Guide Dog Blog

Clever Layla hits the road!

2010-11-02T02:31:00.000-07:00

I just need to put one thing straight with everybody. Although I’m an Essex girl I’m really not a dumb blonde like Zippy says I am. I’m actually very clever. I know I’ve told you that a few times before. But of course I do know that I am because my mum tells me that all the time, and I love hearing from her. What she doesn’t realise is that I also do it because I love her so much and I find it great fun walking around and helping her getting from all the different places.

I also do a whole lot of other things too. I think I’m an extra special guide dog because I have a couple of other roles that I play as well. We go visiting all over the place because my mum has to talk to lots of different people about guide dogs. That’s her job you know. My job of course is looking after my mum. We have a PA. Yep, we’ve got a personal assistant. She does the driving because it’s safer for us that way. I don’t think I could learn to drive just yet, maybe I could try when I’m a little bit older. But I am very good at listening to the sat nav. Her name is Matilda. Sometimes she and our PA they fight, that’s Thelma our PA. They do have a little bit of an argument. The other day we ended up staying left, and we ended up in the builders yard! Thank goodness we were early for our appointment because at least then I had time to go and do a little exploration around the grass verges. We do that before we go in so that I am comfortable while my mum is doing her talk so I don’t fidget.

We had a really interesting visit a couple of weeks ago, I met another service dog – she’s a hearing dog called Beth. She’s not quite as big as me. I think I might have squashed her a little bit when I put my paw on her head when we were laying under the table because I just wanted to play. And her mum her she couldn’t. My mum told me I couldn’t either, “Quiet,” she said to me. I do know the meaning of that word but you know sometimes I do try to ignore it. So sometimes she has to repeat it as well. I can be a bit cheeky that way. Mum says it’s the stubborn retriever streak in me. That’s because I’m lab cross retriever or is it retriever cross lab, I can’t remember. They say which ever way around it is it means it tells which is my mum and which is my dad. Anyway I’m getting a little bit side-tracked now, I was telling you about all the different things that we do and meeting Beth.

That was really interesting because Beth, her mum she can’t hear. And we were talking about guide dogs that can be used for deft-blind people, can you believe that? There are also clever dogs just like me that can do more than one thing, not just guiding a blind person but some of them are also trained to be a hearing dog! There are only a few of them that are done every year like that, that are trained should I say! That sounds awful being ‘done’, goodness me! They do, they train us. We’re very clever. It doesn’t take long to learn, an extra few months. But it does take a bit longer for the new mums and dads to learn if they are deft-blind because some of them can’t hear very well at all. And they have to have someone extra with them while they’re in training who is an i-n-ter-p-reter – oh well she’s one of those people who do things with their hands so the lady understands it. I can’t remember the name of that though. It’s almost like a different language. That’s quite interesting to watch when they do that when we’re sitting in some of our meetings.

We have a lot of different people that we meet as we go around. We’ve also met people who are in wheelchairs because we go to some of these meetings for Access groups. Not sure what the access means because I can lead my mum in and out of buildings and up and down stairways and up and down lifts quite happily. But I think it’s quite difficult for those people in wheelchairs particularly when they’ve got steps and no ramps. If I see a ramp I take my mum up the ramp instead of up the stairs because it’s just so much easier.

I do meet a lot of different people and a lot of different dogs. Lots of guide dogs. My friend Irish, oh sorry, not Irish, Iris, she’s a real cutie, we have great fun when we go to visit - run around the garden like a couple of lunatics. But we’ve also done some other work with the Essex Police, but that’s another story I’ll tell you another time.

I’ve also met a couple of new friends this week as well. And yesterday we had a wonderful visit, there was Zippy, and there was Willow and there was me and my new friend Quince came along and we did a talk for a whole bunch of people in a beautiful place. That also had a duck pond but they wouldn’t let us go and swim there unfortunately. But we were very good.

And I will have to tell you about the Quince of Wales one day. He’s a Londoner, street-wise too you know. His dad has a sat nav on his harness! I wonder if Quince knows how to go left or right from the sat nav. I don’t where the Quince of Wales came in, I was just wondering, I must remember next time to ask him when I see him does he live in Buckingham Palace?

Willow shops until she drops!

2010-10-12T02:35:00.001-07:00

Hello everyone my name is Guide Dog Willow. I’m my mum’s second Guide Dog. I live at home with Mr Fabian, you’ve heard all about Mr Fabian already.

