IRISH GUIDE DOGS for the Blind has been operating for 50 years this year, and the charity is set to mark its anniversary with Guide Dog Day, taking place on 22 May.

However beloved the charity may be in its providing trained dogs for blind and visually impaired people, as well as children with autism, there remains a gap in its output and demand. 

The charity is seeking volunteers to act as puppy raisers as well as donations to fund the feeding and training of these dogs. 

The charity, a mainstay in the Irish charitable scene, has contributed massively to visually impaired persons’ quality of life, as James Fitzgerald explained to The Journal.

Fitzgerald, who is from Ardfert in Co Kerry, is visually impaired and his guide dog Monty is his third support animal. After his previous dog retired and he got Monty, he was waiting several months, and he noticed a massive difference in getting around with a dog versus using a white cane.

“I wouldn’t walk out at night with the cane because I kept bumping into stuff – the cane is in no way comparable to a dog,” he said. 

James and Helen Fitzgerald pictured with James's guide dog Monty.

Monty navigates obstacles, traffic lights, and helps Fitzgerald get around Kerry. He’s also a “great company” for Fitzgerald, who is retired, and his wife Helen. 

He gets a “lot of attention”, which he loves, Fitzgerald said, particularly when they’re in the shops and he’s off the clock. 

Fitzgerald and his wife are heavily involved in the fundraising for the local branch – the Kingdom Branch – and Monty has helped with James’s independence. 

“I totally trust the dog,” Fitzgerald said – something another volunteer involved in the Kerry branch told The Journal is essential.

Judi Pheysey, who is originally from Dorset in England but now lives in Kerry, became involved with the charity in 2017 when she and her husband settled in the southern county.

New to the area, Pheysey began looking for ways to become involved in the local community, eventually settling on Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind, having always been involved with animals.

She took on the challenge of becoming a puppy raiser for the charity, which entails raising a puppy from eight weeks old to around 14 months, when they’re taken on for formal training at the centre in Cork.

She also temporarily boards dogs when other puppy raisers are away, and cares for a pregnant brood and her pups before they are taken on by another volunteer.

At the moment, Pheysey has a litter of pups she’s seeking temporary homes for.

Walnut's first litter, who will undergo guide dog training when of age. In the back row from left to right are Banning, Buster, Benji, and Beauty. In the front row are Bronté, Bennett, Bobbie, and Brandon.

Her first ever puppy raised through the charity in 2017 came with her as they travelled through Kerry.

The dogs are unique in that they can travel anywhere, which is important for their socialisation to become full time guide dogs, so Pheysey and her pup went to the cinema, visited cafes, took beach walks, and went shopping.

Raising one of these dogs comes with a community itself, and everyone was always willing to give her a hand with supervising the puppy for a few hours if Pheysey had appointments or other commitments. 

There’s also a lot of opportunities that come with the role: Pheysey and her puppies were invited to the Rose of Tralee as dogs were needed for a performance that could be trusted to be calm and would not get overwhelmed with crowds, and they often walk in local parades.

“They get exposed [to human life] in a very nice sort of way,” she said. “You’re always watching them to make sure you don’t overexpose them.

“The idea is to help them have every experience that us humans go through, so that then when they really meet them again as working dogs, they’ve seen it and been through it and don’t have to be worried.

“You’re trying to bring them up and make sure they’re aware of all the crazy things that humans can do so that they can stay focused don the job, which is keeping the person safe, walking in correct lines, stopping at kerbs.”

It can be emotional raising a puppy and having to say goodbye, she said, but it’s something that can’t be forgotten throughout their early training. Officially, she’s raised 12 dogs since 2017 which are now working all over the country.

“I’m really proud of them – it’s like sending your kid off to university,” she laughed.