Last Wednesday (24), the International Day of Guide Dog was celebrated., a date that aims to bring greater visibility and awareness to the animals that perform this function. The date is always celebrated on the last Wednesday of April. However, this year, the day was even more celebrated in a house in the metropolitan region of São Paulo. For Darley Oliveira, April 24 is known as Clark’s birthday, a Golden Retriever who is her guide dog.
The 29-year-old pharmaceutical merchant shares with his more than 240 followers on Instagram the routine with his walking partner, being considered “the biggest blind tiktoker in Brazil”. On TikTok, Darley has more than 328 followers and almost 7 million likes, living up to the title.
The digital influencer talked to Canal do Pet and explained how the process for adopting Clark was and what motivated him to look for a guide dog at the age of 23.
Darley lost his sight when he was one year old due to cancer. Since then, he used his cane to get around. However, something inside him always yearned to go in search of a dog to be by his side.
“I’ve always wanted to have a guide dog, ever since I was little, because I’m passionate about animals. I grew up on the farm having a lot of contact with horses, oxen, dogs, chickens and etc. However, I was very afraid of separation, because they have a ‘useful working time’,” the merchant explains.
However, everything changed when Darley met a friend who had a guide dog, falling in love at the same time. From there, he sought to know what it took to get one.
It was then that Darley discovered that it was an extremely competitive adoption process , especially in Brazil. “It’s worth remembering that you don’t pay to have a guide dog. Usually they are trained by some school or institution that donates the dog to us. Here in Brazil, there are few schools that train, so there is a very long queue, because there is a whole training that takes time and there are many people on this waiting list”, he explains.
In his searches and after a tip from his friend, Darley discovered that some institutions in other countries sporadically opened applications for Brazil when demand was low. So he faced a process of about 11 months to get to know who would become his best friend: Clark.
Ideal match
On September 6, 2018, Darley traveled to Columbus, Ohio to begin a 4-week training session with Clark. He describes the experience as an instant match between him and his Golden Retriever.
“If the dog walks fast, the person who is going to guide it also has to walk fast. If the dog is agitated, naturally he will have to have a fussy person with him. So the school tries to make this match between the profiles of the dogs and the blind person.”
About the training, the president of the Helen Keller Guide Dog School, Elis Busanello, explains that the following steps are followed:
- Desensitization, from 03 days to 05 months;
- Socialization in the sequence, for 15 to 18 months, is when socializing volunteer families introduce the world to the future guide dog;
- Pre-workout exams and assessments;
- Training of 04 to 06 months, for those who pass the physical and behavioral exams
- Adaptation which is the period of 30 days, when the instructor guides the pair, blind person and guide dog.
- After the dog is delivered, follow-up and technical support for the pair continues.
Darley did the training that, in addition to teaching him the signs Clark was going through, also showed him how he should take care of his partner, from knowing when to take her to the bathroom to how to brush her fur. When he arrived in Brazil, he says it was natural, with him trusting her and she trusting him.
“Today, I understand from Clark’s body movements what she wants to show me: if she wants to show an aerial obstacle, a step, if she saw someone she likes, I can feel in her body movement the messages she wants to convey to me, But it’s a process of maturity,” explains the influencer.
However, when he arrived in Brazil, he says that some things ended up being more complicated by cultural issues. At first, all the experience he had had was in a controlled place, with instructors ready to help him and in a country where the presence of guide dogs is a little greater. In Brazil, however, he says that in addition to the high number of dogs on the street that distract Clark, people didn’t know that you shouldn’t play with a dog at work.
Darley says that the six years together have allowed Clark to adapt well and are now able to do his job peacefully. He jokes that she “is Osasco’s child.” “She likes to mess around. For her, the cool thing about life is driving in the crowded subway, because there are many challenges. Driving in quiet places, she doesn’t like it,” he says.
The president of the Guide Dog School says that some things end up hindering the greater dissemination of guide dogs in Brazil: “The high costs of staff, infrastructure, consultations, food, medicines, etc.; a lack of knowledge and empathy from people who do not comply with the federal law that guarantees guide dogs access in public places; and the lack of adhesion of society to contribute to projects aimed at the inclusion and quality of life of blind people and other PWDs, are some of the reasons”.
‘I’d choose Clark a thousand times’
For the merchant, Clark’s arrival in his life was a contribution to his independence and autonomy. “I trust her and she trusts me. So we go everywhere together. For example, when I leave to go to work. I do it all the way by myself and so, if I didn’t have Clark, it would be a little more complicated to do with a cane, but of course you can do it with a cane. But with Clark it becomes easier and safer.”
Darley further explains how Clark’s presence helped with the social issue. “I often joke when people see you with a cane, they think you have a VW Beetle. But with the guide dog, you’re in a Ferrari. Everyone wants to know how it works. Everyone thinks it’s beautiful and this helps to break the paradigms when it comes to visually impaired people,” she explains.
About a year ago, he began sharing his experiences with Clark on TikTok, earning him his first million views in 15 days. “I didn’t expect the repercussion that we have and the affection that people bring us. People recognize us on the street and I’m super happy, because people recognize us and behave very well, they know they can’t cuddle when she’s guiding me,” says Darley, who identifies her content as something didactic.
In addition, he sees himself as an inspiration for blind and visually impaired people, being the reference he did not have when he was little.
“Having a guide dog is a choice. Sometimes it will make you uncomfortable, sometimes it will cause you mishaps and it’s part of life. But I would choose Clark a thousand times. It makes me sad because I know it’s not something for everyone yet. We have few guide dogs active in Brazil due to several factors. But I try to bring content and information so that more and more people use guide dogs and so that more and more we have our rights respected”, concludes the influencer.
