{"id":131555,"date":"2023-10-04T18:09:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-04T18:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/?p=131555"},"modified":"2023-10-04T18:09:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T18:09:48","slug":"martin-clunes-reveals-instant-need-to-adopt-retired-guide-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluemull.com\/lifestyle\/martin-clunes-reveals-instant-need-to-adopt-retired-guide-dog\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Clunes reveals 'instant need' to adopt retired guide dog"},"content":{"rendered":"
With four pet dogs already, Martin Clunes wasn\u2019t on the look-out for another four-legged friend.<\/p>\n
But then the actor heard about a guide dog called Laura in need of a loving home to retire to – and now the black Labrador-cross lives happily at his farm in Dorset and has become his \u2018shadow\u2019.<\/p>\n
Clunes, 61, stepped in and called the Guide Dogs UK charity after being moved by a report about how the UK\u2019s first blind personal trainer Jaina Mistry\u2019s life was changed by having Laura as her \u2018eyes\u2019.<\/p>\n
The Doc Martin star said: \u2018I just felt this instant need to help support this guide dog when I heard about her on the radio – how hard it might be for an older dog to find a happy home.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I especially wanted to help after hearing what amazing work Laura had done – if any dog deserved a good retirement, it was Laura.<\/p>\n
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Martin Clunes (pictured left) has opened up about the ‘instant need’ he felt to help guide dog Lucy (pictured right) after hearing a report about her work on the radio\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018She\u2019s completely bomb-proof, nothing fazes her, not even our massive Clydesdale horses.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘Laura\u2019s like my shadow, she just wants to be with me everywhere, whatever I\u2019m doing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘I\u2019ve had to get her a special doggy mac because no matter how hard it\u2019s raining, if I\u2019m going out, she does too.<\/p>\n
\u2018Of course, Penny, our Jack Russell Chihuahua cross, is still leader of the pack, but they all get on brilliantly, and it\u2019s lovely having Laura with us.\u2019<\/p>\n
Clunes and his TV producer wife Philippa\u2019s other two canine chums are Bob Jackson, a Golden Cocker Spaniel, and Jim, a Jack Russell.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Laura joined the pack after being invited for a trial sleep-over at the couple\u2019s home with Miss Mistry.<\/p>\n
Miss Mistry, 39, from Leicester, almost died aged 17 following a severe reaction to penicillin. The A-level student was in a coma for 10 days, then left completely blind. Ten years later she was partnered with Laura.<\/p>\n
She said: \u2018I\u2019d been terrified of dogs, so at first, I\u2019d rejected the idea of having a guide dog. But Laura changed everything for me.<\/p>\n
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Lucy has now retired from her role of acting as the ‘eyes’ for the UK\u2019s first blind personal trainer, Jaina Mistry (pictured right)\u00a0<\/p>\n
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Jaina, 39, from Leicester, almost died aged 17 following a severe reaction to penicillin. The A-level student was in a coma for 10 days, then left completely blind. But ten years later she was partnered with guide dog Laura<\/p>\n
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Now, Lucy is living with Martin and his wife Phillipa in Dorset, along with his\u00a0other canine chums, Bob Jackson (centre), a Golden Cocker Spaniel, and Jim (back right), a Jack Russell and\u00a0Penny (front right), a Jack Russell Chihuahua cross<\/p>\n
\u2018Suddenly I wasn\u2019t alone, I was part of a team, I could go anywhere, and my confidence was sky-high.<\/p>\n
\u2018Laura was by my side when I did fitness work to rebuild my strength, which led to me wanting to be a personal trainer. I didn\u2019t care that no blind woman had ever done it before. Laura gave me that self-belief, which you can\u2019t put a price on.<\/p>\n
\u2018This single dog has broken down cultural barriers and stigma, she\u2019s enriched so many lives in a way it\u2019s almost impossible to quantify.<\/p>\n
\u2018Laura retired in May on her 11th birthday. Keeping Laura along with a new guide dog simply isn\u2019t possible or practical.<\/p>\n
\u2018I was heartbroken when I realised we would have to part ways – it felt like losing a best friend and I didn\u2019t know what her future would hold or whether she\u2019d get the love and affection she deserved.<\/p>\n
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Martin said that Laura is like his shadow and she just wants to be with him everywhere, regardless of what he’s doing<\/p>\n
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For Jaina, the fact that Laura has found a loving new home in Dorset with Martin and his wife is like a dream come true\u00a0<\/p>\n
