Suffolk couple volunteering to raise a future guide dog

A couple have shared the realities of helping to train a potential guide dog in an attempt to encourage more volunteers to do the same.

Colin and Anne Daultrey, from Mildenhall in Suffolk, welcomed puppy Karter into their home last year when he was just nine weeks old.

The now six-month-old dog is undergoing his initial training with the couple before he hopefully graduates on to guide dog training school.

It came after the charity Guide Dogs previously said more than 1,000 visually impaired people were waiting for a guide dog.

“We lost our own dog in August 2023 and at our age we decided we couldn’t commit to a puppy for the rest of its life,” Mr Daultrey explained.

“So, we looked at it and decided we’d have a puppy to raise for Guide Dogs.”

This is the first time the couple have ever helped to train a potential guide dog.

One of the first parts of Karter’s training involved him learning to go to the toilet outside on demand and initially the couple said they did not know where to begin.

However, Mr Daultrey said it was one of the “easiest things” they had done as part of his training and Karter had picked it up well.

Another challenge was Karter’s sleeping habits.

“We love him to bits, it’s been a challenge and we’re only just getting to sleep in past six o’clock in the morning,” Mrs Daultrey said.

Mr Daultrey added that Karter had initially been kept in a dog crate overnight, but would wake the couple up in the middle of the night with noise.

“He wasn’t sleeping late and we thought, ‘Let’s see about letting him out of the cage at night’,” Mr Daultrey continued.

“Once he was out of the cage, he’s been sleeping a lot later so obviously he didn’t particularly like the cage.

“The first cage they sent us, we asked what sort of Shetland pony were we getting because it was absolutely huge.”

Mrs Daultrey said the couple was now working on walking with Karter.

“The first thing we need to do is get him to walk on a loose lead which he wasn’t too keen on to start with but he’s certainly getting there now,” she explained.

“You obviously want a slack lead and he needs to walk ahead of you, whereas normally you get a dog to walk to heal.

“That’s not what you want from a guide dog, that wouldn’t help the blind person at all.”

He also has attended generic puppy classes and meeting other dogs which the couple said he had loved and they had been taking him out in public.

They expect to have Karter for at least another seven or eight months before Guide Dogs hopefully take him into one of their centres for formal training.

Karter must meet certain standards for this before his final goodbye to Mr and Mrs Daultrey, but if he does not reach these he is able to work with other charities in different roles.