I don’t think I have ever met as smart a being as my dear guide dog, Fudge. Well, that’s if you exclude an elephant I met that knew how to give kiss on your cheek. Anyways, I recently got my first ever guide dog on the thirtieth of June.

I could only apply for a guide dog when I turned eighteen.  We applied in 2021 but with Covid happening it kind of messed up the plans and eventually the application was full steam ahead at the beginning of this year.  It is a process as South African Guide Dogs Association come out an do an interview as well as look at your property where the guide will be staying.  Once they are happy with the application, they then find a suitable match for the owner.  The guide dogs are raised by puppy raisers till the age of Eighteen months when they are ready for formal training.  Guide dogs are not only used for the blind but also for Autism and other disabilities. 

The first and second day started off pretty rocky as our dogs didn’t exactly make Fudge feel welcome on her arrival, but I would say now they are pretty good friends. They are constantly cuddling on their blanket and occasionally chasing each other around after a game of fetch.

Fudge and I are entering our second week of training together and I would say that it’s going pretty well. I have been told however, that I am too nice…. What can I do, I love my animals too much for my own good. Fudge and I have bonded pretty well, and I have noticed that she is more similar to me than I initially knew. We both love clothes shopping.  We just went to get her first hoody together, and it took a while for us to chose one. Obviously, we are both indecisive as well. Another thing that we are totally on the same level with, is the amount of noise we make to let EVERYONE in the room know that we are there. I simply talk loudly and hardly stop and she constantly has a squeaky toy in her mouth. Squeaking away like she is playing the best beet on the drums. Hey, maybe we could start a band if we both have rhythm.

I didn’t know exactly what to expect for the training that we were going to start together. As we went along though, it didn’t seem too bad. I always have the thought in the back of my mind though, that I can’t mess up. I need to be strict as to keep us both safe, but to moan at fudge… it’s impossible. On the most part she listens so well when we are at work, although when it’s time to come home, she does not seem fond on the idea of climbing back in the car after training. It kind of shows that our fury friends do indeed have different personalities and fudge is, no surprise, like me. Curious, adventures and totally sassy.

As of yet, we have done road crossing, robot crossing, on and off curb obstacles, country walking and obedience training. We have gone quite fast with our training, but it helps to have one of the smartest sidekicks by your side. I’m pretty excited to finish my training and take fudge on all sorts of adventures in the future. We will hopefully have our graduation ceremony at the end of July in front of our puppy raisers.  Most importantly though, I can’t wait to meet the wonderful team of puppy raisers that brought up such an intelligent pup Fudge.

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” – Roger Caras