Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind has always proven popular as a destination for Transition Year Students when choosing their work experience. This morning, we spoke to a group of Transition Year students who are currently visiting the centre. We first spoke to Niamh Hackett from St. Angela’s College.

What Made you choose Irish Guide dogs for the Blind for your work experience?

Niamh:  “I’ve always had an interest in animals and in dogs, we have a dog at home, so it made sense to come here for the week”

What have you being doing this week?

Niamh: 
“Every Monday there’s a huge scrub out of the kennels so we did that on the first day, we cleaned out the kennels thoroughly and the runs which is the area around the back of the kennel where the dog can go out into the open. Then we helped to get the food ready for the dog. We helped with the grooming and then we played with the dogs”

What has been your favourite experience this week?

Niamh:  “The best part was playing with the dogs, that was brilliant fun. We have toys that we can use to play with the dogs and we can just let them run around”

What has been the hardest piece of work this week?

Niamh:  “The cleaning definitely! We clean the kennels everyday”

Do you think that in the future you might like to work with animals?

Niamh:  “Yes, definitely”

Next I spoke to Will and Kate.

What Made you choose Irish Guide dogs for the Blind for your work experience?

Kate: “We’ve always had a Guide Dog at home. Ever since I was five we’ve always had one so I grew up with puppies and dogs around at home. My mum and I take care of the dogs”

Will:  “My uncle Jim was one of the founders of the organisation but it’s unreal to actually see what happens here. It’s actually my first time seeing how everything works and it’s amazing to see what he helped to start”

What have you being doing this week?

Kate and Will: “Cleaning, Grooming the dogs and taking them out to play"

What has been your favourite experience this week?

Kate: “I loved the grooming, that was my favourite part because you get to play with the dogs too”
Will: “I loved taking them out to play”

What was the hardest piece of work this week?

Will & Kate: “Cleaning and washing out the kennels!”

Do you think that in the future you might like to work with animals?

Kate:  “yes, possibly as a vet, but I think I will work with animals”

Will: “I’d love to do something with animals. I’m not sure about being a vet but I’d like to take care of the dogs. I might even like to do some work here at the centre”

Finally, I bumped into Andrea Loughnane who was surrounded by dogs in the run area where the dogs have plenty of space to run around and play.

What Made you choose Irish Guide dogs for the Blind for your work experience?

Andrea: “I love dogs, we’ve always had dogs at home, we have a Westy at home”

What have you being doing this week?

Andrea:  “We’ve been cleaning out the kennels, grooming the dogs, helping with their feeds and playing with them”

What has been your favourite experience this week?

Andrea: “I loved playing with the dogs, that’s the best part”

What was the hardest piece of work this week?

Andrea: “The Cleaning”

Do you think that in the future you might like to work with animals?

Andrea: “Yes definitely!”

There you have it, hot off the press, Transition year students are working hard at the National Headquarters and Training Centre here in Ballincollig. It’s great for the students to get a glimpse into the valuable work that is done here. It’s also great for us to interact with these young adults who are tomorrow’s future. Who knows, one day one of them might even work at the centre. In the meantime, we’ve learned one thing about Transition Year students, they're not too crazy about cleaning!