Tag Archive for guide dogs

14 Jan 2026
Blind Blog

More than a Guide Dog – This is a new journey

In the last fifteen years I have been blessed with three wonderful guides beside me. But it is with Ben that I have learnt so much more.

Both Fizz and Vicky before him, came to me after working with others. So although I had a bond and I trusted them totally; with Ben there has always been something else, something that feels different to the girls.
I have always joked that this time around I could be held fully responsible for any ‘bad habits’ Ben picked up! But I underestimated how amazing and rather magical it has been to watch Ben’s personality come out; in the last two and half years he has grown.

He is still (and probably always will be) a giant puppy; full golden retriever part kangeroo. He has certainly matured and I am in awe that I have finally had the opportunity to watch this happen.

When the girls arrived they were four and three and a half respectively; so were through that true puppy to teenager stage that I have finally been able to experience.

Ben has also reminded me of how ‘Chatty’ my first guide dog Vicky was. Being Goldem retriever and Flatcoated retriever (often nicknamed. ‘The-Double-Diva’ retriever) she too would be chatty. Making sure I was aware of how excited she was with a new toy or when I put my shoes on. Ben gets very excited when I put on my shoes, often nuzzling into me as I crouch down to do up my laces; so I am unable to miss how excited he gets about working.

Thankfully Ben does not have the same stubborn streak for walk back on himself that Vicky had, I am very grateful that I have not had to return to circular routes, which I just ‘accepted’ as something that every guide dog did… Something I only discovered was typical for a ‘diva-retriever’ when I trained with Fizz!

Both of the girls had a cheeky side; as does Ben. But where the girls arrived with theirs’ I have been able to watch Ben develop. I have found it easier to understand some of his behaviours with a deeper understanding because we have learnt together. He has a ‘tell’ when he is overwhelmed, frustrated or has some pent up energy, like when he has found a dog that has tried to initiate play while he is working in harness. With the support of our guide trainer we have worked on some additional command to reduce these behaviours.

We are two and a half years into this journey, I am sure that there is still plenty we yet have to learn from each other and I for one cannot wait.

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10 Jun 2023
Blind Blog • Training & Fitness

A year already

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05 Jun 2023
Blind Blog

Short & Sweet – The First Day

We arrived safely at the hotel, checking into our room and are just about to meet the other guide dog owners, their dogs and the trainers who will be getting us through this.

Through the power of Facebook, I already know one of the other guide dog owners and as the same trainer has all three dogs that are on class, the dogs have already spotted each other and gone into play mode!

Ben is the palest of the three Golden, in-fact if we line them up right it looks like the colour started to run out by the time it got to Ben.  All three dogs are boys and the other two are actually litter-mates but having trained together with the GDMS (Guide Dog Mobility Specialist) they are all best of friends.

As I said in my previous post, I have never done this type of training before.  Which is making me feel a little anxious, but I am also excited.  I have already fallen head over heels in love with Ben, he has a quirky goofy side that comes out every so often.  And being only eighteen months he is the baby of the group, just another thing I have never had before in a guide dog.  As both the girls were past maturity when they came to me; I am learning even more about dogs than ever before.

Today is about settling in, finding our way around the hotel and getting an idea of how our days are going to play out.  We are in a beautiful hotel in Blandford, guide dogs have held classes here before, but we are only the second since Covid and the staff are so helpful.

Now for the work to begin …

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05 Feb 2023
Blind Blog

Splashing in puddles

There are very few instances where I would say my long cane is better than my living, breathing, thinking guide dog; however puddles would most certainly be on the list.

Why you may be asking? Well, it comes down to feedback.

Despite being a Labrador-Retriever Cross, my guide dog Fizz DID NOT like walking in puddles when she is in harness. Which you may think is brilliant for me, however that isn’t the case; as she has no issue with walking me through the puddle as long as she can keep her own paws dry.

So generally the first I know there is a puddle is when I find myself walking in it. The only time I get a heads up that it may be there is because Fizz will walk be either to the left or right of the path so she doesn’t have to walk in it.

This is where a cane is very different. And it can actually give me additional information too on how deep the puddle may be, or how much of the path it covers.

How? I hear you ask….

As a long cane works by sweeping the ground before you, roughly by one and a half steps ahead of me based on the sweeping motion, it can give not just feedback on the objects that may be in the in my path, but the texture and changes of the ground itself.

And when that comes to water, the sound and feel of the sweep is altered.

