Harley has now been with his Puppy Walker, Jackie, for several months and has been progressing well through the puppy walking stage of his guide dog training. We've been in touch with Jackie again recently to find out how Harley has been getting on.

Jackie said that Harley is a really lovely dog and is very affectionate. He's great at performing the basic obedience commands which are now all well known to him, and he really loves it when Jackie exaggerates her praise for when he gets things right.

When he's out walking on the lead, Harley is great and he trots nicely out in front without pulling, which is perfect. He's also not really distracted by much when on the lead, but if he is, Jackie finds it easy to get him to refocus on the task in hand. Jackie did mention that if they see friends, Harley can walk past, but if they stop for a chat, Harley wants to play, which is to be expected.

Jackie's friends will often ask 'are we stopping today?' before they stop to help with his training.

Harley is brilliant when it comes to using buses and trams; he boards without hesitation and travels calmly. Jackie did say that he will often sit and stare at the person she's sitting next to, waiting for a stroke, which is always quite funny. Harley hasn't been on a train yet, so Jackie is planning to do this with him soon, but she doesn't foresee any issues as he's taken everything else in his stride.

When taken into town, Harley is really confident; he doesn't mind the crowds of people or the general hustle and bustle of this kind of environment. He also really loves going into all of the different types of shops and will occasionally try and pull Jackie into shops when she's just planning on walking past. When in town, they'll often stop for a rest in a cafe and Harley is always well behaved. He's patient and quiet, but he doesn't always lie down as he prefers to watch what is going on around him. Harley is very popular at Jackie's weekly singing and dancing groups, where he's always on his best behaviour.

Occasionally, Jackie has to go out and leave Harley at home alone for short periods of time, which he's absolutely fine with; he's not anxious or destructive in any way. He does, however, go and lay on Jackie's shoes if he knows she's going out as if to say, 'don't forget about me!'

Harley's recall is usually very good when he's free running, but on the day we spoke to Jackie, she told us that he was in her bad books because he had totally ignored her a number of times when free running that morning. Harley had seen another dog in the distance which he ran to, and then another which was even further away and didn't return when Jackie called him.

Eventually, she had to go and get him which she has never had to do before. Harley is still in the 'teenage' stage of his development, which is a time when they typically test the boundaries, so it's likely that this was just a one off.

Harley has made excellent progress through the puppy walking stage of his journey and we're sure this will continue in his final few months with Jackie. We will be in touch with you soon to celebrate Harley's first birthday and after that, we'll let you know when he's made the move onto formal training.