A Guide dog can help you become more independent and mobile. Highly trained to support you in navigating any mobility challenges you may face, guide dogs are a great way to get you out and about with confidence.
However, it has been recognised that other breeds and indeed other cross breeds may lend additional benefits to Guide Dog users and as such, they now have curly-coated Retrievers, and two standard Poodles on the breeding programme. It is when these breeds are crossed with their own established breeds that it\’s hoped they will produce, first and foremost, successful guides, but may also provide a secondary benefit e.g. shed less hair which may be advantageous to people with allergies to dog hair.
Not all dogs trained are successful. Some will be better at this than others. Around 70% of puppies make it to being fully trained out of 1400 that are bred each year for this purpose.
Even after this, sometimes the dogs have to be retired early, due to changes in behaviour or laziness.
Please don’t approach a guide dog while they are working to stroke it. They are concentrating and focusing on making sure that their blind or visually impaired owner gets around safely.
Once they are off duty that’s fine. At a cafe for example, go have a chat with the person and a fuss of the dog.
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