Patricia McCarthy

Retiring my first guide dog (Gaston) and the beginning of a new partnership with Guide Dog Buddy.

After almost 6 years with Guide Dog Gaston in November 2025, the decision was made to retire him early on medical grounds. This was not an easy decision for me, but I knew it was the best decision to make for Gaston. A couple of things made this decision a little easier.

Firstly, I was in the fortunate position that I had friends who had always said that they would be interested in rehoming Gaston whenever he retired, and this is what happened. Gaston knew them well and had regularly seen them since I got him in 2020, so the transition for Gaston was a successful one.

The second thing that made the decision to retire Gaston early was that in November 2025, I met and was matched with a new dog called Buddy.

I am now going to tell you a little about training with Buddy and the start of my new partnership with him.

The biggest difference for me regarding training with Gaston in 2020 and training with Buddy in 2025 was that I had the option of doing domiciliary training. For those that may not know what this is, it is that rather than me going to the Training Centre in Cork for approximately 2 weeks to begin the initial training with Buddy, this time he came to my home, and we did all of the training from that location. I was delighted that this was an option for me as it meant that the training was tailored specifically to my needs and that I was able to sleep in my own bed at night. This may seem trivial to some, but for me, it made a real difference. Doing domiciliary training also meant that if I had a day when I was experiencing fatigue, the training schedule was flexible enough to accommodate that, which was really beneficial for me.

Laura Bateman and Sam Arnsby were the primary Guide Dog Instructors who trained me and Buddy with Simon Osbourne (Guide Dog Instructor), providing additional support when required. I am grateful to all three for all the advice, support and encouragement (particularly in the early days of training) which I received and continue to receive as and when required.

While I had known that the transition from my first dog to my second one would be difficult at times, I do not think I had fully realised how challenging it was going to be, but I always felt that Laura, Sam and Simon were there to listen to my concerns and find solutions to any issues I raised. Regardless of what concerns I expressed, I always believed that I had their support, which meant a lot to me, particularly during the first week of training when my anxiety about the new partnership meant that I was nervous and unsure about lots of things!

Buddy is a very loveable dog with lots of personality. He has settled in really well to working life and is already very well known where I work in Trinity College (by both students and staff), who all greet him by name, even by some who do not know my name! I have noticed that Buddy loves working in busy environments, and even in the lead-up to Christmas, was not fazed by the busyness of Grafton Street.

I am looking forward to strengthening our partnership over the coming months, and I am sure we will have many adventures together.