Now, I’ve been with my mum two and a half years. I’m four years old now, and, I’ve taken over the role from Fabian really well, I know that’s a bit cheeky of me but, you know, I know my stuff, I’ve been trained so well, I’m just so calm about everything!

I love my harness! Mum gets that harness out of the cupboard in the morning and I know!

We don’t always go to meetings, we don’t always have to go to work things, and today I knew she was dressed up a bit different so I thought “hmmm, I wonder where we are going?” Then she whispered to me that we’ve got to get the bus.

So, on she pops the harness. And off we go. We board the bus, and I get her a nice seat on the bus, and we’re going to go into Colchester town because that’s our route.

And, as she’s stroking me just to check I was nicely positioned on the bus, my mum got spooked, she went “Oooh! What was that?” She found a hand on my head.

“Where’s that hand come from?”

“Don’t worry dear, it’s just me, I’m in front of you, she’s such a lovely dog, I just had to give her a stroke.”

Oooh my poor mum, that spooked her, and I just wish people wouldn’t do that, not when we’re travelling on the bus, you know, I’ve got my full harness on. I wish they’d ask first.

Anyway, after about half an hour on the bus we rumbled in, I got us safely off the bus. And, instead of going right, she went left and I thought “Ooh gosh, are we going all the way down to the institute to the meeting”. I thought maybe I’d got the uniform wrong, maybe we are going to one of these long, arduous tasks!

Oh no, she told me to find right to the pelican crossing!

Aaahh! We’re going to Debenhams, she wants me to find Debenhams! She’s saying to me “Find the door Willow, find the door!”.

“Oh, oh, gosh, there’s a dog, there’s a dog mum, there’s a dog mum!”

“Don’t worry, that’s just err dog, that’s just err hearing dog, a service dog.”

Huh, I hate it when they say that, I’ve got my harness on, “a service dog, a hearing dog” tut, I’m a Guide Dog!

Never mind. I lead my mum safely to the steps to go down, there’s six steps down. I then guide her through the store, deep into the store now because they keep moving the counter about in there and I find her the counter and I sit proudly there wagging my tail! And she gives me loads of praise “Oh good girl Willow!” Oh I just love my mum, haven’t I done well for you!

And then, over the tannoy they announced:

“Tonight, right through to ten o’clock tonight, 20% discount off all clothing and other articles in the store at Debenhams tonight”

Oh crikey! Oh no, I just hope my mum hasn’t got her credit cards on her! Oh please, as a Guide Dog, I mean I love shopping! I mean, I do like taking her around these shops and guiding her around, but not retail therapy for my mum, oh crikey!

Then, she gets the tap on her shoulder, “Oh are you being served Dear?” Ah that’s a nice assistant, makes a change.

Then the tannoy went again, “Please, please, ten o’clock tonight, 10% discount, just so you know”

Ooh, don’t say it again! She already knows! You don’t have to tell my mum things twice! We’re going to be here until ten o’clock tonight and we left the home at four! Oh gosh!

Anyway, the assistant took us up and my mum did need to get a jacket as it happens but she didn’t know about this special evening of shopping.

Off we go in the lift and the assistant and, she finds these jackets, the assistant was very very nice, gets her into the changing room, and by then I’m getting a little bit bored and she’d asked me to lay down and I slumped down the harness and I thought ‘ooh I’ll get a bit of a snooze’.

But, then I hear all of these voices in the corridor and, I’d got a bit more interested in other things by then and the lady kindly said to my mum “Your umm Guide Dog, I don’t know what her name is, I can’t remember”

“Oh, her name is Willow”

“Yes, your Willow, she’s having a peak through the curtains that are left and right, observing everything going up and down, all these ladies trying on their new clothes and observing themselves in the mirror and she’s obviously fascinated by it.”

“But, I can still feel her bum, and wagging tail inside”

But she said “No, what I’m worried about is that her head is poking through the curtain and you’re sort of showing the bits you shouldn’t be showing, and I know there is only women in here but...”

“Oohhh! That’s what it’s all about.”

So, Mum had to call me in, she said “Come on Willow, come on, be a good girl, come on in you get and lay down please and STAY!!”

Oh, I know that word “Stay” yeah, she means it now. So, I was as good as gold then. But, you know, us Guide Dogs, we do get up to a bit of naughty tricks.

Anyway, ooh thank goodness for that, she paying up now! Huh, I can guide her through Debenhams and down the lift, I know the way, and all the way to the stairs, up the steps, into Head Street and get the bus home.

Oh that’s good we’re going into Costa Cafe for a quick break because I’ve done a really good job.

