A wonderful video sent in by Dan Gomez.

Regular followers of Learning from Dogs will know that Dan and I go back a long way; far too long!  In fact the occasion of me becoming aware of Mr. Daniel Gomez was at a Commodore Computer users conference in Boston, Mass.

I was giving a talk promoting a word-processing program that I was marketing for the Commodore.  That software was called Wordcraft and I think the year was 1979, possibly 1980.  Anyway, I used the word ‘fortnight’, which back in England is a common word meaning two weeks.  Immediately, a voice called out from the audience, “Hey Handover, what’s a fortnight?”

The session deteriorated rapidly thereafter!  Dan and I became very good friends and his LA company Cimarron became my West Coast USA distributor for Wordcraft.  And it was Dan’s sister, Suzann, who invited me down to Mexico for Christmas 2007 which led to me meeting my beloved Jeannie!  Funny old world!

On to the video

The male golden dog on the left-hand side of pool is Willis, a two-year-old Golden Retriever who has cataracts and is practically blind.  Then there is Gwendy who seems to have been with Dan for an absolute lifetime.

Then the black dog is Bella, a flat-coated retriever, that belongs to a neighbour.

When I spoke with Dan over the phone about Willis, Dan said that he is not in any way a disabled dog.  In the pool, he listens to where the ball lands, swims towards it and then lets his nose locate it precisely.  Out walking, when Dan throws the ball, Willis is just able to see Dan’s arm move through the air.  Willis then computes where the ball is heading, runs in that direction and, again, uses his power of smell to pin down the ball exactly.

What fabulous animals they are

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