Saturday, 20 December 2025
Dodger the Guide Dog
DODGER
Dodger
Hello,
My name is Dodger I was a trainee guide dog.
My Guide Dog Number is 378406.
I was born on 8th March 2024, one of a litter of 8 pups. All male and all golden except for one.
Mum was Marina, a black Lab, and dad was Norman, a Labrador / Golden cross.
I arrived at my puppy home nr Stamford, Lincs on the 2nd May 2024.
email: rickharriss@gmail.com
My favourite toys are a blue squeaky dumbbell, my teddy bear and my shaggy sheep. I
Health
I have unfortunately got Hip Dysplasia. The ball joint on my femur isn’t well-fitted into the socket in my Pelvis, which results in my hips sliding out of their socket, which damages the hip socket, making it grow deformed. My hip score is 16 /53 for one side and 31/53 for the other. This gives a total score of 47/106. This is pretty bad (the higher the score, the worse things are.)
This affects my ability to exercise and will, in the future, probably mean I will develop osteoarthritis. As a result, I have been withdrawn from the Guide Dog training program.
My Vets, have recommended :
I only walk on lead. Only for 3 x 20 minutes a day. This is aimed at allowing my hips to develop in as normal a way as possible before I stop growing at about 18 months old.
I shouldn’t jump.
I shouldn’t run (although this is very difficult to arrange, as I am full of energy and love to explore and investigate).
I should have a rich walking environment and be allowed to sniff and meander about as I want to enrich such an experience as I can have.
I shouldn’t be allowed to play with other dogs, as this will make me excited and cause jumping and running.
No free running.
I should have a soft surface to lie on if I need to. Especially to sleep on.
Most of my walking should be on soft ground, grass or dirt tracks. I do walk well on pavements, due to my Guide Dog training, but this should be a lot less of the time now.
If I show signs of pain or discomfort, the Vet can prescribe painkillers for me. This has been agreed with Guide Dogs. At present, I do not take anything as I do not appear to be in pain normally.
Other than that, I received my last flea tablet on 21st May. The others are in with my health record.
My 6-monthly worming tablet will be due on June 2nd, so I will have had this. The next one will be Jan 2nd 2026.
Food:
I am on a weight loss diet using the Royal Cainen Kibble for Neutered dogs. I have a new bag with me + about 2/3 of a bag. This should last about 70 days.
I eat 280 gms a day in 2 meals. So that I keep interested, I usually have about half in the morning at about 8 AM in my feeding ball. I will happily chase this around, but I may need help getting the last one or two bits out.
The other half goes in the treat bag for our morning walk or any training activity during the morning. I usually go for a walk around 0830 to 9 pm.
I will poop during this walk, usually quite early in the walk
At lunch time, I usually have a carrot. For the afternoon walk, usually about 3 pm. I get 40 gms out of my evening meal for treats. The other 100 gms is my evening meal around 5:30 to 6 pm.
I will normally, but not all the time, poop during this walk as well.
I get taken out in the evening at 7 pm for a walk to relieve myself. This is usually successful. If I don’t then I will be OK until the morning.
I like the kibble blended up into a paste with some water and frozen onto my licky mat or frozen in my Kong. I get this at the weekend evening meal, usually, so my PR can have a peaceful meal.
Sleeping:
I have very good sleeping habits I go to bed at about 8 pm. At home, I sleep in the kitchen on the floor. I have a large folded duvet in a cover to sleep on. We have a baby gate to keep me in.
I usually sleep through until 7:30 am. Although I may dream and whimper in my dream, I don’t usually wake up at night once settled. At home, I have the radio on classic FM, but very low to keep me company. This isn’t essential, but I have slept with it since a small puppy.
I have very good settling habits after walking and will usually lie down for an hour or so if told to settle on my bed.
Likes/dislikes:
I like most vegetables. I like to play fetch with my blue toy, but this has to be controlled now so I don’t run too far or fast. I don’t give the toy up very well because I like to play tug with you. But I will drop it when asked. I may, however, try to snatch it back if you go to pick it up, so mind your fingers.
I like being sung to.
I like you to talk to me even if we are walking.
I like having my chest scratched, but am not so keen on head pats.
