PERFECT MATCH ECT CH
Martine Clarke, 71, from Neots, Cambridgeshire, can’t imagine her life without her guide dogs…
While the bus vibrated under my feet, I kept a firm hold of my white stick, sitting in silence as I always did. I’d been living in England for seven years and while people were a lot kinder to me than they’d been in France, nobody talked to me or approached me.
I was 31 and living in London, which made using a stick awful.
‘Get a guide dog, that’s best,’ everyone would say.
But at the time, I was still travelling back to France three times a year and leaving a dog behind wouldn’t be fair to them.
So, despite the advice, I carried on with the stick.
When I was three, I was diagnosed with congenital glaucoma after my parents realised that my eyes were bigger than normal and very sensitive to light.
And when I was 17, I started to lose my sight badly.
There was too much pressure behind my right eye and it had to be removed.
I was left with very little sight in my left eye and though I could get around with my stick, I was very short-sighted and couldn’t see people’s features at all.
I would’ve probably carried on with my stick, but when I had an accident in 1981 that rendered me completely blind, I knew then that I had to get a guide dog.
How am I going to trust a dog? I thought at the start.
I lived in London and worked in a bank, would a guide dog really be able to help me?
Nervous and apprehensive, I went up to Scotland and met my first guide dog, Alma.
However, I knew within the first 10 minutes of working with her that she was perfect.
After a month of training, Alma returned with me and she fit right into the city life.
Alma, a pure Labrador, was a workaholic.
She was confident on the streets and got me everywhere I needed to go. Where I once had to put all my concentration into walking
with my stick, Alma took me everywhere and I didn’t have to worry.
But Alma really didn’t like buses, so my route to work had to change.
A 20-minute bus trip turned into an hour-and-forty-five-minute journey that included two underground trains, one overground train and lots of walking.
Besides that, Alma was absolutely brilliant and my apprehensions about guide dogs quickly disappeared.
Over the years, I’ve had seven guide dogs who were with me every step of the way, even when I was raising my son.
In 1991, I was living in France, looking after my parent’s vineyard with my former husband when we adopted my son, Ion.
Alma had retired so I was with my second guide dog, Herbie.
Herbie used to help me work in the vines and also walk with me while Ion was in the pushchair.
But when we moved back to England in 1992, Herbie had to stay with my parents.
It was something he never quite forgave me for.
Even when I went back on holiday, Herbie would ignore me.
At least until I took the lead for us to walk that is.
Back in England, Jay, my third dog, was specially trained to help me navigate being a working mum in London.
She’d help me drop Ion off at the childminder in the morning and help me pick him up.
Jay excelled at her job, as they all did.
What many people don’t realise is that guide dogs are workers.
From the moment you put a harness on them, they know they’re going to work and their temperament changes completely.
I’ve tried to keep mine after they’ve retired, but having two doesn’t work for me.
I’m not sure if it’s because I’m getting older, but it’s becoming harder and harder to let them go.
I went to the Royal Albert Hall with Gable and Verity, my fourth and fifth dogs, and April and Verity, my fifth and sixth, had their photos taken in pilot cockpits.
But it’s not always easy bonding
It’s hard to let go of them after
with a new dog straight away, and sometimes they can have nervous reactions to things.
Gable hated the rain and avoided it at all costs.
One day after work when it was pouring, it took 10 minutes for me to coax him out of the station, only for him to take me straight to a taxi to escape it.
Right now, I have Willow, who has become one of my favourites.
I’ve had Willow for 11 months now, and she’s an excellent worker.
Willow came to me through the ‘Name a Puppy Scheme’ with Guide Dogs UK, who I’ve worked with for many years.
The scheme allows people to choose the name of a puppy and receive updates on their progress after donating.
It supports the charity and their work to train dogs which costs £56,000 each.
That includes visits to the vet, food, care, and outreach calls for trainers that come in person if something’s wrong with the dogs that I can’t see.
Guide Dogs UK depends mainly on donations to breed and train them. So, to help raise money, I’ve taken part in various challenges over the years.
Over the years, I’ve done a parachute jump in tandem, and I’ve driven a car down an unopened road for 14 miles after my first husband taught me how to.
I had no idea that I was going at 65mph, but it was a blast. ‘What’s going to be your next challenge?’ A television spokesman asked me afterwards. ‘We’ll get her in a plane next!’ my husband said, and that was what I did. And so, after training with a pilot near me, I flew a plane on my own.
The take-off was brilliant, but it’s safe to say the landing was hair raising. The pilot was giving me instructions and I had to do it then and not a second later, or we would’ve crashed. But it was an exhilarating experience, and it was a way for me to give back to the animals who’ve always helped me.
I’d like to cycle from London to Paris in tandem for my next challenge.
I’ve done amazing things in my life because of guide dogs – things I could’ve never dreamt of doing if I didn’t have them, and my life has been better for it.
Where people once didn’t notice me, they now approach me and ask questions when I have a guide dog with me on the train.
The dogs encourage people to have a conversation and in doing so, they’ve broken down the barriers the stick used to bring. They’ve also helped me feel independent for once.
When I had my stick, I would only go to work, but never to the shop on my own or to see a friend. But with a guide dog, it doesn’t bother me to go to the vet or take a train alone.
I know I can go anywhere I need and want with them.
Today, I work part-time as a reflexologist for my own therapy business and Willow is the best receptionist I could ask for. People love dogs, and I can’t thank the ones I’ve had enough, for changing my life for the better.