This week, feel the puppy love with Sandra Corben, 66, from Porthcawl. She said…
Shaking the rubber toy, a set of puppy gnashers instantly latched onto it.
My golden retriever puppy Corby had such a cheeky side –something I realised after taking him home in September last year.
Losing interest in the toy, he ran to my skirting boards and chewed the wood instead. ‘You’re so cheeky,’ I giggled. Corby was named after my husband Neil Corben –and even though they’d never met, he had an adventurous streak just like Neil.
Throughout our 36-year marriage, Neil and I had always loved dogs.
‘When we retire, we should raise aguide dog puppy,’ I suggested.
‘That’s abrilliant idea,’ Neil agreed.
Having had multiple pet dogs together, we were confident we’d meet the criteria Guide Dogs required for puppy raisers.
We’d always loved dogs
We both loved the idea of raising pups to fulfil their mission of helping others.
But when Neil’s non-Hodgkin lymphoma returned at age 53 –blood cancer that he’d beaten in his 40s –our minds turned elsewhere.
Neil deteriorated and on 2 June 2013, he peacefully passed away, aged 56, with me beside him.
Immediately Iwas consumed by grief.
It felt like Iwas living in abubble. Istopped going out and socialising, too.
I can’t go on like this, I realised –that’s when I remembered our idea.
Ishould volunteer with Guide Dogs UK.
It was the perfect idea, so I signed up to be aGuide Dogs puppy raiser online just a month after Neil passed.
After multiple interviews, Guide Dogs selected me as
