Charles Bloch still remembers his first outing with his guide dog, Carlo, seven years ago. But his Labrador will soon be retiring and his visually impaired master knows that the waiting list is long for a new companion.
“I saw the benefits straight away. And I thought it was going to change a lot of things for me,” said Charles Bloch, 29, who works at a theater in Coventry, central England.
Carlo, a Labrador cross Golden Retriever, “a bit naughty” but “hard worker”, has become “like his right arm”.
But within two years, 9-year-old Carlo will hang up his leash and retire, which usually comes after 6 or 7 years of service. But the wait is long now to get a new companion.
The halt in breeding and training puppies during the Covid-19 pandemic has caused a “significant delay”, says Guide Dogs, the UK’s largest guide dog trainer.
“We couldn’t train dogs, we couldn’t train people. Eventually we were allowed to restart, but in a very gradual and slow way,” says Tony Murray, the chief operating officer at Guide Dogs in Leamington Spa, central from England.
Brexit has also affected recruitment. However, guide dog trainers do a “really unique” job.
The wait for a guide dog is at least a year, “but probably more like 18 months, and in some cases, two years,” he says.
If Carlo was not substituted, Charles Bloch would have to use a white cane again.
“With Carlo, I don’t have to worry about much. I tell him to turn left, he turns left”.
When they walk together, Carlo equipped with his harness navigates between obstacles, lets his master know when they are approaching a staircase or arriving at a crossing.
Charles Bloch, who retains part of his sight, would be able to move around with a cane, even if it would limit him “a little more”. For those who cannot see at all, the loss of their guide dog would be “very restrictive”, he underlines.
“They already feel like they’re cut off from the world. So not having a dog would make them feel even more reclusive…”
“The ultimate goal” is to have a replacement dog when a guide dog retires, but “you can’t make a dog on demand,” says Tony Murray.
He says he is “very confident” in their ability to return to the pre-pandemic situation, but it will take time.
Raising and training a guide dog takes several months.
A few weeks old, the puppies will live with volunteers for a first socialization and basic training. Between 12 and 14 months, dogs begin their formal education, which lasts about 22 weeks.
The success rate is less than 60%, but if successful, dogs are matched with a handler.
At the center of Leamington Spa, Zoey Scott trains a young dog through an obstacle course made up of plastic roadblocks and traffic cones.
It takes “a lot of mental energy” for dogs to keep up with the training, she explains.
But “I am delighted to see how much the dogs I have trained are making a difference, and to see the smiles on the faces” of their master.
Before having Carlo, Charles Bloch remembers having had the feeling, at university, that there was a “big barrier” with other people, and his difficulty in meeting people.
“But with Carlo, that barrier disappeared in a few days, because everyone wanted to say hello and chat.”
He even assures that it has improved his results. And during the graduation ceremony, they went on stage together.
02/07/2023 13:40:33 – Royal Leamington Spa (Royaume-Uni) (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
