I know that you’ve probably been wondering what has been happening with my Guide Dog process, and like me are eagerly awaiting the day that I introduce you to my very own Guide Dog. Unfortunately though, thanks to COVID-19, I could be waiting another two years before that happens. But because i’ve been on the waiting list for so long now, a couple of weeks ago I was very kindly invited down to the Guide Dogs North East office in Leeds to take part in another one of their Client Days, and because the way that Guide Dogs trains their Puppies has drastically changed since I last took part in one of their Client Days, I thought that I would tell you all about it.

What happened when I attended a Client Day at Guide Dogs North East.

Once me and Jamie had finally arrived in Leeds, and had wandered around for a little while, we eventually ordered ourselves an Uber to get to the Guide Dogs North East office, which is located on Headingley Lane in Headingley.

Then once we had eventually arrived and had figured out that we were in the right place, we were very kindly greeted by a really nice woman who said hi and asked us if we were looking for the entrance. We said hi back, and that yes we were, and after a couple of seconds of us all chatting, she showed us to the entrance and guided us into the extremely airy and plush Foyer. Then once we had entered the Foyer, a really nice man called Richard asked us if we were ok and if he could help us. We said hi back and explained that I was there for one of their Client Days, and after a couple of seconds of us all chatting, Jamie said his goodbyes and headed off back into Leeds. Then once Jamie had left, Richard asked a really nice lady to guide me through a couple of really long corridors and into a massive room with loads of chairs and introduced me to everyone else who was there. There was only four of us, a man in his early sixties who had previously trained with nine Guide Dogs, a woman in her late fifties who’s current Guide Dog had been diagnosed with Cancer, a Man in his early forties who was hopefully waiting for his second Guide Dog, and me.

Then after a couple of minutes of us all chatting, a really nice man called Paul, the Guide Dogs North East Operations Manager that also uses an adorable Guide Dog called Timber, introduced himself and explained why he wanted us all to take part in the Client Day, before introducing us to everyone else in the room including Richard who was actually Paul’s assistant, Sue the head Guide Dogs Mobility Specialist, and a few Guide Dog Mobility Specialists in training who would be Observing us throughout the day, before passing us back over to Sue who told us all about her role as a Guide Dog Mobility Specialist. She also told us all about what would be happening throughout the day, including that we would learn all about how they used Positive Reinforcement Training, PRT, to train their Dogs, that we would get some hands on experience of actually training a Dog, and that we would also be going out with a Dog at some point so that they could see how we walked with a Guide Dog.

We were then split into two groups to do different parts of the day first, and it turned out that I would be doing the Positive Reinforcement Training part of the day first.

I was then introduced to Helen, another one of the Guide Dog Mobility Specialists who took me over to the other side of the Room where they had set up some little training areas and started to tell me a little bit about Positive Reinforcement Training, which essentially means that if the Dog does what you want it to do then you give it a little bit of Kibble from it’s daily Food allowance as a reward. She then said that we would be doing a couple of exercises to help the Guide Dog Puppies in their training.

She then told me all about how they used a command word to let the Guide Dog know that they were ok to do what we were asking them to do, before placing a massive Guide Dog Stuffed Toy in front of me and handing me a few pieces of Kibble so that I could practice saying the command word Yep and rewarding the Stuffed Toy with some Kibble.

Then after I had been doing that for a couple of minutes, she introduced me to a beautiful Chocolate Labrador called Lottie and said that we were going to do an exercise called Touch which is used for when the Guide Dog is stood in our way and we want to move them without physically touching them. This basically consisted of me holding my Left Hand in a Fist and saying Touch which would make Lottie touch my Hand before I rewarded her with a piece of her Kibble.

