Celebrating assistance dog week

Last Sunday we were overwhelmed with the amount of support we had at our open day and Guide dogs Tea party. With your generosity we were able to raise £250.25 and donations are still coming in. The money you helped us raise as a community, has meant we can help the Guide dogs continue their life changing work. Assisting and supporting blind and partially sighted people to live free and fulfilling lives.

Jurassic vets have the pleasure of caring for these hard working dogs so that they can continue to provide companionship, inspire confidence, protect, and assist their handlers. Ensuring an assistance dog is in top health is extremely important as their handlers rely on them to perform daily tasks, accomplish life long goals and embark on adventures.We see first hand the bond Guide dogs and their handlers have, and as a practice we want to support the work they do as much as we can. We are also lucky enough to meet Guide dog puppies in their training with their handlers, the work the handlers put in is incredible. Ensuring these young dogs are set up for a life of supporting blind and partially sighted people. Without their dedication to following the training guidelines set out by the guide dogs, the puppies would not grow in to such well mannered dogs, who love their job.

A Guide dog costs £55,000 from Puppy to Retirement , however due to the generous donations from the public, a Guide dog can be provided to a blind or visually impaired person at no cost, the handler however does contribute to some veterinary costs.

The overall costs include:

1. Breeding a guide dog puppy £4,000
   We hand-pick the best dogs around to breed the next generation of world-class guide dogs.

2. Puppy walking £5,000
   Our puppies are house trained, taught basic obedience and familiarised with our busy world.

3. Early training £22,000
   New trainees learn how to guide by walking down the centre of a pavement, avoiding obstacles, stopping at the kerbs and crossing the road.

4. Advanced training £10,000
   Having mastered the essentials, each dog is matched with a prospective owner and undergoes further training tailored to the owner’s specific needs.

5. Partnership training £3,000
   Finally we bring dog and owner together to complete their training, forming a new life-changing partnership.

6. Supporting partnerships £12,000
   Guide Dogs continues to support our dogs during their time working as a guide. This covers the cost of food, vets’ bills and ongoing training

• Walk centrally along the pavement whilst avoiding obstacles on the route
• Not to turn corners unless told to do so
• Stop at kerbs and steps
• Find doors, crossings and places which are visited regularly
• Judge height and width so you do not bump your head or shoulder
• Deal with traffic
• Guide across the road

We provide the veterinary care for Lena's Guide dog Pete and asked her to explain how he had changed her life.

“I've been Visually impaired all my life due to lack of oxygen at birth which caused my Mild Cerebral Palsy and VI which is all connected but my eyesight worsened when I was 17 and I realised how bad it was when going to college that the world is a scary place and that's when I applied for Guide dog.

I've had 2 before Pete so he is my 3rd.

He's a 5 year old flat coat x golden retriever. I've had him 3 years. We worked in Milton Keynes together for a bit over a year before moving to Sidmouth, he has coped with major change in environment very well. I work at Bicton College and he enables me to get to the different areas without sighted assistance, we regularly walk into town together from our house and we both love the beautiful walk through the byes and on the way home he gets a free run and dip in the river for doing such good work. He has a pet passport and we have been twice on a plane once to Guernsey and then to Italy and we plan on going more places together. We also go on the train back to Milton Keynes and to other destinations across the UK which without him would be very stressful and not enjoyable so I wouldn't really have the confidence to do it on my own without him. Even during this years Folk Festival I've had to go into town for various bits and pieces and to get to my voluntary work at the WESC Foundation charity shop and the narrow pavements and the crowds of people make me extremely stressed but he got me through the crowds like a pro so without him I would definitely not have ventured out as it causes such eye strain and concentration when I do anything without him so a real life changing dog! I love his character as he's not the usual guide dog he does everything with exuberance and happiness. He loves to swim in the sea and wade in the river and play with a toy in Byes :)”