Gillian was about to help Sylvia give birth to a very important litter of pups…
As I watched TV with my husband, Adrian, and our three kids, I held my breath as an adorable dog bounded across the screen.
I knew what was coming next.
‘Mum, please can we get a dog?’ my youngest pleaded.
It was a sentence I heard most weeks!
But my answer was always ‘not right now’.
Neither me nor Adrian had kept dogs, so it was a big commitment.
But the children’s badgering was starting to work...
One day, as I chatted with a friend, she told me about the charity Guide Dogs.
They were looking for people in the area to look after guide dog mums.
I researched and applied to be a Breeding Dog Holder.
If we were accepted, it would mean looking after a female dog in Guide Dogs’ breeding programme and helping raise the puppies during their first weeks of life.
Luckily, we met the criteria and were matched with Helga, a black Labrador.
The kids were over the moon.
Years later, my own children had flown the nest.
But the house was still filled with little ones — only now, they were the four-legged kind!
During that time, we’d looked after three guide dog mums and now our current dog, four-year-old Sylvia, was set to become a mum for the very first time.
She had an especially calm and caring temperament, which had made her the perfect candidate to be a guide dog mum.
A few days after the new year, Sylvia began panting more than usual and pacing around her whelping box, designed to protect the puppies during birth.
‘It’s time!’ I told Adrian.
Eventually, Sylvia settled in her box.
Even though it was her first time, Sylvia’s motherly instinct kicked in immediately.
She knew exactly what to do and we were only on hand to monitor her wellbeing.
We watched on as each puppy was delivered in a tiny sac, which Sylvia would gently remove, before licking the puppy clean.
After each pup was born, I scooped them up and placed them on to a set of scales to weigh them, before returning them to their mother.
Each puppy weighed about 400g, which was healthy.
In total, Sylvia gave birth to five boys and three girls, who had the honour of becoming Guide Dogs’ first litter of 2023!
Three weeks later, they opened their eyes for the first time and began to explore.
For a potential guide dog to be successful in helping a visually impaired person, it’s important they are socialised from a young age, so it was my job to give them the best possible start in life.
Luckily, I worked from home as a piano teacher so the puppies became used to meeting new people and hearing loud noises.
The puppies were curious creatures and loved using their mouths to explore their new surroundings.
Their baby teeth were small but as sharp as needles, so I kept a steady supply of cardboard boxes for them to shred and a box of toys for them to race around with.
And in the evenings, when the pups had worn themselves out, they snuggled up with me and Adrian while we watched TV.
When the puppies were eight weeks old, they were taken to Guide Dogs UK’s National Centre at Leamington Spa to begin their official guide dog training and be placed with another volunteer.
Before that, I gave each pup one last cuddle, squeezing them extra tight.
It’s sad saying goodbye, but we always know the puppies aren’t ours to keep.
They’re going on to do amazing things and hopefully, one day, they’ll find their fur-ever home as a fully fledged Guide Dog.
Gillian Parsons, 56, Warwickshire
Could you be a Breeding Dog Holder?
There’s currently a shortage of canine helpers for visually impaired people and Guide Dogs UK has issued an appeal for people to get in touch if they’re willing to look after guide dog mums, whose puppies will be trained as guide dogs. Volunteers need to live within an hour-and-a-half of the National Centre in Leamington Spa.