Why Warwick woman who left university because of stress wants to create dynasty of guide dogs

A Warwick woman has explained why she wants to create a dynasty of guide dogs because working with the animals helped her improve her mental health after she was overwhelmed by stress and anxiety.

Harriet Pearce was at a very low ebb in 2017.

Three years into a PhD and Masters course in chemistry at the University of Warwick, she found herself overwhelmed by stress - which left her “very poorly, very down and very anxious” and, eventually, she left the establishment.

With Guide Dogs training centres near to her home, Harriet had often seen the charity’s volunteers fundraising and talking to the public about their work and the trainers out and about with the dogs, and she had always been intrigued.

She met a volunteer in a supermarket, who convinced her to put herself forward to help.

Harriet said: “I met Penny Hefferan, a guide dog owner who also works for Guide Dogs, with her dog, Questa, in Morrisons and she said ‘apply, just do it, we need you’.

"So I went home and thought ‘right, Guide Dogs are here [in Warwickshire], I love what they do, I’m going to volunteer’.

In July 2019, Harriet took delivery of her first guide dog foster puppy eight-month-old yellow Labrador/Golden Retriever cross Belle.

In the weeks, months and years following, she fostered several other dogs including Holden, who qualified as a guide dog in November 2021, and whose owner Karl describes as ‘the emperor of my independence’.

Harriet said: “As a puppy raiser you’ve got to expose the dog in a positive way to anything and everything that a future guide dog owner might come into contact with.

"But everything you do is positive – the dog has to want to do it.

"You reward the good and ignore the bad.

"You never tell them off or anything like that because that will not teach them what they need.”

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Asked if her ongoing experience has helped with her anxiety and her mental health in general, Harriet’s answer is a resounding ‘yes, definitely’ on both counts.

To find out more about volunteering opportunities for Guide Dogs, call 0345 143 0191 or visit guidedogs.org.uk/volunteer