The IT Crowd

By Jack Alfonso

As a reclassified guide dog, Delsie is an exceptionally friendly and gentle pup which, according to owners Mike and Marilyn Sorel, “is why we adopted her”.

“She’s great. She’s a fantastic dog: she gets us out of the house when we take her for exercise,” she said.

The Sorels, who run their own IT business, said their relationship had not changed due to the pandemic. “She hasn’t worried about lockdown,” Mike said. “She doesn’t know any different … we work from home anyway, so there was really no difference to our routine at all.”

The couple raised Delsie since she was seven weeks old for the Guide Dogs Victoria program, but upon her reclassification, felt compelled to bring the “typical Labrador” into their family.

When asked about Delsie’s favourite pastimes, with a laugh Mike told Docklands News “walk, eat, sleep; not necessarily in that order.”

“She doesn’t really have any idiosyncrasies,” Marilyn said. “That’s one of the main reasons we adopted her: because she’s so easy.”

Delsie isn’t the first dog the Sorels have raised for Guide Dogs Victoria either. Remarkably, she is the 19th puppy they’ve trained – although, across 15 years in the program, Delsie is the first one to enjoy swimming.

When asked about their involvement with the program, the couple grinned at each other before saying, “it’s the best thing we ever did.” •