This week Harry has been back to a regular routine of training walks in town and travelling by car and public transport. He’s made another couple of car journeys up to the North East with us and even sampled the delights of a motorway service station.
Harry strutting his stuff at the motorway services
Over the last few weeks Harry’s confidence has increased even more – he’s now got to the stage where he can walk past another dog and not turn a hair. Quite a change from the young pup we had that used to lie down and pretend to be invisible if there was another dog within 50 yards. He seems to be much more comfortable in his own skin now and ready to take on any challenge that might come his way. He no longer jumps when a loud motorbike passes him by and roadworks are now seen as to be something to be navigated, rather than fearful of. Harry also now takes himself off to his basket in the evening when he’s tired, rather than wait for us to tell him to go to bed. He’s just so grown up!
All of these things means that our job is coming to an end and Harry is ready to take the next step on his journey to becoming a qualified Guide Dog. And that next step is looming pretty large on the horizon – a few days ago we received that phone call, the one that all puppy walkers dread – Harry’s date for moving on to training school.
Harry will leave during the first week in May, probably on the 5th, which means he now has only a little less than 3 weeks left here with us at Number 58.
Not that he knows, or even understands, he’s just been too busy enjoying the beautiful spring weather.
Harry sitting in the middle of a patch of daffodils