By heck! It’s not ten o’clock, thank God anyway! I think it was about sevenish, but still pretty damn late and then we board the bus.

The bus driver said “Ooh” he said, “Ah yeah, I know you, you’re going to err, the Highwoods area aren’t you?”

“Yes that’s right”

He said “Just take a seat”

Well my poor mum, she had this huge carrier bag didn’t she! Talk about retail therapy! Not only do I have to guide her but I’ve got this extra bag that must be about her width again.

But anyway, we get home. Aahhh so glad to be home. She ruffles me up, takes that harness off, gets the old squeaky toy, I go mad with it! Absolutely mad for the next ten minutes. Fabian comes shooting in, that’s the retired dog I live with. Yes, we have a good old rough and tumble and then chill out time.

A slub of water. And yes, completely chilled out. Snoozing. Gone to sleep. What a hard day’s work that was, but a brilliant day, a brilliant day really, loved every minute of it.

And, my snoring gets me into trouble, because my mum, she says to her Hubby, that’s my dad but she calls him Hubby, she says “Hey you snore just like her, my Guide Dog Willow, that’s what you sound like when you snore in bed at night keeping me awake. Now I’ve got two of you!”

She loves me really, and she knows when I snore like that, that I’m fine for the next morning. I’ve got all my energy, I’ve had a good old snooze.

And so there be it, another day gone. WOW! What a wonderful life I have with my mum. See you another time, from Willow.

Zippy makes a visit to the vet!

2010-10-04T08:16:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone. This is Zippy again. Do you remember me? I’m the one who’s got the nice girlfriend called Layla. Well, if my girlfriend Layla knew what I’d been up to over the last couple of weeks I don’t think she’d want to know me.

I got up one morning and I was sitting in the kitchen waiting for mum to come up and give me my breakfast – and suddenly there she was! And it wasn’t 7 o’clock. I got all excited and thought “yes!” I was going to get breakfast early! But no, mum just went and put the kettle on and made a cup of tea. I sat and I looked at her and I thought, “Mum, please. Breakfast. I’m hungry”. But no, she even picked up my water bowl off the floor and I thought “ooh, good, fresh water” because that water had been there all night. But no, she put the bowl in the sink. She gave me a stroke behind the ears and said, “There’s a good boy, come on, out to be busy.”

So I thought, “Good. Busy. That means we’re going out. Yippee!”

So out I went out and had a trundle around the garden, inspected all the bushes, made sure the cat wasn’t out there as I like playing with the cat. It’s not really playing, I annoy her. I like sticking my nose in places where it shouldn’t go – you know what I mean.

Anyway I rushed around the garden and did my figure of 8 just like Layla does. It’s funny how us dogs do the same thing. I was a very good boy, I did both ‘busys’. And I came in and I sat expectantly in the kitchen thinking, “Now I’m going to get breakfast”. No. Mum put my lead on and said, “Come on Zippy, we’re going out.”

Out we went to the car and I thought “Oh, brilliant we’re going out”. We were going to go and have play time because she didn’t take my coat so I knew we wouldn’t be working. We got in the car and I got all excited. I knew we were going somewhere into Colchester because that’s the route we took. “Hang on a minute, no it isn’t”. Instead of turning left under the railway bridge we turned right. “Ooh hang on a minute! We’re going to go and see mum’s daughter’s best friend with her dog Lola. Yes that’s it! We’re going to go and have a nice run in the field with Lola!” Lola’s another friend of mine. She’s probably not as nice a Layla, because Layla’s a guidedog and knows my way of thinking. Lola’s a bit of a rogue and she doesn’t like it when I leap on top of her - I don’t know why?

Anyway, we didn’t get as far as Lola. We turned into a driveway and I thought I don’t recognise this. Mum parked the car, she got me out of the car, we went through the door and this very nice voice said, “Hello Zippy. Nice to see you again.” And I thought “Brilliant! I know that person, she’s really nice and friendly. I’m going to get lots of cuddles.” Anyway mum filled in a form, I don’t know why? And then this nice lady, I think her name was Julie, she took my lead and off I went. And I thought, “Hang on a minute, where am I going, where’s mum going?” But I was alright because I was going with Julie and I knew I’d get lots of cuddles with Julie. So off I went, Julie took me through another door and then she put me into an indoor kennel. And I thought, “No, I don’t like this. This isn’t playtime.” But she gave me a biscuit so I thought, “Ok, I’ll sit here and I’ll wait.”