A shallow covering of water gives very little resistances; yet a deep puddle is like moving a spoon through thick custard.

And as I sweep wirh my cane around a puddle the sound also helps to give feedback on the depth; so that I can try and walk through the shallower parts or even avoid the puddle all together.

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15 Apr 2022
Blind Blog

Pain of a Cane

It’s been six months now since the whirlwind that was my second guide dog Fizz retired. She is living her best life, enjoying her retirement and even living with another black lab who is also retired; but much younger than her called Ashby. So you could even say she has found herself a toy boy!

I have been missing her terribly in all honesty.

Not just as my guide dog, but as my companion.

The house seems too quiet when the kids aren’t home.

However a friends suggestion of a weighted blanket on my bed has certainly helped. Especially because in the last few years I had allowed Fizz to slip into the habit of sleeping on my bed. The extra weight on the covers really does help.

I could have used the excuse of reverting back to ‘Candy’ (my cane has red stripes to symbolise that I am deaf blind, thus picking up the nick-name candy the cane) as a way to shut off the outside world and limit (or restrict) my independence. Especially over the winter months when the darkness was greater.

But I didn’t …

I set myself the challenge of walking each day, some days this has been the 4 mile round trip to grab a coffee from Nero. (Other coffee houses are available)

When I am on a route I know well and is fairly quiet; like the route to town. I can feel quite free, quite confident and faster in my walking pace.

However, as I approach the shops, the busier areas and the unpredictability of people I can feel quite weak. I liken it to feeling like a small child. And I get even smaller when I come across the unexpected; such as building works, market stalls or additional outside seating for cafes etc.

However, I am stubborn. I refuse to let this weaken me. I just wished that my cane had sort of robotic system in it that I could say “let’s go to the bank” and it would navigate me there avoiding all the obstacles?

Oh wait … That’s a guide dog!

What I really REALLY really need is for “That Call” to say a possible match has been found.

I am (one of) the highest priories on the Guide Dog waiting list. However, as I have explained before. They look to match the personality and lifestyle of the person to the personality and workability of the dog. Along with looking at other things such as walking speed, the persons height and workload for the dog. Which all means that there may still be some time to wait for a dog that matches my needs.

So, for now it’s back ti my love-hate relationship with Candy and asking friends for a little more support.

And trying not to cause any more bruises from the regular stomach jabs or arm jars in the process.

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19 Jan 2022
Blind Blog

Apologies for the silence … Its taken some time

Photograph of Tee on the patio with a cream garden wall behind, with Guide dog fizz sat on the left in her harness . Both looking at the camera.

Facebook memories are a blessing and a curse.

Take today as an example, today it popped up in my memories that it was seven years ago today that my first guide dog Vicky did her last school run. And my GDMI (Guide Dog Mobility Instructor) took her harness and sash, signifying the start of her retirement.

And this day seven years ago is the very same day I started my training with my second guide dog Fizz.

So, why today is this (usually joyous) memory upsetting?

Because yesterday is 2 months since I did my last working walk with Fizz. Before she retired and was rehomed via Guide Dogs.

Landscape photograph of guide dog fizz laid on the carpet looking up at the camera with her tail wagging and a little blurred

Sadly, Fizz retired before a third dog has been found for me; what with a global pandemic, delays have been incurred and I continue to wait for ‘The Call’.

I have returned to using my cane, who has aptly gained the nickname ‘Candy’ because of her red and white stripes. (which are the universal symbol of a person with both sight and hearing loss)

And it is bit of a love – hate relationship at times, being totally honest. I am grateful it is a skill that I have maintained as I am able to keep my independence. However the regular cane jabs and bumps are something I would happily live without.

Fizz retired at the grand age of ten and half, she had worked with me for just under 7 years and it was time for her to be able to put her paws up, not have to concentrate on keeping me safe and sniff all those smells she usually has to ignore while in harness.

The Guide Dogs charity have been an amazing support to us both during her working life and this has continued in her retirement. They supported me and found Fizz her retirement home.

Fizz has also stayed within the Guide Dog Family, so her new owner has been keeping me updated on how she has settled, on her new canine companions and I have even been fortunate to receive regular photographs with the updates.

It was the right time for Fizz to hang up her harness. This however doesn’t stop me being upset that she has gone. Knowing she is working those puppy eyes and wrapping her new owner around her paws is a great comfort though. She is a very emotionally sensitive dog and it will still be taking her time to adjust to.

