TROY

Born: 30th November 1987

Breed: Golden Retriever x Yellow Labrador

Sire and Dam: Laddie and Molly

Littermates: Tamsin, Tammy, Ted, Tess, Toby, Trixie, Trudie.

Puppy Walkers: Gerald and Liz Hodge, Devon

Trainer for advanced stage: Emma Hebard

Qualified: 28th June 1989

There’s a song that always reminds me of the time Troy and I spent training together in 1989. Beautiful South had just released what was to become their first hit, “Song for Whoever”, which took them to no. 2 in the UK charts. Red Dragon Radio was playing it like there was no tomorrow! At first, I really didn’t like it, but after constantly hearing it on the radio in the Guide Dogs cars, it finally grew on me, and it now brings back wonderful memories.

The first day at the Cardiff training centre of Guide Dogs was spent listening to introductory talks by the trainers and the centre manager, Leon Hornsby. I also familiarised myself with the layout of the building and its grounds, settled into my room, and got to know other staff members. There were two other trainees on class at the same time, Tom from Pontypool and Danny from Merthyr Tydfil. We weren’t introduced to our dogs until the next day, but Troy’s trainer, Emma Hebard, took Su to meet our new family member before she made her way back home. How unfair is that! I simply couldn’t wait for the next day so that I could finally meet my beautiful boy, who had completed his basic training at Exeter, and had been transferred to Cardiff for his advanced training and matching process. Our training took around three weeks, with the second weekend being spent at home, giving our dogs the opportunity to become familiar with their new home surroundings. We weren’t allowed to work our dogs at all that weekend, the harnesses being kept at the training centre in readiness for the final week on class. There were some exceptionally hot days during our training, making it far too hot to work our dogs. So, some of the training was done in the evenings once things had cooled down sufficiently. I’m happy to say that Troy and I were the 50th partnership to be qualified by the Cardiff team. When I later found out the names of all his littermates, I was so pleased I hadn’t been matched with Trixie!

While Troy and I were still on class, we were walking along one of the city centre streets when we suddenly came across someone groaning and rolling around on the pavement. Emma later described him as a large burly man, unshaven, wearing an Afghan-style coat, and seemed extremely drunk. Troy became quite nervous of this unusual situation and started backing away from him. Emma asked me to put the harness handle down, and she led us well past the scene. We gave Troy a breather for a few moments to settle down, and then continued with our walk. I thought no more of it, until sometime later when Troy reacted to two situations.

The first was when we were walking along the street where we live. there was a gentleman who regularly sat out on the pavement in his deckchair, happily reading his newspaper, enjoying the fresh air, and chatting to people as they walked by. Troy, on the other hand, was not at all happy, and totally refused to walk past him until he had gone indoors! On one occasion, I even let Troy cross the road to avoid him, but he still wouldn’t go past! Maybe in Troy’s mind, he looked like the man who had unnerved him in Cardiff.

The second time was when Su’s family were visiting us, and we had taken them to White Castle, located between Abergavenny and Monmouth. As we walked towards the main entrance, a gentleman came up behind us. Troy spun around and gave him the most vicious growl! The man said: “It’s OK, I love dogs and all dogs love me.” As he took a few more steps toward us, Troy let out an even more vicious growl! Thankfully, the gent did the sensible thing and stayed away from us for the rest of our visit. Su told me that he looked like a younger version of the man who lived along our street.

As part of their training, most guide dogs are taught to indicate we have reached a kerb, or the top of a flight of steps, by sitting. Even though Troy had been trained this way, on occasions he would hover his rear end rather than sitting properly. It happened a number of times on class, and Emma would let me know he wasn’t doing a full sit, and I would encourage him until his fluffy butt was firmly on the pavement. He often tried it on when we were on familiar routes around our hometown, especially if he knew it was just a very brief stop to cross over a lane or quiet side street. Once when walking back home from town, he did one of his infamous hovers at a kerb. As I’d been trained to do, I stepped forward so that I was in line with his shoulder. Then, I told him: “No troy, sit.” He wiggled a bit and dropped his rear end just an inch or two. “No troy,” I repeated, “sit.” He wiggled again but still wouldn’t do a full sit. “Troy . . .?” I said, at which point he side-stepped to his left, and as my left foot plopped right in the middle of a pile of poo, he let out an enormous sigh as if to say: ‘Well I did try telling you!’ My poor Troy-boy didn’t want to sit in it – or get the blame for doing it either! Sometimes it’s a good idea to let them get away with things just in case!

