Guides

A friend of mine, visiting the Guide Dog Training Centre in Forfar, was astonished to see a beautiful Persian cat ambling quietly through the entrance hall, seemingly without a care in the world.
But Mr. Bob Forrester, who's in charge of the center, smiled back.  "Oh, we've lots of cats here, " he said.  My friend was mystified until Mr. Forrester explained.  When a guide dog leads it blind master along a city street, through the quiet park-indeed, anywhere at all-it's mind must be on its task every moment.  Never must its attention wander for a second, whether to passers by, a dog, or especially a cat.
So, from the day they go to be trained at Forfar, the dogs are brought face to face with cats every turn.  At first most of the dogs are desperate to give chase.  But gradually they learn to live with them.  And when the guide dogs leave the center with their new masters, many of them actually like cats.
A bit like life, isn't it?  Many of us think we'll never see eye to eye with some people.  Yet when we get to know them better, we may not only discover we get along with them tolerably well, but find true friends in them.
~Francis Gay from "The Friendship Book 1972"