Although I am sure not having to guide in wind and rain is surely helping with that.

There are lots of changes happening here for me too, but that’s another post or three! Lets just say, I haven’t been sitting still.

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02 Sep 2021
Blind Blog

Dogs just wanna to have fun!

It is true to say that many people only think of guide dogs as well trained, hard working dogs. This is of-course true; however there is also the puppy that comes out to play when the harness is removed.

As part of fizz’s work she, like us humans needs to have her down time; her run around with other dogs and possibly much more importantly that time where she can stick her nose to the ground and have a good sniff and as my son calls it ‘check her Pee-Mail’s’ which she doesn’t do when in harness.

This weekend was proof that she has plenty of time to explore and have no responsibility.

This weekend we met up with her dog friend Dave, we walked in fields, beaches and along the canal. She got to sniff, roll, swim and run.

She certainly did not act like a 10 year old guide dog, she certainly covered double if not more than the 8 miles I walked.

She met other dogs, soaked in expecting passers-by and even enjoyed a sneaky empty ice-cream cone.

A new friend we were with commented “I thought guide dogs were always working and well behaved?”

Nope and Nope!

She wasn’t naughty, she was just ‘being a dog’

So, it’s not all work and actually when she has had a really good run it can actually improve her work.

It’s all about having a good work-life balance.

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27 Apr 2021
Blind Blog

Sunglasses after sunset…

Spring is in full flow; with frosty mornings and the lighter evenings it is as if there are more hours in the day; or rather it is the illusion that more daylight creates. It is wonderful for lifting the mood after what felt like an even longer than usual winter considering much of it was spent in lockdown or local restrictions because of the continuing covid pandemic.

Spring and summer evenings extend the opportunity for me to get out for a walk. Recently I have deliberately headed out as the sun has begin to set to experience the lowering light levels; ensuring I am home before it actually gets dark as this is when my sight changes dramatically.

Part of my sight condition is ‘night blindness’ which for me means that any lights that are on are glaring and sometimes even painful to look at. While the light they cast is actually totally lost on me as I would be lucky to see my own hand in front of my face. It is a time when Fizz really has to work; which over the years together she has learnt to do. She will even pause on the step up a curb when its dark as apposed to daylight when she will just step straight up. (which has on more recent occasions seen me trip) yet in the dark, she does this without being asked.

Today, due to circumstance I found myself heading out for our evening walk AFTER the sun had gone down, it wasn’t really dark, but dark enough for the street lights to be on. Having been a beautifully sunny day I found myself with my sunglasses sat on the top of my head; so took the opportunity to test something out.

I have previously sat in a friends car (when we could do that sort of thing) and put my sunglasses on to help reduce the ‘dazzle’ I was getting from oncoming cars when it was dark, although I was sat still and didn’t need to actually concentrate on my surroundings. Tonight however was different, I was walking with Fizz, all be it on a route we both know well. It may sound silly, but I felt nervous, anxious even.

But it was just a pair of sunglasses, I could always take them off again, only (other than to capture this photo) I didn’t. The reduction in ‘dazzle’ from oncoming cars was AMAZING and it wasn’t just cars that I found it worked with; the reduction in glare from the street lights was also really good.

Photograph taken looking through sunglasses, to show the lighter sky and street light outside the sunglasses, with a darker tint and glare reduction though the sunglasses

The reduction in what I could see was affected, however only in the way that I had lost the shadow definition, however with Fizz guiding me I felt comfortable with it all. Fizz quickly picked up that I was being more vocal with my commands and as we walked further she adjusted to the change in light levels too.

So, from now on it will be sunglasses after sunset as well as before.

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11 Jan 2021
Blind Blog • Challenges

Time to let you in on a little secret

Canary Wharf Roundell with Guide Dog sat in front of it in her guide dog harness.

Since the beginning of April 2020, when it became clear that lock-down was here to stay I joined an online virtual challenge called ‘Race at Your Pace’. Being that both running and cycling require the input of a sighted guide I joined the walking challenge and between April and 31st December I clocked up 612mi.

BUT WHY?

As a form of training for a challenge I hope to complete now we are in 2021. Which I originally wanted to call ‘my Womble Challenge’, in that I shall be walking the London Underground Overground (cue cheesy 1970s tv theme tune) However, as this is a different version of The Tube Challenge I completed in 2019 I have setted for

‘Tinks Tube Challenge, a 2021 Twist’

As it was “Tinks Tube Challenge” that saw me travel to and through all 270 tube stations on The London Underground with world record holder Andy James, in under 19 hours on this day two years ago.

