I'm not the biggest fan of Facebook or any other social media outlet for that matter but I can see its uses so from time to time I post a few lines that you may find useful or even interesting.
I don't know in which direction this post is going to go yet, in some ways it will bring bback lovely memories in others it will reveal my anger at an organisation that continues to let so many people down and deceive thousands into donating money to a charity that is not doing what it says on the tin. As many of you will know Kraken my guide dog retired at the end of last September and enjoyed a well deserved but far too short retirement with me and an ever growing collection of toys; sadly he pased away last july falling victim to stomach cancer - there's not a day goes by without me reaching out a hand to stroke the dog who is nolonger there. People keep asking how long it will likely be before I get another dog which I'm sad to say will still be a good while, maybe still in years rather than months. On top of that there is wide spread concern with the guide dog owner community about the standard of the dogs being offered to clients both in quality of trainging and physical condition of the animals; happy, confident, healthy dogs work best Latest Guide dog official figures report in February 2024 that there are around 1,200 people waiting for a dog, a rise of aprroximately 200 since Peter Osborne's, chief operations manager, May 2023 statement. With 469 partnerships successfully trained in 2023 the maths don't look good especially for those just joined the list. Now comes the anger. Where has guide dogs gone wrong? we know that covid had an impact on so many things but I feel/know that there is more to the problems with the guide dog association and they must not be allowed to totally hide their problems behind the false mask of Covid. Since around 2010 when there were conversations between GDBA and RNIB to join forces in part things seem to have gone quickly down hill. Like many other guide dog owners I feel that they have diversified into too many areas of blind welfare which are clearly outside the remit of the formal objectives of the guide dog association and only go to build management empires rather than benefits for clients. Now for the anger bit. Many of the staff who should know better have allowed vast amounts of experience to go to waste via the adoption of new and inadequate training techniques. Senior management have, at best, ignored any voices which protested and not taken notive of the numbers of high quality trainers who have left the organisation as they disagreed strongly with the shape of the ermerging operation. Take the example of such people as Alan Brooks who is recognised internationally for his work with guide dogs over many decades - search for articles in the Guardian and daily mail newspapers for his full thoughts about the last few years of development. So much damage being done to so many people now, not only the dog owners but their families, work colleagues and friends who are effected by the extra stress placed on the owner and life style change of not having a dog causes. I just hope the situation can be recovered before the total concept of guide dogs in the UK completely falls apart and that is not impossible. Just take a quick look at the annual accounts of guide dogs over the last 3 or so years to see what they are spending the public donations on, the approximate £140 million a year is certainly not all going to help train and maintain high quality guide dog service that the public would expect. Indeed a look at the guide dog association site will show you describing themselves as one of the UK's main sight loss charities rather than the UK's supplier of guide dogs. And what can be done? Listen to the hundreds of guide dog owners and GDBA staff who are saying the new techniques are not working, remind senior managers and directors that what they are controlling is not a business but an organisation that provides a very valuable service without which thousands of people will have their lives damaged or in some cases destroyed. Please, please listen. It's not too late to admit that erros have been made and that they should be reversed before it's too late. I hope this article and other material that I'm currently colating will help to show what is going on in the UK guide dog world and assist any efforts to get it back to something that works properly and gives owners their freedom back. The names and figures mentioned above can be found and verified via a Google search.