Another situation when it’s sometimes good to take notice of your dog is when crossing a road. While on class, we’re always encouraged to make sure our dog sets off in a straight line, then once on the opposite pavement, do a left or right turn. Don’t let them cut corners and cross diagonally. This is known as anticipation, as it usually happens when the dog knows exactly where it’s going, and thinks they can get there quicker by cutting across diagonally. That’s fine when you have a trainer there who can see the other side of the road is clear. At home though, it’s not that simple. Once when walking to visit my father, we needed to cross a road, and I could tell that Troy was trying to cut over to the left. Remembering the training we had, I took his leash in my right hand and encouraged him to go straight. He tried cutting over to the left again, and I repeated to go straight. His pace slowed down to a crawl, and gently . . . ever so gently, walked me straight ahead as I’d requested. My right knee then found the side of a car that was parked in our way. Needless to say, our next few steps took us to where he was trying to take me in the first place, safely around the car!

As mentioned in the Introduction, I used to take Paul out for walks in his well-designed, safe, and comfortable carrier. I was concerned that although Social Services had cleared us to go out together like that, Guide Dogs may not share their views on it. I discussed it with Emma, and she suggested giving Troy a bit more time to settle in, and then we’d take a look at things to see if it would work as well with Troy guiding us. Thankfully, she had the same opinion as Social Services, and gave us the all-clear. By now Paul was about 2 and-a-half years-old and was putting weight on nicely. I had no idea how long we could continue doing things this way, but it was lovely to be able to have little chats with Paul as we were walking around. Sometimes he was able to tell me what the obstruction was on the pavement, and even why Troy needed to do an “off-kerb” to get past things. I didn’t feel that having him holding my hand and trying to walk at Troy’s speed was such a good idea. So, I still took him out in the carrier for quite a while longer, until he was just too big and heavy.

Su and I decided that we’d like to arrange a visit to Devon so that Troy could meet back up with his Puppy Walkers, Gerald and Liz. It was wonderful to see how happy he was to see them and their girls again! He made his way into the garden, exploring all his favourite places from his puppyhood. It didn’t happen on this occasion, but Gerald and Liz told us of how Troy absolutely loved their raspberry bushes. He would go heading off into them and stay there for quite some time. then he’d come out with a very innocent “I’ve been a good boy” look on his face. His dark-red stained snout told a different story though – as did his poos!

Troy had great fun playing with another guide dog in our town, and they soon became the best of friends. His name was John, and he was Emlyn’s guide dog. We would often meet up at Tyleri Court, a local day centre for people with a wide range of disabilities. It wasn’t long before Troy and I would take a walk to town to visit Emlyn and John at their home. I remember one day, I needed to go to town and didn’t have time to call in to see Emlyn. Troy, on the other hand, thought that was exactly where we were going, and tried to cross the road to get to their house at every available opportunity. When he finally realised that we weren’t going to see them that day, my right shoulder firmly met a lamppost! Punishment maybe?

On the whole, Troy was an exceptionally well-behaved boy when it came to not stealing food. One night, however, Su and I had been watching TV while eating our evening meal. Many of our friends know I’m not really that fussed on meat, and I couldn’t finish the pork steak Su had cooked for me. We put the plates to one side while we continued watching TV, then completely forgot to put them in the kitchen before going to bed. When we got up the next morning, the plates had been licked spotlessly clean – even cleaner than any dishwasher! For Troy, that pork steak was far too tempting!

Guide dog owners and puppy walkers know all too well that it takes a lot longer to get shopping done when you’ve got a working guide dog or a cute little puppy with you. Once when we were shopping in our local Kwik Save supermarket, a lovely lady spotted Troy and began making a big fuss of him. Suddenly, there’s Troy, still in his harness, on his back, legs in the air, wagging his tail, having his belly rubbed! I turned to Su and said in a low voice-but loud enough for the lady to hear: " “I wonder, if I laid on my back would she tickle my belly as well?” A gentleman who was stood just behind me began laughing very loudly! He was her husband! After that, they always stopped us to have a chat if they saw us in town.

