Untrained pets are frightening my guide dog
ABLIND man almost walked into a lamppost after his guide dog was attacked by another dog.
Derek Thomas’s dog, Sutty, was lunged at and barked at by a dog near a pedestrian crossing, frightening him into leading the 72-year-old straight towards the post.
Mr Thomas, of Formby, has now spoken out about how he is scared to go out of the house because the behaviour of other dogs leaves Sutty too anxious and upset to do his job properly.
He said: “Sutty and I were walking down the road, heading towards the pedestrian crossing when a dog lunged at him, making him very scared.
“Distracted and upset, Sutty then walked straight past the crossing we should have stopped at and led me straight towards a lamppost.
“This was a big thick lamp-post and I could have been very hurt. Thankfully, he got me around it just in time, but he was too anxious to cross the road.”
Derek, who is completely blind after suffering from complications of diabetes, said he relied on Sutty for his independence and was sometimes left too scared to go out.
He added: “I started losing my sight in 2004 and got Sutty 18 months ago.
“He has been incredible for me in terms of keeping independent and getting out of the house but incidents like this make us both very stressed.”
Another encounter Derek had, just this week, led a member of the public to scold a dog owner whose animals would not move out of a doorway to allow Sutty and Mr Thomas into a local chemist.
He said: “Sutty got me safely the whole way from my house to the door of the chemist, but outside was a person who had two small dogs on leads.
“The dogs barked and snarled at Sutty but the owner did not move them out of the way and my dog wouldn’t pass them to get in the door.
“A lady, who saw what happened, helped us into the door of the chemist and reportedly told off the owner for not pulling his dogs out of Sutty’s way so he could do his job.”
The father-of-one is now calling for dog owners to get their pets under control and learn respect for service animals.
He said: “Often, people’s animals are not well trained, meaning they have little control over their behaviour.
“I would ask them that, if they can’t control them, at least keep them out of our way. I think a lot of people have a lack of understanding about guide dogs and how they work but some people are just ignorant to it.”
M r Thomas said he had contacted Guide Dogs UK over the incidents to make them aware of the issues he is facing.