by Emma
Hide behind that hedge. We don't want to mess the shot up
with you in it, do we?
Don and i moved round the big hedge at the bottom. Don
took his whistle out and gave it a short blast. We stood there
for quite some time listening.
'I can't hear him coming. Do you think he's heard the
whistle?' and he gave another sharp blast. This was followed
by quite a lot of cries in French, a brown w-who-osh and some,
Jean what i assume, was French bad language. Bracken had
heard the first whistle and had come trotting quite nicely
down the hill. On the second whistle he had felt the urgency
of it and changed immediately into a gallop, only stopping at
the bottom when he spotted us. The poor cameraman,
unable to unloose Bracken's lead from his wrist, had been
dragged down the hill at full speed. His first thought had
been to save the valuable camera, which he managed to hoist
further on to his back. As Bracken stopped the cameraman
was hurled round like a jack-knifing articulated lorry and
smashed into the oak tree at the bottom. Bracken stood, still
attached to the cursing cameraman, grinning, tail wagging
and his ears in that.'rose petal' position. 'Wasn't that clever?
i enjoyed doing that!'
The scene was shot eventually (after the cameraman had
been revived with a tot of whisky) with me walking behind
Bracken to tell him to walk steadily. Then came Bracken's
chance to prove himself as an actor. Jacqueline was explaining
to me that it would be really nice if they had a picture of
Emma as a guide-dog, showing how she took me about to
find bus stops and so on.
'But that's impossible,' i told her. 'Emma doesn't work
any more. She can't even see where she's going.'
'Yes, i understand that but jean feels we need the
comparison.'
i sat down and thought for a moment. 'What about
Bracken? He could play Emma's part. That is, of course, if
you keep the camera offhis back end so nobody realizes he's
a dog.'
'I'm sure we can do that. Have you trained him to be a
guide-dog?'jacqu(.lin(~ asked.
'No i haven't, but let's see what happens.' i took Emma's
old harness down from the coat stand and put it on Bracken.
He was quite unperturbed and sat there like a veteran
guide-dog. 'Well, so far so good,' i told them. 'Let's try it.
There's a bus stop up the road. Would you like me to walk
from here to the bus stop with him?'
'That would be fine,'jacqueline nodded.
i didn't know how i was going to get Bracken to look as if
he were guiding me, or how he could understand what i
wanted from him. He had never heard of a bus stop, nor had
he any guide-dog experience. He walked down the drive in
front of me, looking quite important with the white harness
on his back.
'Straight on, Bracken,' i told him. I knew I'd have no
problems at the kerb because he always sat. 'I want to go to
the bus stop,' i told him as we walked across the road. For
some unknown reason, he didn't put his nose down and sniff,
he walked amiably in front of me, keeping the right tension
on the harness, looking just as if he were a real live guidedog. '
The bus stop,' i told him again as we reached the next
kerb. He glanced back at me with a knowing expression and
then walked along the pavement straight to the bus stop and
sat down. To the crew it wasjust another shot in the can. To
me it was almost a miracle. How did he know? How could he
know? But he'd done it. He'd proved himself to be an actor.
io8
,F'
We finished the outside shots just as the light was going.
We then had to do all the inside shots. i never, ever want to
make a film or be a film star - it's too much like hard work.
'I want some shots of breakfast time,' jean announced.
'This is morning, no?'
,No" i s~ti(l to Iiiiii. 'It lsl),t.'
'You don't understand,' he told me. 'This is morning for
tll(, filiii.'
'Ah, i see. just for the film, i will pretend it's morning.'
The kitchen was commandeered for the next scene,
cameras, lights and sound. There was hardly enough room
for us to move. It was planned that Don should come into the
kitchen for his breakfast and i should carry a glass of milk
with a plate of cobs over to one of the work surfaces. The
entrance that Don was elected to come in was from the dog
room.
'You have just come down,' jean told him, 'for your
breakfast. You go over and kiss your wife. You understand'.-"
Don understood. But i was unable to close my mind to the
fact that Don was emerging from the dog room supposedly
after a night's sleep. To me that was hilarious and every time
i tried to look serious and carry over the plate of cobs i began
to laugh and all the cobs fell ofT the plate. jean, who didn't
see the funny side of it at all, was tearing his hair out after
half an hour of trying to get a minute of film.
i never actually saw the finished product as it was only put
out on French television, but i heard fromjacqueline that all
went well and people were fooled into actually thinking that
Bracken was Emma in her earlier days.
log
' i
i
i
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
'PRO-DOGS RANG tonight,' Don told me as soon as i came
in the door. I'd been to my Dog Training classes.