I love how a little humour can act as an icebreaker with people. Some just don’t know how to react to someone who has sight loss, often feeling embarrassed and awkward. By showing them that we are normal – and I use that term very loosely – they start feeling more at ease, and begin treating us the same as they would anyone else.

On one visit to Su’s family at Gosport in Hampshire, her mum wanted to go over to the local Co-op to pick up a few things. As she was partially-sighted, Su offered to make sure she got there safely. Su took the opportunity to give Troy a little stretch of legs as well, and they also took our nephew Edward who was a toddler. When they all reached the kerb ready to cross the road, Su gave Troy a firm “sit” command to help him keep up with his training. Before Su knew it, little Edward had sat himself down on the kerb with his feet in the gutter!

In 1990, Su, Paul and I were on holiday at Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset, staying at the Laureston Hotel of Action for the Blind. We had a slight problem with Troy there because he liked to do his business on grass, not concrete. He also preferred a decent size area in which he could sniff around, wandering back and fore before finally deciding he’d found the exact blade of grass. Unfortunately, the dog spending facility at the hotel wasn’t the best for Troy, in size, nor in the fact that it was concrete. We had great difficulty getting Troy to do anything in there, to the point we were thinking the poor boy was going to burst! Eventually, after a lot of patience, he did begin using the spending run, but we could tell he really wasn’t happy about it.

On returning to the hotel one evening after a walk, Su and Paul headed straight indoors, while I took troy around to the spending pen to make sure he was comfy. Our route involved going through a side gate, along a path past a fire escape, then around to the left to the dog spending area. It was the first time I’d taken troy there on my own, and he wasn’t in harness. Su reminded me about the fire escape, but I’d forgotten how narrow the pathway was between it and the fence. Troy moved over to the left as I’d expected, indicating the narrow section. Thinking there was enough room for me as well, I walked next to him rather than behind him. I realised what a mistake that was when my head hit the fire escape! Now, unfortunately, there’s something that happens to me when I have a sudden fright or shock. For some unknown reason, the area around my throat totally constricts, and rather than making a manly sounding loud groan, out comes a feminine sounding scream! Meanwhile, Su and Paul were at the reception desk when a couple of very worried guests also turned up there. What were they concerned about? You may well ask! They thought a woman had just been attacked outside by the fire escape! They soon discovered no one had been attacked – least of all a woman!

Following a slight accident where a bus caught the rear side of our car, Troy had to eat at a given time after travelling, and not before. Thankfully, he didn’t have an issue with getting in the car as we’d expected. We also began noticing that he would have tummy upsets if he ate anything other than his usual diet. This meant that I had to really have my wits about me when we were out and about. This was particularly so if we had popped into a pub, where, for some unknown reason, there always seems to be someone who thinks that guide dogs either aren’t fed, or aren’t fed enough, and try giving them one of a number of edibles from behind the bar, including crisps and nuts. One evening, Troy and I had called in for a pint on the way home, I was sat happily sipping my beer, and Troy was resting quietly at my feet. The next thing I knew, someone tapped my knee and said: “I hope you don’t mind but I just fed your dog a packet of crisps.” Now, it’s vitally important that at times like this, good Public Relations kick in, keeping the atmosphere nice and calm, while informing the person concerned, in a soft and kindly manner, that it is not acceptable to feed any guide dog, and to politely request that they remember this for future reference. Well, that’s the textbook method of doing it anyway . . .

Not only did I feel my blood pressure rising to a dangerous level, but I also saw red, and heard alarm bells ringing as my PR went completely out of the window! “Oh thanks a bunch mate!” I exploded, “he’s got a health problem and will probably be off work for a week now!!” There was silence, until I eventually heard his very sheepish reply: “I’m really sorry, I had no idea, I’m so sorry . . .” I calmed down at his obvious sincere apology, and explained Troy’s health issue. He never forgot, and never held it against me for the way I verbally attacked him, Or at least if he did, he didn’t make it known. I couldn’t believe how I hadn’t heard the rustling of a crisp packet so close to me, and I was absolutely flabbergasted that Troy could eat an entire packet of crisps without me hearing one solitary crunch!

