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      Eyes for the blind: a final letter from Roscoe

In the last two issues of the newsletter we shared letters from Roscoe, the Guide Dog who lived with Ann Davis, a member of Pretoria Lodge, and her family. Roscoe has told us about his adventures as a puppy, his training and his graduation to the life of a working Guide Dog. In this issue we share a third and final letter from Roscoe, originally published in the South African Theosophist in June 2009.
The Highest Ideal in Life is to Serve Hi!  I am Roscoe the guide dog for the blind, whom the TS in Pretoria sponsored.  I go to Cape Town University every day and know my way about this part of Cape Town.  Everyone, including all the dogs I meet daily, greets us.  They are very friendly and helpful around here. Everything has been fine except for a little scare I recently gave Annemie, my partner who lectures at the University.  Annemie was not feeling at all well all day, so on the way home I pulled hard and took her another route which I had remembered.  Annemie began to panic, which she should not have done, because I was in charge and knew exactly where I was going.  I took her to the doctor before taking her home.  Then Annemie was pleased and surprised that I had remembered where the doctor’s surgery was. Annemie is much better now.
	I am pleased to tell you that Ann and Tom have another black Labrador guide dog puppy in training called Angie.  There were nine puppies from her litter. She was born on September 2008. How about that for a karmic moment? – a double nine! She was so small she could be held in one handler’s hand.  Now she is 30 kg and she is coming along very well.  She enjoys the TS meetings every Sunday. Aunty Ann has been doing substitute teaching and taking her along to school.  Labradors are just natural at adapting. The children love her and she sits and watches over them all day.
She has re-landscaped Tom and Ann’s garden, pruned some of the rose trees, removed several plants and demolished a wooden step ladder stool, because she likes the taste of them and loves to chew wood and hard stems of plants and shrubs.  Ah well!  She is still a very young dog and will grow out of it. However, her puppy walking is great and she is progressing well.  She has passed all her tests so far at the puppy school and will soon have to go in for a small operation to stop her from having puppies, because her job in life is not to be a mother to pups but to look after a blind person, which is very important. So Angie, well done so far, keep your nose up and walk quietly past those barking dogs.  Although there will be many testing times to come, I hope you get through it all as a fully trained guide dog. Thank you to all the TS members who have given so generously to the Dogs for the Blind School and encouraged the trainers and dogs in their valuable work. May you always be blessed and care for others. Woof! Woof! Roscoe, the South African Theosophical Guide Dog

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