From female trainers to active female guide dogs.
We’re celebrating the extraordinary women working at the Guide Dog Association and the vital roles they play in transforming playful pups into confident guide dogs. Let's have a closer look at some of these awesome ladies and honour their contributions to the community!
Cheryl Robertson
Cheryl Robertson really does do it all! She is the Head Guide Dog Mobility Instructor and Branch Manager at the SA Guide-Dogs Association in Cape Town. She has been working at SA Guide-Dogs for 30 years. In her own capacity, Cheryl has raised 5 puppies for the Association, but her family has raised 15 in total. Cheryl loves seeing the progress the puppies make throughout their training, from beginning to end. When she is not working with the puppies-in-training, she likes to walk on the beach with her own dogs.
Cheryl’s advice for pet-parents:
“When it comes to training your dog, remember to start with the basics.”
Megan Reid
Megan is a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor at SA Guide-Dogs in Cape Town. Coming from a background in Animal Welfare, Megan has always loved working with animals as well as people. Her favourite part of the job is the puppies, as well as the sense of accomplishment she feels from watching them grow into well-behaved and responsible guide dogs. At the end of the day, Megan loves nothing more than going home to her cat (who definitely doesn’t like dogs as much as she does).
Megan’s secret for good training:
“Treats! Treats! Treats!”
Michelle Botha and Elva
Elva is a four-year-old yellow Labrador Retriever and is a guide dog to her owner, Michelle Botha. Michelle is a researcher in the field of disability studies.
Elva enjoys doing yoga with Michelle every morning. She does an excellent downward dog and provides licks of encouragement before taking up most of the yoga mat to get back to the business of snoring. She is also very interested in other people’s business and enjoys checking in on all of Michelle’s colleagues at the office to see if anyone has some gossip to share.
Angel Conradie
Angel is a Puppy Raiser at SA Guide-Dogs in Johannesburg. She met a guide dog owner who lived in the same apartment complex that she did. While chatting to the owner, Angel was very keen to become a Puppy Raiser. At the end of 2011, her family welcomed their first guide dog puppy, Volt, into their home.
Angel loves puppy cuddles, and she feels that the sense of pride as your puppy learns and grows is its own reward. She is a wife, mom, mom-in-law, and she’s had a few jobs from consultant to cake artist. Together with her husband, they raise puppies and they have just started a new adventure with a yellow Labrador named Solo.
Angels’s advice for pet-parents:
“The best thing you can do for you and your puppy is to find a reputable, force-free puppy class.”
Corlet Grobler
Corlet is a Puppy Raising Supervisor at SA Guide-Dogs in Johannesburg. She has always been a nature and dog lover, turning these two passions into a career. She started as an animal curator, raising orphaned and endangered animals (especially baby rhinos). She later moved on to train anti-poaching K9’s in Limpopo Province for several years. She has 5 dogs, an African Grey parrot, and 5 tarantulas. She is also trained in advanced venomous snake handling!
Corlet finds it most rewarding to see the puppies grow and develop from tiny, naughty little ones into working dogs.
Corlet’s advice for pet-parents:
“Find an accredited dog school that can help you step-by-step in training your puppy. It is very important to use positive reinforcement for wanted and good behaviour.”
These women embody compassion and perseverance that extends far beyond training dogs. We would like to thank them and everyone else at the Guide-Dog Association, for their hard work and dedication towards an essential service.
