![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/my-40-years-of-guide-dogs-and-good-friends/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/130548617_resizephoto21-07-2023122741.jpg&description=Image caption, Ian still remembers getting Stella, his first guide dog, 40 years ago It's been 40 years since I started training with my very first guide dog but the memories are still vivid. Back then I was a slim 20-year-old student at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford. I travelled up to Forfar for four weeks at the guide dog training centre, where I stayed with 11 other blind people. We were a diverse bunch, strangers brought together by our shared journey of sight loss and desperation to maintain our independence. I knew this training would change how I navigated the world. No more would I have to gingerly manoeuvre my way down the streets with a white cane, desperately hoping to avoid collisions with lampposts, rubbish bins, and cars parked on pavements. The accommodation at the centre in August 1983 was far from luxurious but clean and comfortable. Image caption, Ian, who has worked for the BBC for 23 years, with his latest guide dog Major There was an empty dog bed and bowl waiting for my new companion but I wouldn't meet the dog for another four days. The Guide Dog Association for the Blind was incredibly secretive back then, resembling something akin to MI5. We weren't told anything about the dog's breed, name, or sex at the beginning, and the human trainer played the role of the dog, demonstrating the correct way to guide and give commands. It felt a bit like "Strictly Come Dancing" without the sparkly tights and harsh judging. The trainer would say: "Ian, put your left foot back and turn. Now, bring both feet back together and pirouette to the right. Slap your right thigh simultaneously and turn, all in one move. "Oh, and don't forget to tell me what a good dog I am." What a sight it must have been, the trainer and I mincing in unison around the centre's car park with me exclaiming: "Who's a good boy?" When the time came to meet my new dog, I'd grown impatient. The tension in the room was palpable as we were all called to gather in the){kind=link}
It’s been 40 years since I started training with my very first guide dog but the memories are still vivid.
Back then I was a slim 20-year-old student at the Royal National College for the Blind in Hereford.
I travelled up to Forfar for four weeks at the guide dog training centre, where I stayed with 11 other blind people.
We were a diverse bunch, strangers brought together by our shared journey of sight loss and desperation to maintain our independence.
I knew this training would change how I navigated the world.