The Emotional Impact of Guide Dog Retirement

A panel chaired by Sean Dilley, Board Member. Sean said he represented Light into Europe in Romania who were making excellent progress, with around 20 service users.

Sean showed a video clip of his guide dog Sammy leading him through the bustling Kings Cross train station in London on their last walk together before Sammy’s retirement. He then spoke about what life was like without a guide dog, during his at least two-year wait for a replacement and the sense of isolation he felt. He said that his guide dog meant more to him than life itself. His guide dog would give his life for Sean. He urged all handlers to never deny their guide dogs the exercise and attention they needed, just because the handler was too tired. While waiting for a dog he had renewed long cane training.
He said that taking away the dog’s harness was particularly emotional, but schools did it to safeguard against a minority of people using harnesses on retired dogs. Sean felt that it infantilised disabled people and was as if someone had refused to let him have a knife to eat his dinner because someone else had been irresponsible with one.

Sean said that at his provider school, Guide Dogs UK, the number of working dogs had reduced from 5,000 to 4,000 over the past several years, leaving 1,000 more people waiting for a replacement dog. Breeding and training were greatly curtailed during the pandemic and one third of volunteer puppy walkers were lost. He did not believe that the procedures concerning retirement were people focused.

Sangeeta Uppaladinni said she had waited three years between dogs and had felt like she lost her legs. It was a further trauma when her dog’s harness was taken away and cut up.

Karine Garnier said that she waited a year and a half for a replacement. In France 54% of users kept their dogs after retirement.

Rodrigo Santos was pleased that the subject was being discussed because it had affected him personally. When his dog retired, he was not immediately ready for another one. When he finally had a new dog, it used the same harness as the previous one had been a great way for him to maintain continuity.

Hara Bourgani from Greece said that they had not so far reached the point of retiring guide dogs in Greece and the discussion had highlighted a problem they would need to address.

Pamela Megahey had a dog that was retired after two years, and she believed it was not a good idea to keep it as a pet when the next guide dog arrived.

Anne Lasaroms, a social worker, had been the first person in the Netherlands to research the effects of saying goodbye to a guide dog.

She said when clients had lost a guide dog, whether by retirement or death, they had usually been together for about eight years. The dog had been considered as a member of the family. If the dog left because the partnership had not worked, there were feelings of guilt, loss of self-confidence, and difficulties accepting a new dog. If the dog had died suddenly, the grief could be more intense. If the dog had retired or died, it was often hard to want a new dog, but it would be necessary for mobility. She had found that there still had been a taboo on grieving when losing a dog, but that grief should not be suppressed.

She felt that guide dog schools had paid little attention to the subject of loss and grief, and, when they did, it generally focused on mobility and not on emotional effect of the loss of a dog. When the trainer had tried to help, clients could interpret the help in a different way than intended. If the client’s grief was more complicated than normal, the client should be referred to a professional in grief counselling. Anne said that loss and grief were part of life and a normal process that worked differently for different people. Because love and grief were inextricably linked, one could not exist without the other. The loss circle, which was well-known in the guide dog world, contained these stages:

• Welcome and contact
• Bonding and resilience
• Connection and intimacy
• Loss and saying goodbye
• Grieving and integrating
• Giving meaning and calling

Blockages in the loss circle were defined as avoiding contact at each of the above six steps.

She said it was important to keep feeling, talking and sharing; the most important was to be open and honest about ones’ feelings.



Sangeeta Uppaladinni spoke about community support where she lives in Alsager, UK. One individual had started a support centre in 2015. During the Covid pandemic the needs of the elderly, disabled and vulnerable had come to the forefront. Sangeeta herself had been between guide dogs and feeling quite vulnerable.

Volunteers did her shopping, took her out for exercise and would alert a doctor if she could not be reached by phone. She said the support centre had saved her sanity and her life. The previous year the Alsager centre had won the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

She related that she now had a new guide dog, who was not with her in Greece because of difficulties with the Animal Health Certificate.

Ioanna Gertsou led the group in a brief mindfulness and cognitive therapy experience, where they closed their eyes, breathed deeply and focused on what they could “see” around them.

Hillary Armour said that, as CEO of small organisation with 25 assistance dogs, this panel of presentations and discussion had made her think very seriously about a subject she had not previously considered.

The panel discussion had been emotional for the participants and Ioanna’s intervention had helped relive the stress before lunch.