And then I felt a bit strange and then I felt even stranger. I was sort of a bit dosey, a bit more dosey than normal. And I thought,“Hang on a minute. Something’s not quite right. Something’s missing. Oh no mum what have you done!? My crown jewels! Where are they? Somebody’s pinched them! Quick, somebody call someone! What am I going to do? What am I going to do about Lola and Layla? But oh, I feel sooooo tired, I’ll think about that later…

I had a sleep and then Julie came in, she gave me a lovely cuddle, she gave me a stroke, she took my temperature – that wasn’t nice! She felt my heart and that was racing a bit. But she said, “Never mind Zippy, mum will be here in a minute she’s coming to take you home.” Phew! Thank goodness for that, I don’t want to stay here any longer, I might lose something else!

Anyway not long after that mum came and she did look very sorry and very sad. And I wasn’t quite sure whether or not to say hello to her so I half-heartedly sort of said hello but then I got the hump because I thought maybe she knows where my crown jewels are. Maybe she might have taken them home and I’ll find them later!

Anyway mum put me very carefully on the backseat of the car, and I’m not normally allowed on the backseat of the car. But she said, “just this once because you’re not allowed to jump into the boot.” So I laid in the backseat of the car and we went home. And do you know what? Even though I’ve lost something very important I’m glad I lost it because do you know the attention I got when I got home? Everybody was cuddling me, everybody wanted to stroke me. I got loads of biscuits and treats! But not too many because I might have been sick after my aesthetic, but just a few just to make me feel better.

Anyway enough about biscuits and cuddles, I feel really sleepy.

Mum takes me out into the garden on my lead to be ‘busy’. That’s strange. But mum said it’s to stop me running around and pulling out my stitches.

“Is that what that prickly feeling is where my missing bits are? Oh dear I think I need to inspect that area. Hang on mum. Hang on. I can’t hop on three legs it really hurts. Oh mum wait a minute, don’t take me in yet.”

Oh bother, mum’s taken me back to my bed. She says it’s all in my own good interest because then I can go on and further my training to become a guide dog. Well, I suppose that’s why I was born. That’s what I’ve been training to do, so maybe… oh I don’t know, I’ll have to wait and see. I can’t think straight at the moment. I just feel so tired. I think I’ll have a quick nap. You never know I might wake up and find it’s all been a dream, or a nightmare, and I haven’t really lost anything at all. Oh, I’m so sleepy, so tired, I must go. Night night for now.

Lovely Layla

2010-09-23T03:52:00.000-07:00

Hello everybody. This is me again, Layla, just in case you forgot about me because I think that you’ve heard from some of my other friends.

I had such good fun over last weekend. Mum and I, we went on a date. Can you believe that? Good fun too that was. We went up to Castle Park in Colchester. It was a little bit difficult though because normally I walk on pavements and I then know I can walk right down the middle and lead my mum safely. And we were in the park, there are pavements sort of there, well, not really, because we ended up doing a short cut across the grass, and I just wanted to play. But I had to work, I was good, I did help my mum.

It was quite good fun when we got to the end of the park, ooh, the duck pond was really interesting too. I took a peak at them while I was walking but because I was having to concentrate I couldn’t really go up and sniff them and see what they were doing with their funny little tails sticky out of the water.

Well, it was a really nice day. We went for a walk up to the gate. Ooh there was the ice cream man. Mum’s date bought us these huge great big ice creams, well, he only bought two. And we then walked along and found a bench and we were sitting having these ice creams, well, mum and her date were. And I was looking at him with the biggest brownest eyes that I could and I was just wishing and wishing he would give me a lick. I’m sure mum knew about it even though she couldn’t see, because she told him, “No, definitely not!”

I’m not aloud people’s food really, maybe it’s because it had chocolate in it. He listened to mum, you know you can tell she wears the pants in the house, because he didn’t give me any ice cream.

But I did have some fun after that because mum took my harness off and my leash and I was aloud to go for my weekly free run that’s where I’m aloud to be a complete hooligan. I ran around in circles and then I found the river. I must say, her date was a real good, he was a real brick, he was great good fun. Although he was trying to leave mum on the side of bank without falling down in the water. She was giggling so much and I was in the water and he was trying to get me out. So I thought, well, I’ll just go and give them all a present to cool them down and shook myself down. It wasn’t bad because he didn’t say anything. I think he’s quite a friendly chap after all.

Oh well, that at least was the end of the day, we did have great fun though.

