One in a MILLION!
This week, feel the puppy love with Sandra Corben, 66, from Porthcawl. She said…
Shaking the rubber toy, a set of puppy gnashers instantly latched onto it. My golden retriever puppy Corby had such a cheeky side – something I realised after taking him home in September last year.
Losing interest in the toy, he ran to my skirting boards and chewed the wood instead. ‘You’re so cheeky,’ I giggled. Corby was named after my husband Neil Corben – and even though they’d never met, he had an adventurous streak just like Neil.
Throughout our 36-year marriage, Neil and I had always loved dogs.
‘When we retire, we should raise a guide dog puppy,’ I suggested.
‘That’s a brilliant idea,’ Neil agreed.
Having had multiple pet dogs together, we were confident we’d meet the criteria Guide Dogs required for puppy raisers.
We both loved the idea of raising pups to fulfil their mission of helping others.
But when Neil’s nonhodgkin lymphoma returned at age 53 – blood cancer that he’d beaten in his 40s – our minds turned elsewhere.
Neil deteriorated and on 2 June 2013, he peacefully passed away, aged 56, with me beside him.
Immediately I was consumed by grief.
It felt like I was living in a bubble. I stopped going out and socialising, too.
I can’t go on like this, I realised – that’s when I remembered our idea.
I should volunteer with Guide Dogs UK.
It was the perfect idea, so I signed up to be a Guide Dogs puppy raiser online just a month after Neil passed.
After multiple interviews,
Guide Dogs selected me as a suitable candidate to raise and train a golden retriever puppy.
And just a month later in July 2013, I took in my first puppy, Berry.
Teaching her to sit, toilettraining her and getting her used to walking in public, it was a full-time role.
Berry was a very full-on puppy, too – she needed around-the-clock care and attention. But she did a brilliant job of keeping me busy, stopping my mind from lingering on losing Neil.
After a year, I said goodbye to Berry – she was ready to move on for further training.
I was devastated. It was so difficult giving her up, especially as she had been a new focus for me.
But I knew this was all part of the process and she had a lifelong purpose to fulfil.
Since that day, I’ve raised eight puppies for Guide Dogs – it gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning.
And ever since taking in Corby, I feel like Neil is sharing the journey with me.
I know that Neil would be proud that I’m putting our plans into action.
Guide Dogs has given me a new lease of life, and I’ll volunteer for as long as I can.
● Please visit: guidedogs.org.uk or call 0345 143 0191
We’d always loved dogs