Then after a couple of minutes of me doing the Touch exercise, we moved on to an exercise called Knee Rest which is used for when we want to check the Dogs Ears to make sure that they’re healthy. This basically consisted of me placing my Hands on a Towel that Helen had given me that was on my Lap, saying the command word Yep, and letting Lottie place her Head on my Knee so that I could check her Ears, Eyes or Neck before giving her a piece of her Kibble. Helen also said that if she put her Head on my Lap without me using the command word that I was just to ignore her, and that if she lifted her Head up from the Towel as I was checking her that it meant that she was saying to stop and that I should stop what I was doing until she put her Head back down on the Towel. Then after I had done it about ten times, Helen said that whilst I was doing it to go lower down her Body and to lightly squeeze a piece of Lottie’s Skin as if she had just had an injection so that she could see how she responded. Helen then said that I was brilliant at recognising when Lottie had enough and that it was really great that I instinctively placed my Hands back on the Towel until she was ready to go again before saying that she would be back in a second to move on to the next exercise.

Whilst she was gone, I got chatting to Dan, one of the Guide Dog Mobility Specialists in Training, who told me that he was originally from Scotland and that before becoming a Guide Dog Mobility Specialist that he was in the Police and that he also had a German Shepard of his own. Then once Helen had come back, she said that we were going to move on to the next exercise called Under which is used for when you’re on the Bus or at a Restaurant and want your Guide Dog to be out of the way. This basically consisted of me sitting on the edge of my seat, putting my Hand into a Fist and saying Under until Lottie laid down underneath my Legs before giving her a piece of her Kibble and then saying the command word Yep to let her know that she was ok to get back up. Helen then got me to do this a few more times leaving it a little bit longer before rewarding her and saying the command word as she kept getting up too soon. Then after a couple more times of me doing the Under exercise, Helen gave me one of Lottie’s Toys to try and entice her to play before we broke for Lunch, but unfortunately she didn’t really want to play and kept putting her Chin on my Knee, so we just chatted for a couple of minutes about how we thought everything had gone before Helen guided me back to the Table that I had been sitting at earlier.

Then once we had all finished having our Lunch, Helen came back over and said that we were going to go for a walk with one of the Dogs and guided me out to the Passenger Seat of her Car and said that she would be back in a couple of minutes as she needed to get one of the Dogs out of their Kennel. Then once she had put one of the Dogs in her Boot, we headed off into Headingley to find somewhere that we could walk with the Dog as it needed to be a place that had a lot of Curbs and different styles of Paving. Then once we had finally found somewhere, I got out while Helen went to fetch a beautiful Chocolate Labrador called Riley from her Boot. She then attached his Harness and Lead, and explained that when I want him to go forward that I first had to place my Right Foot a little bit behind me and swing my Right Arm out whilst also saying forward. We then went on a little bit of a walk around the Block whilst she taught me a few other commands, including how to get him to find the Curb and how to get him to turn Left and Right which I kept getting a little bit confused with, as to go Left you have to take a little step back, point your Right Foot at a little bit of an angle and then tap your Right Leg saying Right over and over again until you’re in the position that you want to be in. She also taught me that I had to constantly be talking to him including saying forward and praising him for being a good boy which was a little bit weird, and that when he stopped or crossed the Road that I had to give him a little bit of his Kibble as a reward.

Then after we had been walking for about fifteen or so minutes, Helen said that it was time to go back, so she placed Riley back in her Boot, and we got in the Car and headed back to the Guide Dogs North East office in Headingley.

Then once we had arrived, Helen guided me back through all of the really long corridors and back to the massive Table that I had been sitting at earlier as the day was starting to wrap up. Then after everyone else had come back to the Table, Paul asked us if we had any questions before thanking us for coming and saying that he hoped that we had a great time. One of the other Guide Dog Mobility Specialists in training then said that Jamie was waiting for me in Reception. She then asked me if I would like her to guide me to Reception which I said yes please, and after she had guided me through all of the very long Corridors and  a couple of really heavy Glass Doors, we arrived in Reception where Jamie was waiting for me.

I then thanked her for guiding me before Jamie grabbed on to my Arm and we headed off back into Leeds to catch our Train.

There you go, that’s what I got up to when I attended a Client Day at Guide Dogs North East.
Have you ever been to a Guide Dogs North East Client Day? What did you get up to? Have you ever considered sponsoring a Guide Dog Puppy? Please let me know down below.

This Post may contain Affiliate Links, but Posts are not Affiliate driven.
Luke x

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