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Liverpool Echo
Liverpool Echo
National
Catherine Murphy

Couple share what it is really like to train a guide dog puppy

A Merseyside couple have shared what it is really like fostering guide dog puppies and how "positive" it can be.

Gary, 66 and Eileen Devlin, 63 from Prescot have fostered more than 30 dogs during their time volunteering with Guide Dogs UK. During a recent open day at its Old Swan site, Gary and Eileen gave an insight into how it works to foster a puppy.

Speaking about puppy Tansy, Eileen said: "She came to us four weeks ago and she's doing really well.

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"So they learn quite a lot of their basic sort of house training with the puppy raiser. And now Tansy is working with Carol the guide dog trainer on guiding, so obstacle work and pavement working and various other things."

Discussing a typical day for Tansy and her routine, Eileen added: "She gets up when we get up in the morning, she comes and has a cuddle first thing and then she has her breakfast, goes out does what she needs to do before coming to school.

"Gary will bring her into the centre. Carol takes over and works very, very hard during the day. She comes home to us, has a cuddle, has her tea and then curls up for the rest of the day. The training is all about positive reinforcement."

Gary and Eileen began fostering dogs in 2013 have helped many dogs qualify as official Guide Dogs.

It is predicted that Tansy has a few more months of her current training until she is qualified, she’ll then be able to go and give vital support to someone who is visually impaired. Eileen added how fostering is “an amazing thing to do. You get so much joy from it and so much pleasure out of it. It’s fabulous."

Guide Dogs have many volunteering roles available including Training Dog Fosterer, Puppy Raiser, ‘My Sighted Guide’, and fundraising. If you are interested in volunteering for Guide Dogs, you can submit an application here.

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