I’m a guide dog owner AMA

[AlternativePerspective]

Whenever dog threads come up on mn there are usually posts somewhere in there which mention and ask questions about guide dogs.

So I thought I’d start a thread for anyone who wanted to know anything.

I’ve been a guide dog owner now since 1996, except for a 2 year gap between my last dog retiring and qualifying with my existing dog.

PS: the only thing I can’t provide is pictures because A, my photography skills quite naturally leave something to be desired, and b, he could potentially be identifiable and associated with others who may have been involved with him e.g. puppy walker/boarders/trainers etc who might not want to be outed iyswim.

But other than that,

AMA

This will sounds bonkers but I've always wondered - can you play with your dog, the way typical dog owners do? Do they have time to do zoomies (if inclined!), play fetch, have a belly rub etc? I wonder if the fact that the dog is "working" affects that side of the relationship with them?

Another stupid question, how do you pop pick? I kind of get it when you're out but do you get someone to pop pick your garden?

@ TheWayTheLightFalls yes of course. They’re working dogs only when they’re in harness so out and about. As soon as the harness and the lead come off they are just dogs.

In fact play is all a part of the bond, and it can rightly be said that my lounge resembles the toy department of a pet shop.

Balls are discouraged so that they don’t e.g. chase other dogs’ balls in the park and end up running too far, and I personally draw the line at squeaky toys.

I free run my dog around 3 times a week, And I am very fortunate to have an excellent park a 5 minute walk from my house, and a dog with 100% recall.

And my dog has already paid me the compliment of rolling in fox shit and needing to be washed (and blow dried as it was cold,).

@TheWayTheLightFalls

This will sounds bonkers but I've always wondered - can you play with your dog, the way typical dog owners do? Do they have time to do zoomies (if inclined!), play fetch, have a belly rub etc? I wonder if the fact that the dog is "working" affects that side of the relationship with them?

I always wondered this too. The dogs are working hard and very focussed, and I always hope they get to have some 'dog time' when they are back at home and it's not all serious all the time.

@ 2DogsOnMySofa it can depend from owner to owner.

In my previous houses I’ve had concrete runs which have been easy to clear.

My current house has a tiny garden which as long as it’s done regularly is fairly easy. Although I will ask my teen if I’ve missed any.

When out and about I do pick up, except in the park when free running. but it should be noted that guide dog owners are actually legally exempt from having to.

I always wondered this too. The dogs are working hard and very focussed, and I always hope they get to have some 'dog time' when they are back at home and it's not all serious all the time. Oh no they are definitely just dogs the rest of the time.

But actually a good dog also loves its work. Mine wags his tail constantly when out. Actually he wags his tail constantly. In fact a member of the public came up to me recently and said: “he’s wagging his tail, I’m not sure they’re supposed to do that are they? 😂.

It’s also worth noting that because they’re dogs, even as guide dogs they can have lapses. When I went to my local pet shop for the first time after my current dog qualified, when we got to the till the bloke informed me that he had a rice bone in his mouth. clearly he just wanted to choose his own treat….

But he hadn’t put a mark on it, hadn’t tried to eat it, and he gave it back to me without any fuss. But that obviously can’t be guaranteed so any guide dog owner does need to be vigilant when they’re around food.

FWIW I offered to pay for the rice bone but he gave it to me. Probably something to do with the fact I’d just spent 30 quid on toys.

I love that he picked his own treats!

How old was your dog when he came to you, and are you assigned a dog or do you get to choose one?

Do you work? Does he go to work with you?
I worked with a lady who had a guide dog for years and it was lovely having him in the office.

I know someone who puppy walks - are you encouraged to let the dogs see their walkers from time to time, or is it too unsettling?

Do you plan to keep your dog when he retires?

@ Someaddedsugar usually somewhere between 18 months and 2 years.

My current dog however came to me 2 months before his 3rd birthday because his training had to be halted because of lockdown. (there’s a whole other discussion in there,)

There’s a matching process, so they assess things like the owner’s lifestyle, i.e. do they work in a city so need a more robust dog, whether they regularly need to use escalators in London (only London dogs are escalator trained and only on the underground, and only around 50% of dogs can be escalator trained, some just won’t run on which is understandable, but they will be matched to someone who doesn’t use escalators or who is happy to find alternative routes. ) what kind of speed is the owner walking at. Obviously you are going to get slower and faster dogs just as you do with humans.

Another lady told me that her guide dogs were trained to soil in a particular area, either out and about or in the garden if possible. Is this not the case with every dog?
How long does each dog work for? Do you miss them terribly when they are retired?
I assume they are adopted by well vetted people eventually?

@ BestIsWest I’m currently unemployed and looking but yes, in the event I manage to find a job the dog would come with me.

My 1st dog went through three different workplaces with me, then I gave up work when she was 8 to be a SAHM.

Do people try to pet your dog when you’re out? I was always told as a dog mad child not to approach a guide dog but used to yearn to stroke them!
What an interesting thread btw.

Did you contact your dog's puppy Walker? I'm a puppy Walker, and that call I got from my pup's new owner was the happiest day of my life!

We love them so much - that day when they get picked up for the training centre is the worst. My second one went on class with her new owner yesterday, so I have my fingers firmly crossed that I get a call from them after the qualify.

when we got to the till the bloke informed me that he had a rice bone in his mouth.

Sounds exactly like my Labrador I think it’s a hazard of owning a pet shop, especially when you put open treats at nose level.

The two years you were without a guide dog I’m assuming are down to the waiting times for a dog rather than personal reasons? How did you cope without a dog?

@ Ethelswith it’s very much a personal choice thing.

When you qualify you’re given the details of the puppywalker, And some owners choose to contact them, others don’t.