However this time, (thankfully) there is no time challenge or running. Instead each line I walk will enable me to see London on the surface. Take in the sights, the sounds and the smells. And with the length of the walks vary from just 32 minutes to 2.5 days. (as i will be stopping and sleeping) if it is a part of london covered by the underground network it will form part of the walk. I plan to walk to each tube station on each line; this will see me visit most stations more than once over the full eleven walks.

With Kings Cross St Pancras being the staiton I will visit the most.

This is not a new challenge, there have been variations of this challenge achieved over the last few decades; it was actually reading Mark Masons’ book ‘Walk the Lines, The London Underground OVERGROUND’ That inspired me to take on this mammoth challenge.

Which if TfL run to time will see me complete 272 stations with the new Northern Line extension out to Batttersea Power Station.

As with my previous tube challenge I am completing this as part of my fundraising to name a life-changing guide dog Victoria. 2020 would have been ideal for this as the puns relating to sight and 2020 are in abundance, however the Covid pandemic had other ideas and foolishly lead me to believe that by now we would be out the other side and returning to some normality instead of (again) being in a form of lockdown. (Oh how niave of me!)

So instead of launching this challenge today on the 2nd Anniversary of me completing the original challenge as I had planned; by starting out on my first walk I can only write about it here and instead build the tension.

2021 for me has already started with BIG BIRTHDAY, so it is only fitting that I give back to others. Guide dogs are and have been a big part of my life since 2009. So it is in this monumental year for me age wise I return the support, while doing something that I am actually really looking forward to.

Given the distances covered on each walk, there will be very few that I am able to complete with Fizz by my side, instead I have a team of volunteers to support me as sight guides and my faithful cane.

Given the current restrictions and dangers to everyone with this pandemic I feel it is a much more realistic expectation that I probably won’t get to physically start my challenge until the latter part of the year. So, for now I will continue to train, working particularly on increasing my fitness and stamina; so that when it is safe to do so I will be good to go.

…. On a side note I have also updated my fundraising page too, which can be found HERE

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30 May 2020
Blind Blog

What is this all leading to ?

Yellow medal staring 50 miles walked

Lockdown has not been easy for me from a mental health point of view. As someone who holds multiply volunteer roles I work better when my schedule is full.

They say

If you want something done, ask a busy person.

And for me that is most definitely the case. When I have all the time in the world to do something it never gets done. To the point that my diary schedule now also includes specific days and times for mundane housework.

I also need to find something to get me working out, gaining strength and becoming fitter; rather than just sitting in front of Netflix’s.

Along came a Facebook advert for a virtual challenge called ‘Race At Your Pace.’ Ever skeptical about just adverts I asked a few friends and they confirmed it was a genuine company and that actually many of them were doing a running challenge with them.

Social distancing for me with a visual impairment means that I am unable to run or cycle; given that I need either a guide runner to run with me or a pilot to ride my tandem.

Which left me with walking.

Not a problem, as I needed to exercise my guide dog Fizz, and this was a mix between ‘working walks’ for her in harness and ‘sniffy walks’ where she was on a longer lead and able to just be a dog, sniffing at each post to catch up on all the ‘Pee-Mails’

So, April’s challenge was set, I set myself the target of 50 miles of walking workouts. Which I new was a MASSIVE challenge for me, however with both indoor walks and outdoor walks counting I felt it was achievable.

Oh how wrong was I?

In April I did walk 50 miles, however it saw me going right up to the last minute with a 4 mile walk on the 30th April. Having always measured my distance in Kilometres, it was a bit of a shock to the system to measure in Miles.

However when this beauty arrived in the post I felt proud that I had achieved it.

And having gone right to the wire for April I knew I needed to work harder. So not only did I re-enter for May, but upped the distance…. This time 65miles.

A target that I not only reached on the 29th May with 2 days to spare but I discovered that I had smashed through it as only looking a ‘walking workouts’ on my Apple Watch did not include the 6+miles I had recorded as ‘Hikes’.

So yes, you have probably guessed by now, I am going again in June, I am again increasing my distance…. increasing to 75 miles.

But why?

I hear you ask, we’ll Lockdown has been a time of planning, and for now let’s just say when the world reopens I will be walking much much further than 50, or 65 , or even 75 miles……

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