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At first, Laura travelled to Dorset for a trial sleepover in Martin’s home with his other pets\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018So seeing her thriving with Martin and his family is a dream come true for me.\u2019<\/p>\n
After Laura officially became one of the Clunes clan in April, Martin and Philippa contacted the charity asking if they could make a documentary.<\/p>\n
\u2018We love every shape, size and variety of animal, but the more I heard Jaina explain what Laura had done for her, what a simply massive and incredible institution Guide Dogs is, I knew I wanted to know more,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Over several weeks last year Martin visited the charity\u2019s headquarters in Leamington Spa, then travelled around the country meeting all the other specialists who prep the dogs to be ready for their partners.<\/p>\n
Martin said: \u2018The stats on their own are staggering. The charity can breed up to 1,500 puppies a year specifically to be Guide Dogs, each of whom are then taught the basics by a Puppy Raisers up and down the country, before going on to formal training.<\/p>\n
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After Laura officially became one of the Clunes clan in April, Martin and his wife Philippa contacted the charity asking if they could make a documentary<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Over several weeks last year Martin visited the charity\u2019s headquarters in Leamington Spa, then travelled around the country meeting all the other specialists\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In conversation about the Guide Dog charity, Martin said: ‘What a simply massive and incredible institution Guide Dogs is, I knew I wanted to know more’<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
During his trips, Martin learned that the charity can breed up to 1,500 puppies a year specifically to be Guide Dogs<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Once born, the puppies are taught the basics by a Puppy Raisers up and down the country, before going on to formal training. The dogs then progress to guide people across the country (pictured above is a guide dog owner who features in Martin’s documentary)\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018One trainer I met put over 500 through their paces, an incredibly long and laborious process \u2013 it was simply mind-blowing to see. And that\u2019s before you even get into the retirement process, or the dogs who don\u2019t pass their training and become \u2018Buddy Dogs\u2019.\u2019<\/p>\n
Martin also met several other beneficiaries of the Guide Dogs, including Army veteran Craig Lundberg, who was blinded in action aged just 21 while on tour in Iraq.<\/p>\n
Craig, now 37, was hit by two rocket-propelled grenades, his injuries so significant he was placed in an induced coma while doctors tried to save his life.<\/p>\n
When he finally woke up in hospital, Craig was given the devastating news his sight was gone.<\/p>\n
Transferred back to the UK, then discharged from the Army, two years later Craig was partnered with guide dog Hugo, a black Labrador cross.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
In the documentary,\u00a0Martin met several other beneficiaries of the Guide Dogs, including Army veteran Craig Lundberg (pictured) who was blinded in action aged just 21 while on tour in Iraq<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Craig, now 37, was hit by two rocket-propelled grenades, his injuries so significant he was placed in an induced coma while doctors tried to save his life<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Transferred back to the UK, then discharged from the Army, two years later Craig was partnered with guide dog Hugo, a black Labrador cross (pictured)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Craig said that having a guide dog has given him the confidence to ‘go out into the world again’ and to ‘move on with my life when I thought it was over’\u00a0<\/p>\n
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After Hugo retired in 2019, Craig qualified for his second guide dog, a black Labrador Comet (pictured)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Craig, from Liverpool, said: \u2018Hugo gave me the confidence to go out into the world again, to move on with my life when I thought it was over.\u2019<\/p>\n
Hugo, like Laura, was retired in 2019, when Craig qualified with his second guide dog, black Labrador Comet.<\/p>\n
Martin, who met Craig playing blind football, said: \u2018To see what Guide Dogs has done for Craig, giving him the confidence to be an amazing dad, even setting up his own business, it\u2019s astonishing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
‘To see this man who put his life on the line and lost his eyesight for his country now thriving, it really shows the impact these amazing dogs can have.\u2019<\/p>\n
A Dog Called Laura ais on ITV on Thursday (Oct 5) at 9pm.<\/span><\/p>\n