All posts

Five Tips to avoid a ‘Howl-oween’ on 31st October
With Halloween just around the corner, many will be looking forward to the prospect of tasty treats we are seeing advertised right now. However, please remember our four-legged friends can’t eat many of the treats enjoyed during Halloween. This holiday poses a number of health risks to dogs, from eating sweets and chocolate – which

Two months in post: updates from Seeing Dog’s new Instructor, Sue Scott
You may recall that in September, Seeing Dogs was delighted to let you know that Sue Scott, a highly experienced trainer formerly with Guide Dogs, had come on board as an Instructor at Seeing Dogs. We thought it you would be interested to hear how Sue has been getting along in her post, and what

Seeing Dogs in the News!
Seeing Dogs is delighted to be in the popular weekly magazine, The People’s Friend, on 9th October, 2021. If you haven’t been able to get hold of a copy, please take a look at the pdf version of the article by Anne Evans here! We hope you enjoy it and please share it with friends

Another True ‘Tail’ of Dogs on Trains by Neil Ewart, Trustee, Seeing Dog Alliance
In 1875, a clerk, who worked at the parcel office of a railway station in Manchester, received a visit from a highly irate man. He asked if a dog that he had previously brought to the station to be sent on to the Liverpool Dog Show had been despatched to Liverpool on the 11.15 train,

A True ‘Tail’ of Dogs on Trains by Neil Ewart, Trustee, Seeing Dog Alliance
If you travel with your Seeing Dog, or indeed any dog, on the train, how is your journey? I hope do hope it runs smoothly so everyone has a stress free and enjoyable experience. However, travelling with any animal always requires due care and attention and I thought you would be interested to read about a

7 tips to protect your Seeing Dog – or any dog! – from ‘dognappers’!
During Victorian times dog thieves were rampant around the streets of London. They operated very closely with ‘dog finders’ and ‘dog restorers’ who charged fees of their own for the safe return of the stolen dogs. Then there were the street sellers of dogs, some of whose animals may well have been the by-products of

Part Two of the History of Guide Dog or Seeing Dog use by Neil Ewart, Trustee, The Seeing Dogs Alliance
In Part One of my blog, I wrote about the history of guide dogs in the 1800’s. Let’s now look at how things changed thereafter… A key point was the exemption from the excise licence granted by Parliament in Great Britain to shepherds’ dogs and those kept by the blind as guides, which suggests the

So how and when, did the use of dogs by the visually impaired first begin? Seeing Dogs’ Trustee, Neil Ewart, tells all
Guide Dogs are trained throughout the world, and it is sometimes tempting to assume that it is still relatively new. This is not unreasonable, as it is well known that the first, truly scientific work training of dogs to lead the blind was undertaken in Germany during World War One and throughout the twentieth century

5 Top Tips to ‘autumn-proof’ you and your Seeing Dog
Autumn is a wonderful time of year, but it presents Seeing Dog owners with the challenge of ‘autumn-proofing’ their four-legged friends. Here are 5 top tips to help ‘autumn-proof’ your Seeing Dog in the coming months whilst still being able to enjoy the season: – 1. Ticks and parasites Ticks can still be active in

Training news by Seeing Dog Mobility Instructor, John Grave,
Despite lockdowns the charity is pleased to say that training continues as normal. We are so pleased to announce the recent qualification of Terry, who teams up with Seeing Dog, Winston, which you may have read about on one of our Facebook posts. We are pleased to also let you know that we have a

Blog by Seeing Dog newbie, Rosa
Hello, my name is Rosa – ‘Rosie’ for short to my friends. I am the new Seeing Dogs trainee and I am 10 weeks old. Let me tell you about myself. I’m a bit of a mix as my Mum is a Golden Retriever and Dad is a Labrador. I think I have taken after

Latest news from Puppy Walker, Margaret Atkins
I am pleased to report that we now have our sixth Seeing Dog puppy. He is a pure black Labrador and he came to live with us in June. He is called Willow, which often confuses people as they tend to assume that to be a girl’s name. He was a bit unwell for the