I like having my ears scratched.
I like food. I can be VERY obedient when food is involved, although I don’t snatch and understand wait, even when food is involved.
I like sniffing on walks and may eat Deer poo, rabbit poo and sheep poo if I am given a chance.
My best toy is my teddy, which I sleep with and my blue dumbbell and the sheep toy that squeaks when I bite it.
I usually like other animals and am familiar with sheep, dogs and cats. If I see birds in the garden, I will try to play, but they are too fast for me. I chase butterflies and bees in the garden.
I like to sit by you and lean on your legs.
I like to be stroked and am very affectionate. I lick a lot if I can reach you.
I like slippers and shoes and cushions and will steal them for attention, but I know I have to give them up when asked to drop. I am not generally destructive.
I dislike being told no, so I tend to ignore this.
I like Pubs and Cafes, but may be attracted to other dogs and try to go say hello. When people smile and say hello, I get excited and try to get to them as well (they might have food). However, overall, I enjoy going out for a drink and have visited many pubs in my local area as well as most coffee shops in Stamford.
Issues:
I am a big dog, but I still have a puppy mind. I still mouth when tired. But I don’t bite. I may bark for attention and like to be near people.
I like other dogs, but I am learning I should ignore them when on walks. I will often sit automatically if I see another dog I do not know. I will watch them go by, and usually that’s all, but sometimes I may pull towards them if they look friendly. My greeting behaviour is good, although I may not know when to stop.
I love people; if they speak to me or look at me, I may try to jump up to greet them. I do this to visitors as well, but I calm down after 5 minutes or so, though in the house, I may bark to try to get the attention of visitors. So best introduced on the lead at first.
I have not had a chance to meet many young children and tend to be rather clumsy, so I am probably best kept under close control when young children are around.
I understand the Guide Dogs command set and the hand signals. I am better with the hand signals, in fact, but sometimes if I find other things very interesting, I may think the commands are optional.
I have good recall, again, this may be a bit optional if other interesting things are close by, like dogs or people. However, I shouldn’t be off lead unless in the garden.
I don’t generally climb onto the living room furniture, but may jump onto beds if I get the chance, and I sit/lie on the garden furniture. As I am destined to be a pet in the future, I am allowed to do many things a Guide Dog isn’t.
I am a good digger if left alone in the garden, and I get bored.
I know a range of commands:
Sit, Stand, Down, Wait, Walk, Stay, Cross, Drop, Come, Off we go, Fetch (a bit variable if I understand what to fetch). OK ( a command to allow me to eat my food).
Some commands come with hand signals, which I am better with than the spoken word sometimes.
Sit: with a raised hand, either a closed fist or a flat palm.
Stay: a flat palm towards me
Down: a horizontal flay palm lowered in front of my face.
Walk: a vertical flat hand waved forwards.
These are standard Guide dog signals we teach the dogs.
On a personal note:
We do miss Dodger. Rather more than we expected to. We were offered first refusal, but as we are both in our late 70's, we didn't feel it was fair to take on a very young active dog. So very reluctantly, we gave him up for adoption.
When his first home fell through, we were very worried he might not find a forever home, but it certainly looks and sounds like you, and he have hit it off.
He is a very affectionate dog; he enjoys human company and other dogs. He loves to play, learn, and be involved in what you're doing. After all, it just might involve food, and he is a Labrador at heart.
He has good manners and is gentle-natured. I really hope you and he get on for the rest of his life.
My bet is he wouldn't have made it as a guide dog because he has opinions. His opinion on some commands is that they are optional depending on the circumstances. When with us, his recall was good, unless, as you say, he sees another dog. However, I am sure that as he is now more mature, if you work at it, he will improve. Fortunately, from a training viewpoint, he is very food-driven.
As you might expect I looked into Hip dysplaisia when he was diagnosed.
There are a number of possibilities for the future. Initially, the restricted regimen is set to limit the damage that moving is doing to his joints. His joints should be fully formed by the time he is 18 months to two years old.
Eventually, he will develop arthritis as his joints rub together. This can be controlled with painkillers or surgical intervention. He has one side that is much worse than the other, I think the left. A score of 31/53 is very high indeed. It suggests that the hip socket hasn't formed properly.
