Time's Ticking

April is drawing to a close and I haven’t been able to sit down and blog since the beginning of January. This is not OK! A third of the year has passed by in a blink of an eye and to be honest it hasn’t been a brilliant year so far. I had an eye operation in February and before I had completely recovered I was struck down with the flu closely followed by a cold. Yesterday was the first day my heart rate dropped back down to below seventy beats per minute. I have had enough pyjama days to last me a lifetime!

I have a million and one topics I want to blog about, but have to start with the most important creature in my life, Calvin. Last month my baby boy turned ten years old! I bought him some new balls for his birthday and his latest party trick is to hold no less than three in his mouth at once! It is saddening for me to write that he definitely has less than a year left of being a Guide Dog. It is frightening to think that the next phone call I may get could be from Guide Dogs informing me that Calvin needs to step aside and let a younger model take his place.

I have been on the waiting list for a new Guide Dog since Wednesday 7 March and I should be excited that a puppy could be pounding the pavements right now learning how to become my next ticket to independence. However, I am in no hurry to stop exploring the world with Calvin. I truly treasure every walk we go on now and I love that I trust him with my life even though thousands wouldn’t!

So, the next dog. Going through the application process to go back on the waiting list took a lot longer than I anticipated. I don’t recall being asked so many questions the first time around, but no doubt things have changed from ten years ago. I tried not to be too specific when requesting what attributes I would like the next Calvin to possess, yet at the same time there were two things I am certain about. Health and spending. I do not want a dog that has any pre-existing health condition even if it is being treated successfully with daily medication or monthly injections. I understand you can’t predict what may happen in the future and I am happy to deal with that as and when, but as someone who is totally blind I don’t want the immediate responsibility of monitoring a health issue. As for spending I would like a dog that is clean on walks and can spend on concrete. Calvin is a superstar when it comes to being clean on a walk, but his fussiness to spend on concrete stresses me out at times. In January I had a training day at work which was in the city centre and because there was no grass around Calvin had to go over seven hours without having a busy. Ultimately it is his fault for not going and supposedly if he was really desperate he would, but I did feel a pang of guilt because I was unable to locate some grass for him. At the end of the day he is my responsibility and I don’t want him feeling uncomfortable. When I visit my visually impaired friends in Nottingham unless I have nobody to look after Calvin I will now leave him at home because it is just too difficult to find somewhere to spend him.

Regarding everything else I felt I was pretty reasonable. I have not specified a particular gender or breed although have politely requested not to have a Calvin double. If the next dog is going to have any chance of making it with me then they need to be their own canine. They will most definitely be compared to Calvin, but it would drive me crazy if everyone talked about how alike they were to my number one boy. I have agreed to take a dog that is under confident or easily distracted. Basically I have signed up for a challenge. I imagine it would be a bit dull having a dog that didn’t take you on detours. Plus they should provide me with plenty of blog material!

It has been noted that I require a dog that is mod plus to fast speed wise and if possible I would like to train from home so I can get straight into teaching them my routes. I did seriously question whether I wanted another dog. Mentally it will be tough, but hopefully the level of freedom and independence I will gain will make it worth it. I am just crossing everything that the new dog has a good name!