'Oh, what did they want?'
'Something about awarding Emma a medal. I'm not
sure. Anyway, he's going to ring you back. It was a Mr
Imber.'
Pro-Dogs is a public relations organization for dogs, set
up in i976 to help educate the dog-owning public on how to
look after their dogs and to become better owners. Their
motto is Education not Legislation. It is far easier to
educate people on where and how to exercise their dogs
than have a local council legislate and ban them from
public areas, as is happening all over the country at this
moment. Each year a small number of dogs are chosen to
receive a medal for outstanding work and i become very
excited at the prospect of Emma being nominated for one of
these medals. i had only just hung Bracken's lead up when
the phone rang again. It was Brian Imber.
'Mrs Hocken, i would like to inform you that Emma's
name has been put forward to receive the Devotion to
Duty Gold Medal of the Year Award.'
'That's marvellous!' I said to him. 'What an honour. I'd
be delighted to accept for her.'
'The presentations are in London, preceded by a dinner.
i hope you'll be able to come - and bring Emma, of course,'
he added.
For a moment, i wasn't quite sure what to say. i knew
that under no circumstances could i undertake a trip with
Emma to London. She was far too old to be bothered with a
long journey. 'I'm sorry, I won't be able to do that,' I told
him. 'Bring Emma, i mean. i don't take Emma anywhere
iio
with me now. She much prefers to stop at home. i take
Bracken instead. I'll bring him with pleasure.'
'Oh dear, I'm afraid that throws a difrerent light on it, Mrs
Hocken. We do have a policy, you see, that all the dogs who
receive the medals should be there in person.' i could say
nothing. 'I'm sure you understand, Mrs Hocken, that we
can't very well present medals to dogs that aren't there. It
would be a bit silly, wouldn't it?'
i agreed with him but re-stated that i could take Bracken
on Emma's behalf and would be very pleased to do so.
'I will put it to the committee,' Mr Imber told me very
uncertainly, 'and I'll let you know.' He put the phone down.
i walked into the lounge and sat down on the settee.
'Well?' Don asked. 'Is Emma going to get a gold medal?'
'No, she isn't.'
'Why not?'
'He told me that unless Emma could be there to receive it
herself, it was very unlikely that she would receive the
medal.'
'But didn't you explain that Emma was too old to travel all
that way?'
'Yes. i offered to take Bracken in her place but he didn't
sound very interested. Oh, he said he'd put it to the
committee, but you know what it's like. They want the dogs
to actually be there. i can't blame them.' But i felt terribly
hurt inside, especially as, to me, Emma of all dogs deserved
recognition for the years and years she spent as my eyes and
the many hearts she had won over since she had retired.
And, as hard as i tried, i couldn't push the thought of ProDogs
out of my mind over the next few weeks. Emma was
being denied her recognition because she had retired and
was too frail to travel to London to receive her medal for
herself.
i had managed to convince myself that I would never hear
from Pro-Dogs or Brian Imber again, when i received
another call from him.
'Hello, Mrs Hocken. I'm very pleased to be able to tell
you that Emma has got the Gold Medal and we would be
-,-cry grateful if you would brin
her.'
i was astonished. 'But i thought you said they wouldn't
award it if she didn't come.'
'No, no, i didn't say that at all. i said that up to now it had
been Pro-Dogs' policy only to award the medals to dogs who
would come and receive them, but there's always an
exception to the rule and all the committee and i agree that,
regardless of whet',-ler Emma will be there in person or not,
she deserves the medal for her devotion to duty.'
The dinner and presentation is the most cherished
occasion in my life so far and also the most emotional. There
were two car loads of people travelling down from Nottingham
on that cold December day, and lots of friends from
London had also bought tickets to come and share my most
memorable day. The Grosvenor Rooms, where the celebration
was to be held, was buzzing, alive with people and
cameras and, as i stepped into the large ballroom with
Bracken, the cameras began flashing. My heart ached for
Emma - for the first time in many years i felt desperately
alone without her, and if Don and so many of my friends
hadn't been around me, i might have turned tall and run.
When I was blind i had a recurring dream that haunted
me: that i was in a city alone - without Emma, i mean.
