Guide Dogs play a key role in supporting those facing the challenge of sight loss
Most of us take being able to walk down a busy street, catch a bus or nip to the shops for granted.
But for someone living with sight loss these can sometimes be challenging and overwhelming experiences.
This is where guide dogs can be a real lifeline, providing a safe and effective way for people to maintain their independence.
Before this special bond can be formed, a canine companion must undergo extensive training.
The Guide Dogs team in Shrewsbury works to ensure that dogs have the skills required to help their owners get out and about with confidence.
Mobility specialists (GDMS) are responsible for training dogs, matching them with a suitable client and supporting that unique partnership.
There are currently around 3,551 active partnerships - where a person with sight loss has been matched and qualified with a guide dog - nationally, including 191 in the Black Country, Staffordshire and Shropshire.
In 2021, the charity, which was founded almost 90 years ago, set up its Academy to train the next generation of guide dog trainers and guide dog mobility specialists.
Shrewsbury is one of 11 sites across the UK where new recruits are receiving coaching from technical learning specialists (TLS).
There are currently three TLSs, who are responsible for training nine learners at the centre. They include Lauren Pringle, aged 29, who has been working for Guide Dogs since 2017 and became a TLS around 18 months ago.
“Before Guide Dogs, I attended college and completed a degree in animal behaviour and then went on to do a masters in anthrozoology, which is the study of interactions between the animal-human bond,” she explains.
“Alongside this I worked with a clinical dog behaviourist and worked as a graduate assistant at my university, these elements built up my practical knowledge with working with dogs and people.”
“It’s the best of both worlds. It’s a very enjoyable job,” adds Lauren.
Fellow technical learning specialist Emma Mellor joined the charity in 2015, after considering a career as a dog handler in the RAF.
While visiting Shrewsbury Flower Show, the Guide Dogs stand caught her eye and she spoke to a member of staff to find out more.
She became a volunteer working in a wide range of roles, including being a puppy raiser – someone who prepares young dogs for their future career – and as a sighted guide for the organisation’s My Sighted Guide service, which helps people with sight loss get out and about,
Alongside this, she also gained experience working with children with special educational needs before becoming a mobility specialist for of Guide Dogs and more recently a TLS.
“People always think it’s a dog job, but it’s a people job,” Emma says. “I enjoy the variety. You never get any dogs the same, you never get any clients the same and you never get any trainees the same.”
Will Radford-James is about half-way through the three-year training programme at the Academy and once completed will qualify as a mobility specialist.
He had previously been a stud dog holder for Guide Dogs, helping to bring the next generation of canine companions into the world, while working as a sports therapist.
The 30-year-old has also been a fosterer for the charity which gave him an insight into the work of the mobility specialists.
He is currently training 16-month-old yellow Labrador Hettie, who is proving to be a fast learner.
“It’s really fun working as a group of people rather than just by myself and learning from other people and working with different dogs,” says Will.
The charity welcomes around 1,000 puppies into the world every year with many born at the charity’s National Breeding Centre, located just outside Leamington Spa, or at home with volunteer breeding dog holders.
