Introducing Kayla

Date Published: 13 Jan 2025
Guide dog puppy laying on blue mat. Paw is holding a bone toy or treat

Meet Kayla the Guide Dog puppy…an official member of our volunteering team!

Our accessibility service is a really important one here at Caritas Salford.

It’s important to us that as many people can access our services as possible – everyone is welcome.

We also work with local parishes and other groups from across Greater Manchester and Lancashire to improve accessibility and offer a range of services to support people from some of those communities too – from training to advice and practical ways to make your community, organisation and services more accessible.

Here, one of our accessibility advocate volunteers Clair tells us more about Kayla the Guide Dog puppy and her work…

Whilst still only seven months old, Guide Dog puppy Kayla had already attended two Caritas half day training sessions and been part of input about Guide Dog awareness. In doing so she really helped start conversations about service dogs, their training, and how members of the public should interact with them and their handler – particularly in the context of parish life….

We’ve been so taken with Kayla and her work that we have made her an official Caritas volunteer!

A Caritas branded ID badge which says Kayla, Volunteer and has a photo of Kayla the dog

Kayla is now coming up to 10 months old and regularly attends Mass at different churches around the diocese but mostly within her own parish, St John Paul II in Eccles, with Fr Martin Collins.

She and the puppies trained before her have always been made welcome in the parish at both Mass and socialising. Fr Martin Collins has been very supportive of the guide dog puppies being present at any parish activities and clearly understands the importance of access for people with service animals.

Priest and dog in Church aisle looking at camera

Although Kayla goes to Mass at least once a week, she recently attended Mass for the first time in what was her first time in St Patrick’s Church and none of the people there were familiar to her. As a result, she made her presence known during Mass with a single bark. No one seemed concerned, and during Holy Communion, the priest ministering also gave Kayla a blessing!

At her first Caritas Salford accessibility awareness session, Kayla was small enough to tuck herself under the table without people on the opposite side even being aware there was a dog in the room (until she decided we needed a tea break!). This is exactly how it should be.

Kayla is now a gangly adolescent that likes to sprawl out in whatever space is available. She is being encouraged to keep all, or most, of her body on her mat but this is a work in progress. Where access appears to be being blocked she will be moved into a sitting position out of the way. It is probably not a good idea to try and step over a dog…Puppies are unpredictable when things are looming over them from above, but she really is getting the hang of her role in service.

Labrador and golden retriever puppies are very cute – especially when they first start going out and about with their Puppy Raiser at about 12 weeks old.

Physical interactions with the public, however, need to be managed at even this young age due to them having been bred to be working dogs rather than pets. It is okay to ask if you can stroke the puppy but please wait for a confirmation – often the answer will be “yes but not yet”. Kayla is learning that she has to ignore people who try to “talk to her”. Its important that she does not get over excited in public.

Kayla is not yet a qualified Guide Dog. She has a very long path ahead of her on the journey towards graduating with the white harness that identifies her as such. Not all puppies get that far, but let’s assume for now that Kayla does “qualify”….. She and her “partner” will then have the legal right to access almost all places.

The public’s expectation of a Guide Dog is that, in addition to their specialised role of guiding, they will be impeccably well behaved in all environments. To be able to come close to meeting these expectations it is essential the pups are given access to practise the desired behaviours , and get rewarded for them, in the real life environments they are likely to be working in the future.

We’re really grateful to Kayla’s puppy raiser, Clair, for this insight and to Kayla too.  Clair would be happy to answer any quuestions people may have about Guide Dogs and will be running a session on 30th April. You can find out more about this and other forthcoming education and awareness sessions, as well as booking a place, on our website here: www.caritassalford.org.uk/events

If you’d like to join Clair as an accessibility advocate you can find out more in the volunteering section of our website now: www.caritassalford.org.uk/volunteer 

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