dampen his personality and would mark the beginning of the end of his life.  

Picture of Moss in the sitting in the sunshine

Picture of Moss letting the wind blow between his ears

However, he still appears to be up for a laugh and on a flat walk he still likes a good run and his zest for life hasn’t disappeared even if his muscles have. What makes it particularly hard about Moss and it’s something the vet has also said, Moss never complains, winces, yelps..he is one immensely stoical dog and it is really hard to tell when he is in real pain. We do get an idea from his body language, licking his lips and how he takes himself off to a quiet corner quite often now.

Moss is and has been, such an important part of our lives. His nature is second to none. We always call him Mr Moss because of his refined and dignified personality around the office   Fingers crossed we’ve still got some time with him yet.