I’ve only ever contacted my current dog’s puppy walker, and we met up for lunch. She had another puppy with her by then.

In terms of retirement again it very much depends. I’ve kept all my dogs when they’ve retired, although my 2nd dog went to live with my sister after I got divorced because my new neighbour had an extremely aggressive dog, and as a dog who was withdrawn because of severe dog distractions this was somewhat distressing for him, so it was in his best interests to go and live there where my BIL took him for long walks regularly and he lived the life until he died when he was 16. in fact my previous dog is 13.5 and is lying on my feet as I write. But some owners can’t if e.g. both partners are blind and then keeping retired dogs as well could mean they’re essentially inundated with dogs, or if the person is unable to walk a retired dog, or if they work full-time. In that event guide dogs have a rehoming programme which is if anything, even more stringent than your average rescue.

A lot of them do end up going to family or their previous boarders or puppy walkers.

Is there any government funding for it or is it all privately funded?

If you’re out and about and I walk past with my dog who wants say hi I know to stop him from going up to your dog - but do you prefer to totally not be spoken to or is it okay to say oh your dog adorable and have a chat?

What happens when your dog retires do you get to keep as a pet or do they move to another home?

Do people try to pet your dog when you’re out? I was always told as a dog mad child not to approach a guide dog but used to yearn to stroke them! constantly. And some just won’t take no for an answer.

Last week I had someone stroking my dog and when I asked her not to she said “I can’t stop stroking him.

More amusingly a few years ago a woman was stroking my guide dog at a bus stop and I didn’t know, so when I pulled him away she said “oh it’s ok, I was just stroking him,” I explained that actually if she wanted to stroke him she really should ask, because if she strokes him and I don’t know then I would correct the dog for something which wasn’t his fault. And in response she bent down to the dog and said, “hello doggy, can I stroke you?” Then turned to me and said: “there, can you give him permission to be stroked then?” 😂😂😂

The two years you were without a guide dog I’m assuming are down to the waiting times for a dog rather than personal reasons? How did you cope without a dog? it was a mixture of the two. When my last dog retired I was waiting to go into hospital for open heart surgery and was seriously ill at the time. In fact had it not been for the fact he was older I might have had to give him back for his own benefit, but as it was he was old enough to manage with a more reduced workload…

When I came out of hospital I was much improved but I had to go through quite a gruelling re-application process to ensure that I was well and fit enough to be able to manage with a young dog. So I had to fill in medical forms and go through mobility assessments and so on.

Then I went on the list just before lockdown, but ordinarily the list is quite long anyway so there was always going to be a wait then.

During the pandemic I had to shield, so to ensure I maintained my fitness I walked 10000 steps around my house every day. Then I was matched in April last year and started training in May, and I am glad I’d kept up the steps because the training was hard and there’s no way I would have managed it otherwise, bearing in mind I am in heart failure as well as having a VI.

In terms of coping I had to use a cane instead. It’s always advisable to never let your cane skills slip because you could end up without a dog at any time. But I by no means have the confidence with a cane that I do with a dog.

@ ashorterday I didn’t contact my first 3 dogs’ puppywalkers because 1: I was young when I qualified with the first one, so by the time it occurred to me it was kind of too late.

2, my second dog came to me with some dog distractions which were pronounced enough that I didn’t really want to contact them as it may have been possible they had some knowledge of them. Then he was withdrawn 3 years later and they never walked again after him anyway.

My 3rd dog again never really thought about it because I’d just had to have my dog withdrawn and train with the new one and by the time we were settled again it was too late, and then i got divorced so life got in the way.

But I contacted my current dog’s puppywalker and we have met up since he qualified.

Hope your pup does well. Where is he/she training?

@AlternativePerspective Thanks for this thread which is really interesting. My husband and I have recently been approved as guide dog puppy raisers and are very excited! We have a young dog (just 4 months) coming to board for a few day at the end of the month and will possibly board another dog before we are offered a pup to raise. We need to make sure our 12 year old retriever will be okay with a young dog joining our family for at least a year so are doing a few test runs! 😊

That's interesting about the escalators, when I lived in London there was a man who was often at the tube station as I was going to work, he would pick his guide dog up and ride the escalator, the dog used to look over his shoulder and I so wanted to say hello, but I imagine being on an escalator carrying a Labrador and being blind is enough to cope with without someone saying, "hello can I stroke your dog"

OP Do you still pay 50p for your dog or has the price gone up with inflation?

Have you ever been asked into a school to explain what your dog does? We used to get the occasional visiting guide dog at primary school, we would listen to the dog's human but we were all more interested ith the dog.

@ sashh some people do carry dogs on to escalators, but it’s a very personal thing.

I used to carry my last dog on to the escalator as he would run off but not on. But I have always stressed to people that you should only ever do so if you have a dog who will stand absolutely still to let you pick them up, which my last dog did. My other two before him though were both wagging squirmy labradors and there’s no way I would have safely carried either of them on to an escalator, although I wasn’t living in London then so it wasn’t an issue.

The underground staff would prefer it if people didn’t carry dogs on though, so in general if a dog isn’t escalator trained they will stop the escalator so you can walk up or down it.But for someone commuting at rush hour this might not be possible if they don’t want to incur the wrath of the commuting masses.

They’ve done away with the 50p charge now and the dog remains the property of the organisation, something which makes it easier if they have to intervene in any way.

I’m not a specific guide dog speaker so I haven’t been asked into schools, but I was a volunteer in my DS’ class growing up so I regularly went in there with my dog, and I also went into the preschool to talk to them. My dogs have been into schools, nurseries, baby groups, all as part of my remit as a parent.