last week I completed my assessment with Guide Dogs Victoria for Esme’s successor.

I took lots of pictures of my work place and home, so we can document where the new Guide Dog will be sleeping, feeding and toileting; routine is very important in a Guide Dog’s life.

I also got a video of my walking with Esme my retiring Guide Dog, so Guide Dogs Victoria can get an idea of my walking speed and the environment where I would be walking. Singapore is very crowded and has lots of escalators; something that would need to be taken into consideration when matching a dog to me.

Last Thursday I received a facetime call from my old Guide Dog Mobility Instructor from Guide Dogs Victoria, and we completed a bunch of forms documenting my weight, height, walking speed, working/home environment, and many other areas that would determine what type of dog would best match me.

Technology has been a life saver even for this Blind person, as I was able to take pictures and videos with my phone, and uplode them onto dropbox to share with Guide Dogs Victoria. My assessment was also completed over facetime, avoiding hefty international call charges and the need for the instructor to fly into Singapore like in 2011 when I was first assessed to be matched with Esme.

The next step now would be for Guide Dogs Victoria to look at the current dogs they have in training to find a suitable match. Fingers crossed there is one for the class in February or we’ll have to wait till the next bunch of trained dogs which will be in April.

Thanks for being a part of this journey, and supporting this campaign. Will update again as soon as I hear about the matching process.

Cassandra