At the top end of the surgical intervention is a hip replacement. You may see removal of the head of the femur as an option, but this isn't usually suitable for a big dog like Dodger. However, many dogs don't really show much in the way of issues, and Dodger may be one of the lucky ones.
I think that's enough background for now. Anything you want to know, please let me know. We look forward to hearing how he is getting on.
Richard
My email is rickharriss@gmail.com
Monday, 7 July 2025
River Cruise along the Rhone river.
River cruise in the South of France.Lyon to the Camargue
We embarked on the 26th June 2024 Flying from Luton to Geneva.This was done so we had a reasonable flight time. Geneva is 2 hours by coach from Lyon.The return flight would be direct from Lyon to Luton on the 6th July.
Click on pictures to enlarge.
Our journey would take us north from Lyon up the Saone River to Chalon-sur-Saone, Passing The Beaujolais region and into the realm of Macon wines. Our ship (apparently you can put a boat on a ship but not a ship on a boat), Provides wines at dinner from the region we were passing through. We would then turn South again back to Lyon, then on south to Avignon, Port-St-Louis to the Camargue, Arles, Chateauneuf-de-Pape, Orange and then overnight return to Lyon.
Our return after one night in the region and a trip around the local town of Chalon-sur-Saone.
Medieval wooden house
The river is very scenic. Although some areas, as you approach the towns or cities, are pretty industrial.
Speed isn't an issue, usually about 12 KPH. We sailed back to Lyon overnight for a morning tour of the town. Most of our trips out were rescheduled to the mornings because of the extreme heat. The highest we had was 41 deg C, and most days it was 25 degrees overnight and around 35 to 40 degrees during the day. Keeping hydrated and in the shade was essential.
Many, Many churches and Papal palaces were on the schedule. It always seems to be so.
However, most were very interesting.
The rest of the blog will be some of the pictures I took along the way. As the cruise was eat, drink and go for a walk around the local Church, Palace or Town.
1400s Hospital
Hospital
Chateau
wine tasting
basicilica
Not everything in France is Ancient! 
This is one of the 7 Nuclear power plants they have scattered around the country.
Lavender farm
Provence is characterised by lavender, Sunflowers and wild pigs. The pig in the picture was in a Lavender farm. It wandered in one day when it was small, so they gave it food and water, thinking it would return to the wild. It seemed to like it and stayed growing fatter and fatter.
It was very friendly and liked to be scratched and just hung around the farm looking piggy.
Along the river, there are several large locks. These are bypassing hydroelectric generation dams in the river. The deepest, and the deepest in all of France, was 24 meters deep.
Along the river, going North and South are kilometre signs marking the distance to or from Lyon.
The river is, of course, a commercial highway for barges and fairly big ships.
We have to give way to Commercial traffic, and if a busy lock is encountered, it can take hours for the commercial traffic to get through first before we can take our turn.
Avignon is famous for its Bridge. Now, only 9 arches it was built as 22 arches spanning across the Rhone river.The bridge was destroyed in successive floods, which caused debris to gather against the arches and the force of the trapped water carried the bridge away.
Originally, the Pont d’ Avignon spanned the Rhône. It consisted of 22 arches and was 920 meters long. Wars and floods repeatedly damaged the structure, which was rebuilt several times. Over the decades, the riverbed changed, and the arches collapsed one after the other. The bridge was opened and closed again and again for repairs until 1669, when a new flood of the Rhône caused most of the arches to fall down. After this event, the Saint-Bénezet bridge was abandoned because it was too expensive to maintain. The structure was then practically identical to the one we know today: it now has only four arches.
“Sur le pont d’Avignon, on y danse, on y danse”
In the 15th century, many popular songs that accompanied weddings evoked the Pont d’Avignon. The famous melody known in France today appeared in 1853 with Adolphe Adam’s operetta: L’auberge pleine. In 1876, it was an international success with the operetta “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” (On the Bridge of Avignon). The nursery rhyme of the Saint-Bénezet bridge then toured the world.
In reality, the bridge was too narrow to allow the dancers to perform the farandoles and sarabands that were in vogue at the time. This is why sometimes “sus le pont d’Avignon”, meaning “under the bridge of Avignon” is heard, as the inhabitants danced on the banks that border the building.
