Former guide dog Jodi has been reunited with her initial handler Shirley Lucke to enjoy her retirement after spending years helping others.
The Labrador was first brought into Shirley’s life by the Guide Dogs, who decided the young dog’s sprightly personality was the perfect match for her busy schedule as a motivational speaker for the organisation.
For years Jodi helped Shirley navigate the world, safely guiding her around the community but a back problem meant Jodi had to retire.
Ms Lucke said it was incredible hard to say goodbye.
“It was a heartbreaking decision to make,” she said.
‘’You’ve got to do what’s best for the wellbeing of your dog. In Jodi’s case, it was a back ailment that lead to her early retirement.”
Jodi found a new home with puppy raiser and friend Kim Jenkins and her family.
Affectionately referring to her as her ‘second daughter,’ the pair’s friendship began 17 years ago, when the Sydney Olympics torch relay travelled through their suburb, Blakehurst.
Kim said she saw Shirley and just had to go up to say hello.
“I went up to her, introduced myself and told her I was a puppy raiser. It was so nice to meet someone whose life had been changed by receiving a Guide Dog,” she said.
“As we were talking, we realised we lived around the corner from each other. We became friends and as they say, the rest is history.’’
Ms Lucke said it was this bond that made the Jenkins family a perfect fit for Jodi.
“By the time Jodi retired, she was already so loved by Kim’s family. I couldn’t have imagined a better home for her to live out her retirement,” she said.
But the stairs of the family home soon proved too much for Jodi in her later years and she now has returned to her initial handler to live out her twilight years.
The two friends said it was a bittersweet moment for both of them.
To mark the occasion Kim put together a book of photos of Jodi for Shirley.
“We had a wonderful time looking after Jodi in her retirement, and this book is a testament to that,’’ she said.
Jodi is now living a life of leisure and luxury with her former handler, and has happily accepted Shirley’s current Guide Dog, Taryn, as her sister and favourite napping buddy.