ARCHIE, We are happy to report that Archie has successfully completed his advanced training and has recently graduated as a fully trained guide dog. His new owner is called Kay and she is delighted to have him.
Archie and Kay have only been together a short while and are still training to work together. Bill, their mobility instructor feels that they have a great working partnership and is hoping to spend only a little more time with them before he is happy to let them go on alone.
We accompanied Archie and Kay on a walk supervised by bill. We were immediately struck by how well the two of them worked together, and how well matched they seemed to be.
Archie is Kay’s first guide dog and she told us, “Bill called me a few weeks ago to say that he had a possible match for me, but wouldn’t make any promises. I was very excited at the prospect of getting my first guide dog and, when Bill brought Archie round to see how we got on, my first thought was that he was absolutely gorgeous! He seemed like a really nice dog and, when he came into my living room, he just circled the room, had a good sniff and made himself at home. I couldn’t believe how relaxed he was, and it was a big relief for me as well.”
Bill told us, “I thought that Archie and Kay would make a good partnership mainly because Archie walks at a nice speed, not too fast, and this is very compatible with the way Kay walks. I have a lot of faith in this partnership which is especially important as its Kay’s first.” Kay’s care assistant, Elizabeth, added “Archie’s great. Kay has been a lot happier and much more confident since Archie arrived, even if he does snore very loudly!”
As always, it was wonderful to see how much of a difference a qualified guide dog can make to the quality of someone’s life. Hopefully Archie and Kay will work together for many years, and we wish them the very best of luck.
