A DEVOTED volunteer from south Warwickshire has welcomed the arrival of her 100th guide dog puppy.
Ruth Mercer, from Oxhill, signed up as Guide Dog volunteer back in 2006 and has cared for four guide dog mums over the last two decades.
She and her family currently have breeding guide dog mum Rhoda and retired mum Georgia living with them permanently.
For most of the time, these doggy mums are like any other pet dog, but during their time on the charity’s breeding programme, they have litters of pups who will hopefully become working guide dogs.
The 100th puppy is one of 11 puppies in a litter born to Rhoda on April 16 and in just a few weeks’ time they will leave Ruth’s home to live with puppy raisers and officially start their guide dog journey.
Ruth said: “It’s been amazing and incredibly rewarding to have delivered over 100 puppies for Guide Dogs. Every litter that has been born at our home has given us enormous pleasure and a sense of satisfaction that they might go on to change someone’s life. We feel lucky to have been at the start of the Guide Dog journey for so many puppies.
“We have the most amazing support from Guide Dogs and I know I speak on behalf of the whole Guide Dogs family that any support, whether that’s donating or volunteering, is so very much appreciated.”
