First steps in training guide dogs explained to Chichester Probus Club members
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Puppy raiser for Guide Dogs for the Blind Sarah Shaw told members of Chichester and District Probus that it was a very rewarding but a 24-hour a day job.
Sarah was the speaker at the club’s monthly meeting at the Harbour Hotel, Chichester.
Her puppy had now completed its initial training with her and moved on to “big school” so she was accompanied by Jackie Meaney with her puppy in training, Theresa.
There was a great need for guide dogs among the 2 million sightless people in the UK, but it was difficult to meet demand at present, as the Covid pandemic had interrupted the Association’s breeding programme.
The association oversaw the care of each guide dog from birth to retirement at a cost of £50,000. Some were Labradors, some retrievers, some Labrador retrievers, and some German shepherds.
Sarah said the latter was frequently the guide dog of choice in London where they might have to deal with crowds, tube stations and escalators. People who might want to pat a Labrador were more respectful of a German shepherd.
Puppies were delivered from the breeder at seven to eight weeks old to the puppy raisers where they stayed for basic training for 12 to 18 months.
During this time puppies were given their own special area, in Theresa’s case this was a pink knitted blanket where she settled on the hotel floor in front of the audience, getting up on command to demonstrate.
Some of the skills learned during this time included ignoring food which they had not been given permission to eat, walking in straight lines and not meandering, walking into their harness, and indicating where obstacles and push buttons - say at crossings – needed to be pressed.
Sarah said that the job was lots of hard work and lots of fun. Her dog went everywhere with her, for instance on walks, coffee shops, meetings with other puppy raisers, shopping and the theatre.
A dream that she shared with other puppy raisers was that their pups, when they had completed their training at the age of about two, would enable someone would be able to live their life again.
Chichester Probus Club is open to new members who have, or have had, a career in business or government in their own right. More details at https://chichesterprobus.club