Guide Dogs for the Blind - be a puppy walker and change your life!

Guide Dogs for the Blind – be a puppy walker and change your life!

My sister Linda is a puppy walker for Guide Dogs for the Blind in the UK and since starting this challenge some 10 years ago she has helped change ten ordinary dogs into  wonderful caring dogs to aid people with either partial sight or no sight at all.    All the dogs in her care were very different not only in breed but in character.   She has nurtured and cared for Labradors, retrievers, german shepherds and even a spinoni which by all accounts is a star and about to be placed with his owner.

I still don’t know how Linda actually got started in her “career” but I only know she has made it her life and loves every minute of it.   Obviously it is very time consuming especially at the beginning when she takes delivery of a 10 week old puppy who feels lonely and frightened being suddenly taken away from its mother but Linda also has her own Labrador pet who ably takes the place of the puppy’s mother until it gets used to its new surroundings.

Linda was only going to do it once she said because it did upset her when the puppy left to start its new life as a guide dog but then she received a letter from the new owner with a photograph of him with the dog and as she said it made it all worthwhile and so when the Association asked if she would like to take another one she said yes immediately.

Most of her work is getting the puppy used to everyday life.  She is able to take her into supermarkets and places where normal dogs cannot go as long as she has the guide dog puppy training leash on and she also takes the dog on trains, buses, airports and anywhere and everywhere any blind person would have to go in his/her day to day life.  In fact one of her dogs, a German Shepherd, definitely has the high life because he has been placed with a very high powered businessman who takes him all over the world with him.  Linda says it is so nice that she knows how all “her” dogs are progressing and where they are and what they are doing.  

Linda trains the dogs socially, general care when crossing a road and being able to interact with other dogs.  To this end she normally takes the puppies to dog training classes within her area.   The puppies normally stay with her for just under a year and then they are taken to the Association’s training centre where they get the full proper training to be a guide dog.  From there they are matched with a blind or partially blind person and the person is also trained with the dog until they feel happy for the dog to actually go and live with its new owner.

All the work Linda does is purely voluntary.  She just gets paid for the puppy’s food and vets bills.  She has, however, roped in her husband to assist from time to time in fund raising and my mother also helps on local stalls in the area merchandise donated to make money for the Association.   I live in Spain but no doubt if I was living nearer I would assist also. 

There is only one dog Linda had who did not actually make the grade and that is a black Labrador/retreiver girl called Kay.     She went through her paces at the training centre and passed with flying colours and was put with a lady who was blind.   The lady adored her and they got on really well.   Unfortunately for some unknown reason Kay suddenly took a dislike to all butchers shops and would not go past one but would just cringe and back away.   Obviously that was no good to the blind lady in question and it was decided Kay would not be able to continue to be a guide dog.   When this sort of thing happens, which does from time to time, the Association always contacts the volunteer who brought up the dog initially to see if they would like to take the dog as a pet.  They therefore contacted Linda who said she would love to have Kay back and she was therefore given to her.     When I go and visit I take Kay out every day for a walk.   She is an absolute delight.  She does not pull on the lead, she looks up at me all the time as if to say she is there to assist and guide me and even when I let her off the lead to have a run through the fields she will not leave my side.   She is very sensitive and loving. 

If you like animals and have the time to spare puppy walking for the Guide Dogs for the Blind it is a very worthwhile thing to do.   You need patience, time to take them out and about and a strong will to allow them to leave you when the time comes but as Linda says she loves every minute of it and will continue to puppy walk for many years to come.

I believe quite a few countries do provide this form of voluntary work and no doubt the Association could guide you to the right direction.