Guide Dog Etiquette

“ Joop, Coco and I would like to thank you very much for your friendship and hospitality offered to us since we joined the benefice. Coco has very much enjoyed meeting you all after services. I thought it might be helpful just to mention that guide dog etiquette says, if a guide dog is in harness, in other words with a metal handle across her back and leading me, she is working and must not be disturbed. This means please don't tickle her ears or scratch her back or even say her name because she will take that as an invitation to socialise, something which she takes extremely seriously. When a guide dog or any working dog is in harness, it means that they need to concentrate, as much as they would like to say hello. 

Once the harness is off and only a lead is in place then by all means do come up and say hello because she is very friendly. I am mindful that not everyone likes dogs so don't allow her to become a nuisance. She does take her duties of hospitality very seriously and once she has worked the room or the pews, she comes back to me and settles down. Please make me aware if you would rather that she didn't come anywhere near you, and I will make sure she doesn't. I am enjoying her last few working months as she retires probably in April which means I will then have a waiting period of about 18 months before I get my knew guide dog. This will be a very difficult time for me, and I will have to upskill with my long cane with the ball on the end. When people ask me what I'm doing with that, I say I'm looking for buried treasure.”

She might look hungry (as most Labradors do) however, she is well fed and does not require any extra feeding. Joop has (in another place) explained that multiple thousands of Pounds of Guide dog training can be unintentionally undone by so-called “kind hearted” persons doing a tiny bit of extra feeding.

The problem is that Labradors will always oblige and not turn away from that “just incidental” tasty snack.

Guide-dogs are regularly assessed for health and weighed to maintain them in their best possible working condition. The Guide Dog Association is very particular about weight and has authority to remove any Guide Dog deemed to have become overweight. Their reasoning is that an overweight Guide Dog is an abused Guide Dog. Hope this very brief explanation is helpful, for us to support these wonderfully trained Guide Dogs in their special work without creating unnecessary stress.

The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision. 

The Lord be with you.

Rev Canon Stephne van der Toorn