GLENNIE is just a cute little puppy - or is she?

She bounces along the road, tail wagging, and plays with her lead in the garden.

But in another nine months, she'll be the "eyes" of a blind person.

Janet Winstanley, from Longsight, Harwood, is her puppywalker and she will help prepare little Glennie for her training as a guidedog to the visually impaired when she is one-year-old.

The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association (GDBA) in Bolton is on the look-out for more volunteers like Janet, who has been a puppywalker for the best part of 33 years.

Rather than staying in kennels until they are mature enough to train, guide dogs like Glennie are "socialised" within families, who give up their little charge when the time comes to "graduate" to the training centre.

"I always think it's like the development of a child, going to infant school and junior school and then finish up at university. With a puppy, at 12 months it's an adult, old enough for the university phase," said Janet. "People say to me more often than anything else: 'I don't know how you can part with them'. Some people look at me as though I'm a monster. But you've got to approach it like a job," she said.

"In some ways you never get used to the parting. That is the biggest drawback if I'm honest.

"When the children were little there were tears, but when you see some of the guide dog owners, you wouldn't hesitate to do it again - it's their independence."

Janet has never had a lot of time to pine over parting puppies, though, because they come and go.

So far, she has put in 300 months of looking after a succession of young Alsatians, Labradors and Golden Retrievers.

In the beginning, some only stayed for a few months before they were found unsuitable for their future job, but these days - thanks to improved breeding - most complete the full course of 12 months.

Janet can't remember exactly how many dogs have passed through her loving hands, but she has dedicated a wall of her cottage to their photographs.

She first started puppywalking when her son and daughter were babies and she needed something "useful" to do.

"I will never forget the first people who had one of my puppies.

"I was able to meet her and I said: 'What was the nicest thing when you first got your dog?' and I was thinking it would be something marvellous.

"But she said it was when a neighbour asked her to get a pound of tomatoes from the shop. That was wonderful and it's remained with me.

"When you take a puppy to a shop, you're afraid at first: 'Is it going to make a puddle?'

"You get a bit perturbed, but I always think then what that guide dog owner said.

"If she could get the courage to get trained and go out with the dog, I can face this with this puppy."

Janet's commitment to the guide dogs - she is also a "late runner", looking after the guide dogs from 7pm until 9.30pm - has been inherited by her daughter who now works as a trainer for the GDBA.

Meanwhile 12-week-old Glennie, a cross Flat-coated Retriever and Golden Retriever, is keeping her busy.

All the little guide dogs-to-be are given a name at the breeding centre, and her brothers and sisters also have names beginning with "G".

Janet's main job is to get Glennie used to the hustle and bustle of everyday life - such as the sound of the TV and doorbell, seeing the grandchildren, people visiting, going in shops and travelling by public transport.

"It's a great deal of fun having a cuddly puppy.

"You just have to keep in the back of your mind what its job is going to be.

"You've got to think: 'will that be suitable for a guide dog owner?' So you don't want it to sleep on the settee or bark all the time."

Monthly visits from the puppy supervisor who is "on call" all the time ensure there is plenty of support and fortnightly training classes help the puppy get used to other dogs as well as people.

The supervisor will sometimes take Glennie out on her own, to observe her behaviour.

"It's like a child going on an exam," Janet laughed.

"The first thing you say when they're back is: 'How did she go on?'

"It's also great to meet other puppy walkers.

"You make friends and when you meet up you compare notes - it's like playgroup with your child." Would you make a good puppy walker? Do you live within a 60 mile radius of Bolton?

Are you at home most of the day? (part-time workers considered)

Are you 18 years or older?

Could you commit a year of your time and enthusiasm to rear a puppy along the Association's guidelines?

Do you have a securely fenced garden?

If you can answer YES to these questions, and you would like to know more, please contact GDBA Bolton, Nuffield House, Lowndes St, Bolton. BL1 4QA. Tel. 01204 495111.

The GDBA covers veterinary and feeding expenses and provides basic equipment.

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