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| Assistance
Dogs Learn to Use Cash Machines |
They might not be able to help if you forget your Pin, but these
dogs can get your money out without paws-ing for thought.
The pooches are among an army of 'assistance dogs' who have been
trained to assist in withdrawing money from cash machines for their
disabled owners.
Endal
(pictured) is still the only dog in the world to be able
to insert the card into an ATM and then remove the card
money and receipt, but the other dogs are now being taught
to withdraw money so helping their owners in wheelchairs
who are often not able to stretch far enough to do it themselves. |
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A spokesman for charity Canine Partners, which trains the dogs,
said “Once the card is inserted by the disabled person
the dog then can jump up and help remove the money and give it to
the person in the wheelchair. They can't put in the Pin but a person
in a wheelchair can go sideways on and do that.”
Up to 30 dogs are trained each year and the charity is hoping to
double that figure next year. It takes two years to train them,
in which time they also learn to load the washing and pick up items
from shop shelves.
Dogs
(left to right) Endal, Ikea, Gaia
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One of the graduates of the scheme is ten-year-old Endal, who helped
start the ATM service by chance.
The Labrador's owner is Allen Parton, a Gulf War veteran who lost
the feeling down his right side after a war time incident in 1991
while serving as an officer in the Royal Navy.
Now in a wheelchair, he said that one day he was struggling to retrieve
his cash from an ATM when Endal jumped up to reach for the card,
money and receipt with his mouth.
Mr
Parton said “It was amazing, as he had never been taught
to do this. Then one day I gave him the card and he jumped up and
deftly inserted it into the slot as if it was an everyday thing
he did!”
The
feat helped Endal earn the Dog of the Millennium award in 1999.
About Canine Partners
Officially launched in 1990, Canine Partners enables people with
disabilities to enjoy greater independence and a better quality
of life through the help of specially trained dogs.
Training
assistance dogs to transform the lives of people with disabilities
enriches human life in practical ways such as dressing and undressing,
supermarket shopping and vital emergency response procedures. In
addition it provides physiological, psychological and social benefits
that help keep people healthy and happy.
As a registered charity Canine Partners receives no government funding
and is wholly dependant on public donations and legacies.
For further information on fundraising, donations, volunteering
or applying for a Canine Partner, please call 08456 580480 or visit
www.caninepartners.co.uk.
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