This is a roman Aquaduct, the Pont du guard. Built about 2000 years ago to bring clean water 52 Km from Uzes to provide the Roman town at Nimes. Located in the Occitanie region, the Pont du Gard is the major element of a 50.02 km aqueduct built in the middle of the 1st century to supply the city of Nîmes, the ancient Roman colony of Nemausus, from the Eure source located near Uzès. A three-storey aqueduct bridge rising to nearly 48.77 m, it enabled the water conduit to cross the Gardon River.
This triple bridge, whose longest floor, at the very top of the edifice, measured 360 m, is a feat and a masterpiece of Roman architectural technique, but also a work of art whose presence transfigures the landscape. Set in a natural site that enhances its imposing appearance and its lines of force, the Pont du Gard rests on a rocky base, notched by the river spanned by its major arch. The gentle and symmetrical tapering of the arches, the span of the lower arches and the regularity of the upper gallery give it an extraordinarily airy appearance for a work of such magnitude.
The vibrant green is rice. growing in the Camargue area.
The Famous white horses and black bulls of the Camargue region.They breed the bulls for bullfighting.
Equally famous Flamingoes, although these were in an ornithological park.
The town of Arle. Famous because Vincent Van Goug lived here for 2 years and did many of his now best-known paintings here. He was, however, a very disturbed personality. Not only argumentative he was a drunk and spent whatever money he had left over on prostitutes.
After falling out with his friend, artist Gaugan, he cut off his ear, and after a few days in hospital, bought a gun and shot himself.
We visited in Orange a roman theater, again about 2000 years old. Built by the order of Augustus, he had a statue put up to mark the event. In those days, everyone was having statues made of themselves to look like Roman emperors. So official statues were made locally but without a head, the head was made in Rome and shipped over.
We ended our cruise with a visit to a Château Neuf de Pape winery for a nice wine tasting.
We sailed through the night and half the next day to get back to Lyon. Althgether the ship covered about 680 Km.
This is a technology museum.
The river is very scenic. Although some areas, as you approach the towns or cities, are pretty industrial.
Not everything in France is Ancient!
Along the river, going North and South are kilometre signs marking the distance to or from Lyon.
The river is, of course, a commercial highway for barges and fairly big ships.
Avignon is famous for its Bridge. Now, only 9 arches it was built as 22 arches spanning across the Rhone river.
In the 15th century, many popular songs that accompanied weddings evoked the Pont d’Avignon. The famous melody known in France today appeared in 1853 with Adolphe Adam’s operetta: L’auberge pleine. In 1876, it was an international success with the operetta “Sur le Pont d’Avignon” (On the Bridge of Avignon). The nursery rhyme of the Saint-Bénezet bridge then toured the world.
In reality, the bridge was too narrow to allow the dancers to perform the farandoles and sarabands that were in vogue at the time. This is why sometimes “sus le pont d’Avignon”, meaning “under the bridge of Avignon” is heard, as the inhabitants danced on the banks that border the building.
This triple bridge, whose longest floor, at the very top of the edifice, measured 360 m, is a feat and a masterpiece of Roman architectural technique, but also a work of art whose presence transfigures the landscape. Set in a natural site that enhances its imposing appearance and its lines of force, the Pont du Gard rests on a rocky base, notched by the river spanned by its major arch. The gentle and symmetrical tapering of the arches, the span of the lower arches and the regularity of the upper gallery give it an extraordinarily airy appearance for a work of such magnitude.
The vibrant green is rice. growing in the Camargue area.
The Famous white horses and black bulls of the Camargue region.
Equally famous Flamingoes, although these were in an ornithological park.
The town of Arle. Famous because Vincent Van Goug lived here for 2 years and did many of his now best-known paintings here. He was, however, a very disturbed personality. Not only argumentative he was a drunk and spent whatever money he had left over on prostitutes.
We visited in Orange a roman theater, again about 2000 years old. Built by the order of Augustus, he had a statue put up to mark the event. In those days, everyone was having statues made of themselves to look like Roman emperors. So official statues were made locally but without a head, the head was made in Rome and shipped over.