Fabian gets frisky

2010-08-11T12:25:00.000-07:00

(To listen to the accompanying audio podcast episode, please click on our audio player. Or you can subscribe to receive regular updates. You can also click this link to open or download and save the 4 min 50 seconds (4.42MB) audio file. Fabian is voiced by his 'mum' Vicky.)

Hiya guys, it’s Mr Fabian.

I’m the retired guide dog. I live at home with my mum. Now, I have quite a long time to sleep these days, I’m never bored, I go out for my lead walks, but when I’m dreaming I do reminisce about my past days with my mum as a working guide dog. Ho ho, they were the days, my word.

I’ve been flying.Yes guide dogs fly! Would you believe that? I went to the Channel Islands. To Guernsey Island. Not part of the pet passport scheme because it’s in the British Isles, you can go without any of those nasty jabs, don’t need that passport thing.

Well this very first flight we checked in; then my mum said yes I’m boarding with a guide dog and I do need you to know I need a seat with a lot of room because he’ll lay at the front of my seat in the cabin.

That’s ok dear. We’ve got lots of room for him so he’ll be fine. But we would actually like to weigh him.

Huh? Weight. Did a woman say weight? Look me, nice, slim, sleek body. Weight. Guide dogs are never allowed to be overweight. I’m not. They’re very strict about that.

So my mum said weigh him, I can tell you he’s 32 kg, he has a health book he was only weighed a couple of weeks ago at the vet.

No no, he’s got to go on this belt and get weighed.

So I obliged. My mum said I’ll take his harness off first.

She said no, that’s going on the plane with him, so that’s all counterweight, it all goes together.

Oh, all right then. Come on Fabian, upstand, get up on the conveyer built thing.

I didn’t want to get my paws on that. It’s not in the training schedule for guide dogs. But being a goody two shoes, all right mum, I’ll just do it for you, because I was just dying to get on the plane really.

31.8kg. There you go, you can go through now to the boarding gates but you’ll have to go through the barriers to the x-ray machine.

Anyway, we trundled along. I had a big shake, kept shaking in the harness, bit scarey stuff that and then these machines are going beep beep beep beep and then suddenly this woman says to my mum, hold your arms out madam please, we just need to frisk you; now we need to do the same to your dog. Of course, the alarms by then were going mad. Ring ring, beep beep. There must be something here, they’re looking for something, they’ve detected something. What’s this all about?

My mum said it’s all the metal on the harness, metal rings, metal on the handle, metal buckles, metal round my special check choke collar, my guide dog medallions, they’re not having that.

This man came over and the woman and said we have to frisk your dog.

She said do what you have to, dropped the handle and let them do it, and they got overtaken by joy stroking me.

Oh isn’t he lovely, what’s his name?

His name’s Fabian. I can tell by my mum’s voice she’s not impressed. It’s just an excuse to stroke me. They knew I was full of metal all over the place. Plus I’ve got a microchip under my skin and I was wondering if that was making their sirens go.

Anyway, Hubby said to mum, massive queue behind us now after all that palaver. I think people thought they were going to get the police out after us.

Thank God that was over. If this is what flying’s about, woo hoo it’s a bit of fun isn’t it!

I'm a very clever girl, says Layla

2010-07-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

(To listen to the accompanying audio podcast episode, please click on our audio player. Or you can subscribe to receive regular updates. You can also click this link to open or download and save the 1 min 48 seconds (1.48MB) audio file. Layla is voiced by her 'mum' Sue.)

Hi there folks this is Layla.

Me again.

I’m here to tell you about when I first went home with my mum.

I qualified as a Guide Dog, oooh, I think it was about a year ago.

I’m 3 now, but that’s 21 in your years, so I’m still quite a spring chicken aren’t I?

When we went home I got a white harness, that was because I was a qualified Guide Dog.

All the other ones who are training they’ve got brown ones, but now I’m really clever and I help my mum a lot.

I take her everywhere, to the Doctor and to the bank and all over the place.

Don’t you think that’s quite clever for a three year old? I think so! Sorry, it’s not that I’m very opinionated but I do know that I’m clever because my mum tells me that all the time.

We live in a house with a lovely little garden, I need that periodically you know, we dogs have to do things like other people, they use normal loos, we use grass.

We’ve got a lovely little garden where I can go.

When I got home with my mum we lived in a flat, but that wasn’t a problem me being a Guide Dog in a flat, because my mum and I went out for a walk every three or four hours or so and there was a piece of grass near the car park.

So, that was OK, mum just has to make sure she carries bags with her all the time, and sometimes we use concrete.

