6 months of having a guide dog

I’ve been qualified with Dezzie for 6 months now. If you don’t know, Dezzie is my first guide dog. He’s a 2 year old yellow Labrador cross retriever who has so much love to give. The last 6 months together has gone so quickly. If anything, it still feels like we’re getting to know each other.

When I was matched with Dezzie, I was told that the first 6 months together are about learning and taking things slow. It can be crucial in ensuring a successful partnership between you and your guide dog. You need to get a good bond and build up trust. At the end of the day, my trust is in Dezzie to keep me safe, and he trusts I’ll look after him.

Here’s an update about what we’ve been up to in the last 6 months.

All the normal things

I nearly didn’t write this blog post. Mainly because I didn’t feel like I’d achieved a lot in 6 months. The things I’ve done with Dezzie seem very mundane. Yet that’s almost the point. Dezzie has given me back the everyday tasks.

  1. a walk whenever I wanted 
  2. getting a chip butty
  3. solo cafe trips to write
  4. walked somewhere to meet a friend, rather than them picking me up 
  5. learnt the route to a new work office 
  6. corner shop
  7. walked in the dark
  8. went to buy wool
  9. weekly yoga class

While you might have expected more exciting adventures, these every day tasks were previously inaccessible. I couldn’t have done without support from other people. Yet with Dezzie, these things are fairly easy. The ease is something I’ll never take for granted. I feel incredibly lucky to have him. He’s so loving, intelligent and his capabilities amazes me every day. I’m particularly in awe of his memory for directions and locating places that we’ve been before. If I’ve been there once, he remembers.

It almost seems like an understatement to say that he’s changed my life. He’s given me freedom, choice and spontaneity. It was only when I started training, that I realised how constrained my independence had become since my vision deteriorated. I realised that my mobility and getting around was completely reliant on other people. Yes I knew this, but Dezzie made me realise how significantly that had impacted my life.

Things to work on

While there have been many many successes, some things have been tricky. Having a guide dog means you’re always working on their training, with this being amplified at the start. For example, Dezzie has a habit of walking quickly if it’s busy or he’s in an unfamiliar environment. This can cause him to pull on the harness. While this isn’t best practice, it also can be painful for me as my cerebral palsy mainly affects the left side of my body, with my left hand holding onto the guide dog harness. We worked on this during training and Dezzie responses well to wearing a gentle leader if he starts walking quicker.

Since qualifying with Dezzie we have had to work on:

  • stopping and slowing down at parked cars or obstacles on the pavement
  • not walking too quickly
  • ignoring other dogs
  • stopping at an up kerb
  • going to the toilet before working
  • recall when on a free run
  • getting excited if he sees someone he knows while he’s still working

How these can be resolved

Luckily none of these things were bad, they just needed improving or for Dezzie to be more consistent. We’ve managed to work on them ourselves, or have more input from the Guide Dogs team. If I have any problems, I can always get in touch with Guide Dogs and they will be able to advise over the phone or come out at see us.

For example, my work is getting a new office. When I was training with Dezzie I knew this was going to happen, but the location hadn’t been confirmed. This meant that Guide Dogs came out and visited Dezzie and I after we had qualified. We were able to plan the route together and they helped Dezzie and I learn it. This means we can get their safety and have worked out the easiest way to get there.

Stroking a guide dog

However, one of the hardest things for me, has been when Dezzie gets stroked by members of the public when he’s working. I know he’s cute and I feel so bad having to ask people to stop. I feel like people will get defensive as this has happened in the past.

Dezzie is a young puppy and unbelievably loving. He most certainly wouldn’t say no to a fuss. Yet this does mean he gets distracted. I understand that people mean well and might think that a quick stroke won’t cause any harm. Most of the time people don’t even ask permission. But after 100’s of well meaning strokes over the last 6 months, it has made an impact. Dezzie will now seek out affection if he thinks he’ll get it. While most of these distractions wouldn’t put us in danger, this is something he didn’t do when we qualified.

It’s not something I want to risk. It only needs to go wrong once and we’re both in danger. The Guide Dogs team have given me some tips and training exercises to do. They say it’s important to get those good behaviours solidified while he’s young as that will determine what kind of guide dog Dezzie will be going forward. It feels like I’m being strict, but I’m doing it for my own safety.

I think it’s something we’ll always have to work on. Not because Dezzie does anything wrong, but because he’s getting stroked without permission nearly every time we leave the house. Let me reassure you, he gets so much love and affection. I’m always worried people will think I am being cruel by denying him a stroke. Or that I’m being dramatic over a tiny thing. Just please don’t touch a guide dog or assistance dog. They are always working when out in public.

The next 6 months?

Over the next 6 months I hope to build on the foundations that we have, and to continue working on our confidence. I think we’re both settling into a new roles nicely. We both just need the time to gain confidence. He’s only just started being a guide dog and I’ve not navigated the world independently for a very long time. Quite frankly, it’s scary at times. I’m sure this will ease over time.

Dezzie loves his toys. He especially likes ropes, soft toys with squeezes and bones. He has a big basket of them next to his bed, but I’m sure he’ll get more over the next 6 months. Plus there’ll be lots more free runs.

I hope we can start traveling outside of our comfort zone and have some solo adventures together. Thank you Dezzie for everything you’ve given me so far.

~ Chloe x

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