We’ve taken our puppy, Laura, to grocery shop with us a several times now and I could never imagine she’s be so good about it. When she was still pretty small we would carry her part of the time and let her walk a little bit. Now that she’s fully vaccinated, she can walk the entire time if we’re only there a few minutes. She’s getting used to the sounds and smells now. She’s perfectly okay with all of it. You could not ask for a better behaved puppy (apart from the occasional sniffs and distractions).
I’ve never minded all of the curiosity and the questions when people realize that she’s training to be a Guide Dog. People telling her that she will be a great help to someone one day and that she’s a very good and brave girl for doing such a great thing makes me so proud of her. It’s good for her to learn to greet people properly and she seems to have that built in to her personality. She’s curious but gentle and calm and waits to be told she can give kisses and sniffs.
Sometimes, however, I find myself “not noticing” that every person we pass gasps with delight and squeals, “Look at that puppy!” I feel a little guilty for kind of ignoring them and continuing to grocery shop. However, I know that there are more important things at hand than strangers – like teaching this dog properly so that she does well when she has someone’s life in her hands one day. Also, since we can only have Laura out for a short period of time if I don’t move along we’d never get the shopping done.
I’m a good chef, but there’s only so much you can do with a bag of apples and some lettuce. Sorry fellow grocery shoppers, but you’re just going to have to coo and cuddle faster.
You may have already noticed on the microsite and Facebook - the new puppies (Kasper, Julia and Misty) have arrived, so it’s time to introduce them properly on the blog as well. Someone once said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Which one’s your favourite?
I'm just a playful guide dog puppy with no worries!
Will you give a round of applause for the shy guide dog puppy Misty? Just look at her! Who could resist those sweet eyes? Have you met the other two – Kasper and Julia?
Can you resist those sweet eyes?
There is somthing interesting there. Can't wait for you! Have got to go now!
Let's all play! Where are you going, Ice? Julia is hiding behind the yellow pipe.
Please welcome, the cuddly Julia. A rare black/tan retriever cross German shepherd puppy. Some say she looks like a teddy bear. What do you think? Would you sponsor Julia, Kasper or Misty?
Once qualified and at home, the guide dog and owner face new challenges. For the visually-impaired owner, this could be the first time they have been independent for a long time. The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association is there every step of the way and regular aftercare visits are standard.
It is out at work that the owner and dog really become a team – especially when crossing roads. The dog has been taught to stop at a kerb and wait for the owner to decide when it is safe to cross and give the command ‘forward’. Sometimes a guide dog owner needs help to cross a very busy road. If you think help is needed, please ask. If your offer is accepted, let the owner take your arm.
Guide dogs work in incredibly demanding situations and their owner’s safety depends on the dog’s concentration. If you see a guide dog working, please don’t distract him with food or by talking to him.
‘Having a guide dog has given me back my dignity, my reason to live. Until I had Isla I was ignored, had been attacked and was too frightened to leave the house. Now I feel like a human being again.’ Hilda Winters, 89-year-old guide dog owner
Depending on how demanding the dog’s working life is, guide dogs work for an average of 7 years. Then it’s time to hang up the harness and retire. At the end of its working life the dog often stays on as a pet in the owner’s family. Guide Dogs will find a loving home for the dog if need be.
Guide Dogs have been expertly breeding and training guide dogs for more than 75 years, providing many thousands to blind and partially-sighted people of all ages and from all walks of life.
Mike meets Issy for the first time – a quite emotional moment. The guide dog needs to match the person and yesterday was the big day. Looks like Issy and Mike worked well together.
Well I’ve now met Issy the potential guide dog that guide dogs have found for to me and was really quite emotional and yeah emotional experience is probably all I could possibly say. I know obviously the process that they go though around matching. I haven’t quite realize just how important the matching process was because they trying to ensure sure that the guide dog matches the needs of the person. So I needed one that would be stay reliably that could travel on all forms transport I could get quite busy around different venues going up to speaking engagements going to sporting event going to couple of public events as well the impact(?) having a quite a long day traveling around.
We have a real treat for you today. The 1st phonecast by Mike Brace – the CEO of Vision 2020, who has recently applied for a guide dog. In this phonecast series, he’ll be talking about his experiences of the process.
Hi this is Mike Brace doing my with First Phonecast. It’s ironic actually choosing today to do it because I’m on the eve of quite a a monumental decision to me and that a few months ago with the environment increasingly getting worse in my view, I decided after 50 years to apply for a guide dog. The reason’s I never had a dog in the past have been lifestyle in terms of rushing around the country and having to then worry about feeding and walking the dog at work using having quite a big busy lifestyle so I was you know getting in 6:00 7:00 in the morning getting home perhaps 7:00 or 8:00 at night if I was lucky. Or going straight out from work till 1:00 2:00 in the morning and then having to start all over again so I decided that really to me and dog just was a bridge to far in terms of worrying about the dog as well as myself. I was using the underground…….
We hope you enjoyed reading the first installment of the exciting journey from pup to guide dog. In the second part of our three part series, the pups are brought back to Guide Dogs to learn the skills needed to guide a blind or partially-sighted person. They learn the following:
To walk in a straight line in the centre of the pavement unless there is an obstacle;
Not to turn corners unless told to do so;
To stop at kerbs and wait for the command to cross the road, or to turn left or right;
To judge height and width so that its owner does not bump their head or shoulder;
How to deal with traffic.
Guide dogs in training wear brown training harnesses – they don’t get a smart white one until they complete their schooling.
The training is rigorous – it has to be – and not all the young dogs make the grade. For the majority that do, the introduction to their new owner marks the start of a partnership that will last around seven years. (Half the dogs now being trained will go to replace dogs that have retired.)
Matching the correct dog with the correct owner takes skill and experience. The owner’s length of stride, height and lifestyle all contribute to the type of guide dog they will be matched with. The couple spends up to four weeks of intensive training together until they qualify together and the visually-impaired owner proudly hands over a token 50p for their dog and the guide dog is awarded the white harness.
Stay tuned for the final installment – Out and about at work.
Guide Dogs is a working name of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association.
A company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (291646) and a charity registered in England and Wales (209617) and Scotland (SC038979).
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