Troy was generally very good at locating specific shops I needed to go to in town, particularly if they were on corners, or just a door or two in. There was one shop however that he just simply could not locate for some reason. It was the Freezer Centre, which was half-way along quite a lengthy block of shops. One day when Su, Troy and I were in town together, we went in to get some things. As we walked past the meat counter, the young lad working there decided it would be nice to throw Troy a piece of meat. Troy caught it mid-air and I don't think it touched the sides as it went down his appreciative gullet! I’d like to say that my PR on this occasion was the textbook method, but sadly it wasn’t, much to Su’s immense embarrassment! It’s said that “every cloud has a silver lining,” and from that day on, Troy had absolutely no problem at all finding that shop!

While Su, Paul, Troy and I were on holiday at the Cliffden Hotel of Guide Dogs for the Blind in Teignmouth in Devon, we had a terrifying experience! We’d taken Paul for a walk on the beach, and Troy was having a bit of free time off leash. Over to our right was a man sat with his German Shepherd dog, which he had tied to a piece of rope rather than having it on a leash. Before we knew it, his dog had burned the rope through his hands and was furiously chasing Troy around the beach! Even as newbies to dog ownership, we could tell this was no playful chasing, this was serious stuff! Troy did everything he could to shake off this out-of-control animal, even running off the beach onto the Promenade. At this point, Su had left me with Paul who was as frightened as we were! Su made her way up to the Promenade, as did the dog owner who scaled a wall to get up there even quicker. Troy now had to make a lightning-fast choice. If he kept left, he’d go straight up the Promenade, but if he went right, he’d end up in the road with all the traffic! Thankfully, he kept left! Somehow the man managed to get hold of his dog, but not before it had caused a puncture wound to the base of Troy’s tail. Obviously, this meant a visit to the vet, but there didn’t appear to be any other physical harm, and he was put on a course of antibiotics. Mentally though, it definitely had a negative effect on him. If a pet German Shepherd came anywhere near him, he would be visibly shaking and anxious, with his tail between his legs. However, if it was a German Shepherd guide dog, he never reacted negatively at all! Evidently, he could make a mental distinction between the two! How incredible is that!

During another holiday we spent there with Su’s family, we booked in on a coach trip to the Shire Horse Centre at Plymouth. Su’s uncle Harry took me down to meet some of the horses, while Su took care of Troy. Apparently, he was quite agitated while I was with the horses, so much so that as Harry brought me back to Su, Troy pulled his lead clean through Su’s hand and ran as fast as he could to me. I’m told that as he neared me, he launched himself, all 38 kg of him flying through the air, with his head hitting me in a rather delicate area! As you can imagine, I crumbled to the floor in a heap!

It was soon after this last holiday that I began noticing Troy was having difficulty walking while wearing his harness. During the National Guide dogs Week in October 1994, we went to the Cardiff flag day to lend a helping hand. One of the volunteers offered to take Troy for a stretch of legs and to make sure he was comfy. She didn’t take him very far, but she noticed the difficulty he was having in walking back to us, and that was without his harness. Very soon after, Katie Sargent came on a visit to see exactly what was going on. We took him for a walk, but the poor lad didn’t even get halfway to town before he started limping quite badly. Katie called off the walk, and we got him back home. The result of the visit was that she thought the best thing for Troy was to semi-retire him. This meant that he had to have an extremely light workload, but at least I could still work him if absolutely necessary. This also meant that I found myself facing another assessment, this time for a replacement guide dog.

It was around the same time that I began noticing I couldn’t hear Su properly, particularly when we were out shopping. sometimes I simply misunderstood what she had said, while at other times I didn’t know she’d said anything at all! And no, this is not a case of selective deafness! It was very noticeable when we were stood next to the fridges and freezers with their loud buzzing noises, but it also began happening when there were other sounds nearby – both indoors and outdoors. Su suggested that I have a hearing test, which was very soon arranged. I had low-tone deafness, and the mid-range tones were also affected but not to the same degree. I also had something called recruitment, which is where certain high-pitch sounds can be particularly painful. Having this type of hearing problem means that the high tone sounds I hear are masking over or even blotting out the lower tones, making conversation very difficult. As women tend to have higher-tone voices, I find it easier to follow what they are saying, unless, like Su, their voice is in the mid or lower ranges. The consultant at Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny very kindly told me that if I were sighted, I wouldn’t even notice my hearing problem. The fact was I was not sighted, and was having dreadful problems! It just goes to show how much people rely on their sight when communicating with others, without even realising it!