A Guide Dog of his own?

Joshua has spent just short of 48 hours at a Guide Dog taster Camp. He was apprehensive about the whole idea at the start. Not the Guide Dog part of it the whole being away from hom ewith total strangers bit.

Joshua had a really bad experience when he went on a weekend with Action For Young carers. Being with a group of older lads who were rather less polite and accomodating than Joshua is used to made it a very stressful weekend for him. So the fear of a repeat experience was a very unpleasant thought for him.

We managed to persuade him that the Guide Dog people would not be choosing that kind of person to go on this kind of camp. Then the agenda for the three days came through and he realised he was going to get to have hands on experience with a Guide Dog. That was the turning point he deffinitely wanted to go.

So Wednesday late morning we picked him up from school and headed over to Loughborough. The RNIB College residential unit was home to five 12 -15 year olds and a group of Dog Trainers and Action for Blind People representatives for the next 48 hours. Joshua looked very apprehensive and was quiet and withdrawn. Other youngsters turned up and were chatting with parents and some of them knew one or more of the adults there which gave them a little extra confidence. After a chance to find their way around to their rooms and the lounge we left them getting to know each other playing games in the Lounge.

It felt strange going off and leaving him there looking so lost. But we knew he would soon have a dog to talk to and would hopefully get to know some of these other youngsters. It was the first time Joshua had spent time with other youngsters with a Visual Impairment and we hoped it would boost his confidence. There was one other lad and three girls. The other boy was the same age as Joshua and I really hoped they would hit it off.

There was too much going on at home on Thursday for us to worry too much about him. No news was good news as far as I was concerned and we heard nothing from him. Unfortunately we had a bit of bad news about one of the Rabbits though. Storm had had an abcess under her chin which had been drained twice and still grown back. So she had been booked in to have it surgically removed on Thursday. Sadly they rang us once she was under aneasthetic to say they really did not think she was going to survive the surgery and if she did they were certain the infection would spread and cause her too much pain and distress. David and I had to make the decision to have her put down. Made harder because Joshua wasnt there and would be coming home to this news. There was no choice though. It would not be fair to bring her back to suffer more.

Carer Crisis on Thursday evening meant that we had no carer. Thankfully Rosie decided it was bed time fairly early and so Daddy and Christina set off to enjoy Archery together leaving me to some peace! Jonathan and I ate dinner together then he watched his TV and I watched mine whilst cahtting on line to some friends.

So it was soon Friday morning and time to go fetch Joshua. Hoping to see him work with "his" dog first. We had a tremendously easy journey back there and arrived a good half hour earlier than we anticipated. Joshua was sat in the kitchen with his dog and one of the girls. Chatting as if they had known each other always. He introduced us to his dog with a giggle. The Dog was called Dave!

The film crew from GMTV was there and had been videoing lots of what had gone on over the two days. They wanted to film a group grooming session so everyone went outside to groom their dogs. The kids all sat on the grass giggling and interacting together, it was wonderful to see. Joshua had really come out of his shell and looked more relaxed and happier than I had seen him for a long time. The film crew chatted to each of the kids and filmed a bit about what they wanted and hoped for from a Guide Dog of Their own.

Then I was asked if I minded being filmed, It was only a few seconds and if it helped the cause of Guide Dogs then great!

After the filming Joshua went out on another walk so we could watch him. Dave was a great dog, but a deffinite stubborn Retriever, he took some correcting and Joshua managed this fairly well with a little support from his trainer.

The tow of them took off at a pace and I couldnt keep up. Eve and I gave up after the second kerb and sat and watched them disappear. David followed on a little behind and we went back to the centre. It was good to chat with some of the workers and hear their oppinion of the two days. It appears Joshua soon came out of his shell and was happy and friendly. The Guide Dog people had been really impressed how he managed the dog and took instruction. They were very positive about him which was lovely to hear.

Soon though it was time to have lunch and then to say goodbye. The dogs who had been with the kids were all matched with their prospective owners and had to go back to the Guide Dog Centre. The youngsters were all reluctant to hand them back but were determined to go ahead and become Guide Dog owners themselves. It was a subdued but happy Joshua who climbed back in the bus, with his photos to remind him of his taste of Guide Dog Ownership.

Now we just hope and pray that the real thing comes quickly.