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Wearing darkened glasses, unsighted Tim Gutteridge stands outside The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association's offices in Reading, England with Lewis, a one year-old Labrador Retriever who has been groomed to become a guide dog. Tim is hoping to forge a strong relationship with his new-found companion whose job is to confidently leads the way anticipating and avoiding obstacles and dangers. Animals like Lewis don't start learning with a guide dog trainer until they are 12-15 months old. There are around 5,000 working guide dogs in the UK today, though the Guide Dogs charity care for around 8,000 dogs, including breeding stock, puppies, dogs in training and retired dogs. A sign in bright yellow says 'Please don't distract me I'm working.'

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Filename: guide_dog01-15-12-2007 .jpg
Copyright: © Richard Baker. No copying, screen grabbing, transmission or publication without permission.
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Wearing darkened glasses, unsighted Tim Gutteridge stands outside The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association's offices in Reading, England with Lewis, a one year-old Labrador Retriever who has been groomed to become a guide dog. Tim is hoping to forge a strong relationship with his new-found companion whose job is to confidently leads the way anticipating and avoiding obstacles and dangers. Animals like Lewis don't start learning with a guide dog trainer until they are 12-15 months old. There are around 5,000 working guide dogs in the UK today, though the Guide Dogs charity care for around 8,000 dogs, including breeding stock, puppies, dogs in training and retired dogs. A sign in bright yellow says 'Please don't distract me I'm working.'