Eddy

Date of birth: October 25, 2001.

Breed: Yellow Labrador cross Golden Retriever.

Puppy walkers: Steve and Lorna Biczysko, Northamptonshire.

Trainer for advanced stage: Jim Powell.

When qualified: June 2003.

Notes: Eddy was the 349th guide dog to qualify from the Cardiff training centre.

Nickname(s): Ed, Edda-tedda, Eddy-teddy, Mr Ted, Ted, Tedda, Tedderissimo.

Out of the three guide dogs I've had so far, Eddy took the longest to qualify. That's not because we weren't well matched, and it wasn't because he couldn't do the work properly . . . far from it! The problem, if I can call it that, was that he was extremely attached to his trainer, Jim Powell. Picture this: You're walking through your town centre, and you see a Guide Dog trainer, and nearby is a blind person with their guide dog. But the dog is rearing up while in harness, and even doing a kangaroo bounce! That's exactly what you would have seen if you had been walking in my home town in June 2003...! I'm thrilled to say, he finally qualified, probably about 2 weeks later than average, but what a superb character that has helped me stick by him through a couple of other initial problems!

One of his games is when he sees you heading towards a door. He gets himself in the way, facing his rear end towards you, and then wags his tail while furiously dancing his bum from left to right. There's absolutely no way you can get past him without a fight!

Eddy, unlike my first two guide dogs, doesn't bark! In fact, since I trained with him in May 2003, I think I've only heard him bark three times, and each time it was while we were training. My wife Su and son Paul haven't heard him bark at all! But, one night, Su did hear something. Something that she will never forget!

During one extremely hot spell of weather we had, Su was woken up at 5 in the morning by the most loud and blood curdling wolf howl! She promptly woke me up, and told me there's a wolf howling outside! I told her not to be so silly and that it was in her dream. The words hadn't left my mouth when I too heard it. Any film director would have been proud of it to say the least! What apparently happened was that, somehow, poor little Eddy had got shut out in the garden when we had gone to bed around 1am. Evidently, by 5am, he'd had enough, and wanted to be let back in!