There were lots of people around me and i could hear the
traffic zooming past but i hadn't got Emma and had no
means of safely getting away. I'd always wake up in a cold
sweat and feel around the bottom of the bed to make sure
Emma was still sleeping peacefully before i dared go back to
sleep again. And that's how i felt at that moment. The
evening was made even more difficult for me because
everyone who came up to talk to Bracken assumed he was
Emma and i had to go through the painful explanation of
why she hadn't accompanied me. But then i am thankful
for having someone like Bracken, who is, himself, a very
special dog. He has an uncanny way of knowing what's
expected of him. Before the presentations i was asked to do a
short piece of film for the television news and, while i was
g Bracken to receive it for
ii2
being interviewed, Bracken, rather than lying on the floor
out o camera shot, put his two front paws on my knee,
looked at the camera and gave me a nudge with his nose,
reassuring me that he wouldn't let me down. We had built
up a very close relationship, enhanced by the fact that i had
realized what Bracken enjoyed doing and had taught him
many things over the last month or two. Now he would pick
up the telephone ~yhen it rang and hand it over to me, he
could count by barking, lick his lips or grin on my command
and, most amazing of all, i had taught him to chase and
attack a criminal. It was quite strange to see Bracken, the
gentlest, sweetest natured dog i know, chasing and grabbing
someone's arm, not letting go and growling ferociously. He
made it look very convincing.
I don't think anyone realized how much courage i needed
to go up on that stage in front of all those people and cameras
to receive the Gold Medal without Emma by my side. i stood
on stage, alongside the other recipients of the medals, while
the speeches were being made. The whole atmosphere was
electric with emotion. i forced myself to concentrate on what
was happening. Barbara Woodhouse was receiving an
award for outstanding contributions to responsible dog
ownership. Her speech was magnificent. Like a lot of clever
people, Barbara Woodhouse had a charisma about her that
held the whole room spellbound.
'Our next award,' the comp~re continued, 'goes to Dougal
for Life Saving.' Dougal was a little Pekinese who had saved
his owner, Mrs Sheldon, and her daughter from certain
death, when their flat had been filled by poisonous carbon
monoxide fumes caused by a block in a flue. The two
occupants had collapsed unconscious in the kitchen and
Dougal had persisted in trying to wake them up by
scratching and licking their faces and nuzzling at them until
Mrs Sheldon came round enough to crawl out and get help.
'Another few minutes,' the hospital told them, 'and you
would both have been dead.'
i was awe-inspired to think that such a tiny little dog could
save the lives of two human beings.
ii3
Kalli was the next to receive her award. A little cross-l-red
collie who lives with her owner, Mrs Symington, at the
Guisborough Grange Bird and Pet Park. Kaili was purchased
from a pet shop for the sum of three pounds and had
turned out to be worth her weight in gold. She had fostered
many of the orphan b~ibies that Mrs Symington had taken
in, including Arctic foxes, pumas, lions and tigers.
'The Devotion to Duty medal is awarded to Emma,' i
heard the comp~re saying. He told the audience of some of
the things that Emma
had done for me as a guide-dog and
explained why she couldn't be there in person and that
Bracken was her stand-in. i watched the comp~re place the
medal around Bracken's neck and take the few steps towards
me, holding the microphone out, hoping i, too, was going to
say a few words. i was too overcome to be able to tell the
audience how much Emma meant to me. i could feel my
body shaking all over, my nails dug into the palms of my
hands and i bit my bottom lip and closed my eyes tightly to
try to gain control of my emotions, to fight back the reality
that Emma was an old lady and it was Bracken on the other
end of the lead. She should have been there to share in our
moment of triumph. i looked at Bracken, who sat with all the
poise and dignity of a young Labrador, and envied his youth
on Emma's behalf. As much as i loved Bracken and all my
dogs, no one could ever take Emma's place.
When the presentations were over, i found i was able to
relax and enjoy my evening. It was wonderful to be in a room
with two hundred or more people whose greatest joy in life
was their dogs, and there were so many people i wanted to
talk to. I had read many of Barbara Woodhouse's books
and seen her dog-training programmes on the television, and
i wanted to express my personal thanks to her for the good
work she had done over the years in bringing the ordinary
dog owner's attention to the fact that dogs need training.
And, being an author myself, i know how nice it is when
people come up and tell me they've enjoyed my books.
'Can you see Barbara anywhere?' i asked Deirdre.
(Deirdre and John, being dog lovers, had jumped at the
ii4
opportunity to come to the Pro-Dogs evening with us.) The
room was crowded with people and it was difficult for me to
sort out who was who. i still find using my sight takes quite a
bit of concentration and to recognize people's faces among so
many is a difficult task that I'd rather leave to a fully sighted
person.
'Follow me,' Deirdre said, pushing her way through the
crowd. She took hold of Bracken's lead so that i could just
concentrate on following her. We introduced ourselves to
Barbara, who was busy answering questions from hundreds
of admirers. She instinctively reached a hand out to stroke