It really does depend where we are, if we’re in London we have to use concrete, they don’t have very much grass there. One of my friends was so clever to do it over a drain the taxi driver gave my mum, well, his mum a free lift to wherever they were going.

He was very surprised to see that.

That’s because we’re all very clever, not just me of course.

Hello from Zippy, a Guide Dog in training

2010-06-04T04:24:00.000-07:00

Hi, my name is Zippy and I’m a very clever boy because I am going to learn to become a Guide Dog.

My dad was a black Labrador and my mum was a Golden Retriever and although I’m black and shiny because I have a really nice coat, you should see the blonde highlights on my legs. It really gets the girls talking, they can’t believe it because I’m a black lab, cross retriever.

I’m nice and shiny and that’s down to the food that I eat, and boy, because I’m a lab, do I eat food!? I’m only seven and a half months old, you wouldn’t believe it though because I’m such a big boy and I’m so clever and I’m doing really well with my training.

Well, my mum says I am anyway, but then she’s biased because she loves me lots. I love her too and I give her lots of washes.

I love it when we go out training or working as she calls it. We get lots of attention in the High Street; lots of people are really interested in what I am doing.

And they know what I’m wearing because I wear a nice blue coat, and it says that I’m a Guide Dog puppy in training.

Although, sometimes people don’t see it, they just see me as the dog first and they go to complain and then they realise what I am doing and that’s OK.

I love going into shops because I get lots of attention. If we go into a new shop, mum goes up to customer services and she says “Is it alright if I bring my puppy in training in”, and the general answer is “Of course, as long as I can have a cuddle”. And I love that because I love cuddles, I love being stroked.

When we are out training, or working as mum calls it, I have to behave myself because when I become a fully trained Guide Dog, I’m gonna have to work really hard, just like my friend Layla.

I think you’ve heard about my friend, she’s a bit, “show-offish”, in a nice kind of way, because she thinks she’s’ gold’, but I know she’s just blonde. And she’s and Essex girl. But that’s alright, because I’m and Essex boy and we have lots of fun together when we go and play wwen we’re not working, when we’re off duty, we go for runs and that’s really good because I lead her on. And it doesn’t take much because being a blonde Essex girl, she just chases me, and that’s alright, I like that, I like not working, I like playing with Layla.

But when I am working, I have to concentrate very hard, and I have to do exactly what my mum tells me, so if she asks me to sit, I have to sit and I have to do it first time. And I have to concentrate and I have to watch what people are doing in the High Street and I have to guide my mum round these people in the high Street because when I’m actually working that’s what I’ll have to do properly. I can’t wait until I’m a properly trained Guide Dog, because I think I’m going to be really clever, just like my friend Layla.

Hello from Layla - in the words of a Guide Dog!

2010-05-09T11:16:00.000-07:00

(To listen to the accompanying audio podcast episode, please click on our audio player. Or you can subscribe to receive regular updates. Or you can click this link to open or download and save the 2 mins 8 seconds (1.6MB) audio file. Layla is voiced by her 'mum' Sue.')

Hello everybody, my name's Layla, I'm a very clever dog because I'm a guide dog. I do a very special job not like any other dogs like old Bob next door. I lead my mum - she's blind. Yeah, and you know what, I'm not the blind dog, it's my mum who's blind but some people call me a blind dog.

You know it was really odd the other day. We were walking in town and this lady stopped and she was talking to my mum's friend, as if my mum wasn't even there. 'Oh, how long has your friend been training,' she says. You know what, my mum might be blind but she's not daft!

I'm a very beautiful dog, not just because I'm a guide dog of course, but because I came from a really good mum and dad and they also came from the Guide Dogs' family. My mum and dad were a labrador and a golden retriever and I must say I do think I'm quite pretty, everybody says so.

Even when I go visiting everywhere and even if some of the people can't see me they think I'm beautiful because they feel my soft silky ears. I'm not yellow, though I am a yellow lab cross golden retriever. I've got the golden bit in me and my nan, well my mum's mum, says I'm beautiful because I've got black eye liner all round my eyes and the rest of me is gold. Long legs ... they all like long legs with the girls, don't they, these days!

And I'm also very friendly, we go visit all over the place and lots of people like to pat me. But of course if I'm walking you can't just stop a guide dog and talk to us because then we're busy working and we have to concentrate.

So don't just disturb us if we happen to be working but if you do want to stop and chat my mum doesn't mind that, because then all she'll do is stop me, put my harness down, then you can talk to me, and ooh yeah there's that place just behind my ears where you can tickle me. I do love that.