The Village Pump - 24 Oct 2025 - Page 18 - OUT & ABOUT
Rotary Club of Samford Valley
Guide Dogs QLD - Puppy Play Date Winners!
Regular readers will recall that recently we announced the winner of a Samford State School raffle prize, run by the Rotary-sponsored EarlyAct Club. This prize formed part of the club’s fundraising event for Guide Dogs Qld (GDQ). The 1st prize was a visit to the GDQ Centre for a “Puppy Play Date”.
The Madigan family were thrilled to win this raffle prize and Naomi Madigan (who is a Prep teacher at the school) had this to say:
“During the school holidays, we had the wonderful opportunity to visit Guide Dogs Queensland in Bald Hills. We were amazed by the size of the centre and the range of impressive training facilities spread across the grounds. Guide Dogs Queensland plays an incredibly important role in training dogs that empower people to navigate their surroundings, independence in their daily lives and - perhaps most importantly - companionship.
At the nursery, we were welcomed by Nakita who introduced us to three adorable puppies: Quinn, Quinton and Questa. Full of energy (and equipped with razor-sharp teeth!), the playful pups had plenty of toys to choose from but seemed to prefer tugging on our clothes and hair instead. We had an absolute ball playing with them, and once their excitement settled, we enjoyed some well-deserved puppy cuddles.
Our visit was extra special because it was the puppies’ last day together before they moved on to the next stage of their journey - joining their puppy-raiser families. They’ll spend around a year with their raisers before beginning their intensive guide dog training. It was heartwarming to learn that the pups will have plenty of chances to reunite at the Guide Dog Centre in the future.”
