It’s basically Blind Date, but instead of Cilla Black shouting “Surprise!,” you just hope contestant number three doesn’t eat tissues or chase pigeons.

Its the step towards my next Guide Dog

Picture of Guide Dog Retired tag

So it’s official Major has retired last week my Guide Dog instructor took his harness and replaced it with a dog lead sleeve that says “retired guide dog”. He’ll stay with us, lying in front of the log fire and wandering around the garden. He handled the news by rolling over and demanding snacks.

Then came the final stage of applying for my next dog. Normally this is the point where a young trainee guide dog trots in to help with my assessment. However, not this time as my instructor is currently between dogs, so she said, :

“I’ll be playing the part of the guide dog today.” She did this as she needs to test my walking speed, balance, stride, and whether I still know how to follow a dog.

To paint a picture here, the instructor took the harness and I held the handle, she walked infront as the dog would and my job was to act like this wasn’t the strangest thing happening in the neighbourhood that day. We even had to do part of the walk in the road because the pavements round here are so narrow it feels like I’m walking the plank the whole way.And then there’s the hedges. Nobody trims anything. I kept getting slapped in the face by cold, soggy branches.

We set off down the street together, me saying things that I would normally say to Major, Like ‘ ‘wait’ ‘straight on’ good boy! She needed to learn how I interacted with the dog and if I was good at being guided and being a good dog handler.

Thankfully, despite playing the part, she didn’t need to go in the gutter. I wasn’t prepared for that level of commitment to method acting.

After our little street performance, we went back inside to continue filling in the assessment form: preferred breed of dog, work routes, transport, lifestyle, all the things that help them match me up with the right dog.

It’s basically Blind Date, but instead of Cilla Black shouting “Surprise!,” you just hope contestant number three doesn’t eat tissues or chase pigeons.

So what happens to all this information? Well, the instructor took it all to the team meeting the next day to decide whether I’m still up to the job of being a guide dog owner ( for the 8th time!,) Fortunately, they said yes, so I’m officially back on the list. How long will it take for a new dog? Probably a year … at least!

Now this next part is not easy, mobility is not to be taken for granted, and a year of no guide dog can really affect my confidence, fitness, orientation, my balance can start to be affected and I need to rebuild my cane skills. I’ve got a new cane with a roller ball on the end now.

So if you spot a blind bloke wrestling a hedge, dodging a badly parked car, or wrapping himself round a lamp post like he’s attempting the world’s least convincing pole dance, don’t worry. It’s only me practising my cane skills.

Picture of white cane with roller ball on the end, the ball is about the size of a golf ball.

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