Shopping With My Guide Dog - Dealing With Distractions And More

Shopping with my guide dog, dealing with dog distractions, navigating around a shopping centre. Guide dog finding shops for blind person. Steve Fox and York The Guide Dog.

[rabbitphobia]

York works all day for hugs and a dog biscuit... too cute.

[mavisme]

Thanks for posting this. Those of us with service dogs (for disabilities other than blindness) definitely hold guide dogs as the standard to which we want our dogs to be. It's refreshing to hear you say that York is not a robot and can have a moment of 'dogginess'! My girl is amazing, but every so often she'll still act like a goofball!

[pascli]

Those huge shopping centers seem so stressful.

[lailahepburnandmischka]

I have an assistance dog and it INFURIATES me when people let their aggresive dogs get close.
My first assistance dog had to retire at 3yrs old because he was traumatised by so many dogs trying to attack him.
He was a small breed I could pick up to protect him from dog attacks, which saved him from bites 2 or 3 times, where he 100% would have been injured if I hadn't picked him up.
But he was still traumatised after it happened so many times :(

Now I have a lab who became reactive at a few months old because my neighbours dogs kept trying to get her (they mauled my boyfriend, they're literally dangerous, not just barking) so I had to abandon my home and stay in a hostel.
Thankfully it worked, she's now a friendly lab, making good progress (she's still in training) and now handles aggresive dogs well, doesn't let it get to her.
I make sure go give her loads of praise and treats after any bad dog encounters, to try to balance out the negativity.
If she fails I'm screwed, I still have my first assistance dog, I can't go get a 3rd dog if this one fails.
She's doing OK thankfully but far from being fully trained so anything could happen still

[stevehofmaster]

Great video very impressive keep up the great job you guys!😊,

[rickharriss]

Hello I am a guide dog puppy raiser in the UK. ie I take a puppy from 8 weeks old to 12 months or so until they go on for further training to be a guide dog. We do the basic training and socialisation of the puppy to make sure he/she is ready for the advanced training. It's a well worth project for anyone who might be thinking about it.
Guide dogs for the blind are always looking for volunteers. The rough cost of a guide dog from birth to retirement at about 10 years old is £55, 000 around $70, 000. The dogs appear to be trained the same as Maple. The same response and very similar commands and gestures. Lovely to see a guide dog at work. Good luck together.

[EricaandZion]

That small dog.... it happens to us all the time too. My boy is not a guide dog, but he does guide work. We run into dog reactive pets a lot, but luckily my boy is pretty good about ignoring it. Sadly it is an inevitability. Good thing the pup didn’t get off it leash when it was pulling!

[davidowen]

Hi Steve, hope you're well and surviving Covid. Have missed your videos but at least we can watch them over and over.

[mlingpdc]

Wow I haven’t seen a guide dog in action before so I watch these videos to make sure I am prepared to act appropriately when I do come across one, thank you so much 🙇🏻‍♀️ Please everyone, stay safe

[RogueAPBT]

I love the way York sleeps, with his hind end laid over one direction, and his front end pointing the opposite direction.

[zivalasvegas]

I don't mean this in a weird way, but your voice is so soothing, I love it

[christophermillhouse]

Love York's 'to camera' bits. Snoozing away. At least he wasn't snoring. :)

[dwlightfull]

This is great teamwork! I love the communication between you and your guide dog.

[shandavanderark]

As a Service Dog trainer of many years, including having trained guide dogs, SO true! They are NOT perfect! They are still dogs, as amazing as they are! Thank you for sharing!

[janeharford]

I have a mobility service lab named Annie. Everything you say is so true! Dog bless you and York!

[juliafig]

Very informative video.
As someone with many friends with guide dogs and i hope to get one soon i have heard many people ask how does the dog find the location of a store or know when it is safe to cross the street. One thing to remember is the dog knows where the different stores are because the dog and trainer have practice many times to teach the dog this store/spot means this. It is a process of constant training and practice. I know it is not part of this video but i thought it is good for people to know, the dog does not know when to cross the street, it is the handlers responsibility to tell the dog when the cross. But the dog if it sees that crossing can be dangerous, for example a incoming car the dog has been trained to disobey the command.

[NewJourney]

Are those flat escalators? Not the stair-step kind? Oh wow! I wish we had those here in the States. I HATE the stair step kind, I can't imagine how difficult those would be for dogs, too! I'm sighted, and they make my vision go wonky (or more likely my brain) and it makes it very difficult to judge when to stop onto it.

[scottgrimley]

Great video Steve! I was recently in Sydney and used a lot of escalators in the train network. Had a few shall we say not so intelligent people push past Dudley and I so they can get to the platform five seconds ahead of us. Not the safest thing to do.

[aidank]

I know you posted this a while ago so I don’t know if you’ll see this, but I love how you call him “mate, ” it’s so sweet! York is amazing at his job, and your bond is evident ❤️

[jannellmeagher]

I cannot thank you enough for such a well done video all around! I am a Puppy Raiser here in the US and will share your video to our group. It is not an easy job although the puppies are a loving handful and we know their purpose and we do have the same etiquette needs as well. Again, great job. Loved it! Hugs to York!