When you've got a guide dog, your life is a constant PR act - you have to explain carefully to people how to help. But you have to be nice to them, otherwise they won't help another blind person. When I go round Sainsbury's, an assistant comes with me - they try to hold you and then they walk very, very slowly. But I was bored working as a secretary; I wanted to do something which involved working more with people. I did a course in anatomy, physiology, massage and reflexology and, later, in aromatherapy. I now work with many physically disabled people at three day centres; the rest of the time I treat private clients at home.Some people have the knack of knowing how to help a blind person, and some people don't.
I did languages at university and then worked for the Leonard Cheshire Foundation, where I came into contact with physically disabled people. I need one that will go everywhere with me - a lot of dogs won't go on the Underground, but Earl doesn't mind.I was the youngest of four children; my parents were determined that I was going to grow up like the others. I went to a boarding-school for blind children, but attended a mainstream school on a daily basis. They match you carefully with the dog for temperament, speed of walking, lifestyle. At the day centres where I work with disabled people, they love the dog and I think he's therapeutic for them. Earl's my third dog - he's nearly three and I've had him since he was 18 months.
There was a whole spate of premature babies in the early Fifties who were going blind, until they worked out why.I am a masseuse, and Earl, my guide dog, is never in the room when I'm working at home, but he goes everywhere else with me. Now that she's nearly four, I don't force her to help me with things. We don't want her to feel she's here to look after us.HILLARY LEECOCK: I was born premature and only weighed 2lbs, so I was put in an incubator and given too much oxygen too quickly, which affected my retinas and blinded me. When she was a baby, I had to be extra careful; I did everything on the floor, like changing her and dressing her. There was no way we were going to have a visually-impaired child, not after the things I went through But when Leslie was born, her eyesight was fine. I said, "Thank you very much," and just carried on.When David and I decided we wanted a baby, we both had check-ups; so did my parents. Once I was waiting on the platform of a bus, and a bloke picked me up and plonked me on the pavement.
I also seemed to get a lot more assistance from the public after I had a dog. The biggest difference the dog made to my life was that I could go out at night. But 40 years ago, there was nothing available; you just carried on.My first dog was Fergus; Merlin is my second. We're an absolute team.SHIRLEY MUSGROVE: I suffer from retinitis pigmentosa, which means I've got tunnel vision. I'm also short-sighted, so it's a bit like looking down the wrong end of a telescope. When I was six someone told my mother that they thought something was wrong - I was always bumping into things.
