Guide dogs’ celebration

Oct 12 2011 by Lorna Hughes, Heswall News

GUIDE dog owners and their canine companions braved the weekend rain for a march marking the 80th birthday of the Guide Dogs organisation.

80 people and dogs walked from the Cliff, Wallasey, considered the first real home of Guide Dogs, to the Floral Pavilion Theatre in New Brighton on Saturday morning.

A bronze guide dog statue – known as Sid after the dog it was modelled on – stands outside the theatre, marking the origins of Guide Dogs.

The celebrations continued inside with a birthday party attended by guide dog owners and trainers past and present.

The first four guide dog partnerships, with German shepherds Flash, Meta, Judy and Folly, qualified in Wallasey on Oct 6, 1931.

Penny Williams, North West Information Officer for the Guide Dogs organisation, said: “It all started in Wallasey back in 1931 which is why we celebrated at the home of Guide Dogs.

“We had our party at the Floral Pavilion because right outside is the statue of the first guide dog.

“We’ve had a really good turnout. We had over 80 people taking part in the walk which is great.”

The day included information stalls and demonstrations of guide dog obedience training.

One of the guests, Joyce Dudley, from Wrexham, is believed to be the last surviving guide dog owner to be trained by Britain’s first-ever dog instructor Capt Nikolai Liakhoff.

Now 93, the retired physiotherapist lost her sight in her early 20s, after developing glaucoma as a child. She said: “He was Russian so he was a bit austere but he was wonderful with the dogs.

“When I got my first guide dog I was free to go wherever I wanted whenever I wanted.

“It gave me perfect freedom. Having a dog absolutely revolutionised my life.”

Although the house where Guide Dogs started was destroyed in bombing raids during World War II its role in the charity’s history is marked by a plaque where it once stood.