Speaker at our meeting of 23rd January was Bob Gourley, who is blind - and his dog Wallis. We were treated to a detailed and most interesting talk about guide dogs and their selection, training and working lives. Bob started with the history of helping dogs - from the 19th Century, through the first and second world wars and up to modern day arrangements.

The history was surprising and included the work of Dorothy Eustis (1886-1946), an American philanthropist who introduced ‘seeing eye’ dogs to America. We heard too of late 19th Century work in France.

Early work did not have a very high success rate and it was only when careful and scientific breeding was developed that progress towards todays 85 - 90% success was achieved. This work also included careful matching of dogs to people.

Bob’s detailed explanation of today’s training programme was a revelation. Full training takes 3 years, with dogs then able to work until age of about 10 years, when they retire. The total cost of breeding, training and care over their working life comes to around £55,000 for each dog. With around 4,000 trained dogs in the UK, the high cost of this support is clear. Bob made very clear just how transformative such support is for people who are blind.

A very interesting talk and, following questions, Rodrick Skinner proposed a warm and appreciative vote of thanks.