10 Fashion Life Hacks That Every Guide Dog Owner Should Know

Greetings Readers!

Welcome back to fashioneyesta.com!

Today I thought I would do a post like the sort I did when I first began my blog, lately i feel like I’ve been getting caught up in the maze of YouTube and general blogs which is all well and good. But, I’ve been feeling as if I have been gravitating more towards a generic audience and away from my routes. I began a a fashion blogger aiming to make people with sight loss be more confident with fashion and beauty and other disabilities too. But, I feel that lately in the mass of everything I lost sight of what was most important. So, I am going to try and return to my original routes and value, that is not to say that I will stop making my other blogs or videos. But, that I am going to get back to Fashioneyesta as it was first known.

Today, I thought i would do a blog for my fellow guide dog owners, for those of you who ave been following my blog for a while you may recall that I did a Glamorous Guide Dogs post about how to keep your guide dog smelling and looking amazing. Although this is in no way to say that I treat her like a pair of shoes, so let’s remove tat idea from the melting pot. Click here to view the blog.

Today I thought i would do a blog for you guide dog owners, because as much as we love our four legged friends I’m sure that some of you will agree that there are certain things in fashion and style that we have to bare in mind when working with our little canine friends.

Being a guide dog owner for 3 years I think its safe to say I have enough experience under my belt to give you all some guidance.

So, today I thought I would share 10 fashion life hacks that every guide dog owner should know.

So, here goes nothing!

1. Try to avoid wearing a contrasting colour to your  guide dog on the bottom half. Say for instance your dog is black, avoid wearing white jeans or trousers. Or if your dog is white avoid wearing black jeans.
2. Try not to go to long in length, one thing I have noticed is that when you have a guide dog if you have anything that is too long and trails on the floor your guide dog may accidentally step on it. So, if you want to wear a long Greek style maxi dress, maybe consider taking it up a tiny bit.
3. Do not wear velvet or velour material, well at least on the bottoms. Believe me as much as you groom your dog the fur keeps coming back with a vengeance especially if your dog is a labrador. So, if you wear velvet or velour the fur will stick to it like glue and you instantly look like a walking carpet. Trust me I’ve been there!
4. If you are going to wear high heels, don’t go too high or if you are make sure tat you ask your local mobility team for a harness handle to accommodate a bit of extra height. If you are new to guide dogs you might not know this but your will be issued with a handle for your harness which is tailored to your height. Mine is absolutely tiny, but I have a slightly longer one for those times when the high heels come to play. Otherwise what will happen if the handle will be too short and you will be walking around looking like the leaning tower of Pizza were your short handle is pulling you down on one side.
5. Always have a bag with a detachable strap and lots of inner pockets. When you are a guide dog owner bags can be a tricky business, so the most important thing to remember is to have a bag tat is easy to carry and has the option of a strap to go across your body if you need your hands free at any point (like when your guide dog needs to answer the call of nature and you need to pick it up for one.)
6. If you are going to wear gloves in the winter, wear leather or faux leather gloves. Wool or fleece gloves is a bad idea as when you decide to stroke your dog on the head as you do you will have a glove full of dog fur.
7. Avoid anything that could get caught in your dog’s harness like tassels.
8. Try and wear material thats durable or avoid uncertain routes if you are wearing a delicate scarf. You’re guide dog will always do their best to steer you away from things like overhanging branches and so on. But, in some cases even your ultra intelligent pup can make an error or its unavoidable in some cases. So it would be a shame to wear say for instance a very expensive silk scarf only to have it ruined by the snare of a branch. Or in antler case you’re hat could get knocked off and I know tat this has happened to some of my readers. If you are wearing a hat from Christy’s boutique or a nice black trilby hat only to have it knocked into the abyss by a branch, you are not going to be entirely pleased. Are you?
9. Have a little raincoat ready, after all when you have a guide dog you are expected to walk with them and if you get caught in the rain you don’t want your hairdo being turned into a bunch of wet, dripping rats tails. So, a stylish little rain mac that you can keep in your bag is jut the ticket. There are plenty on the market in fashionable designs with floral prints or little plain ones. Just be sure that it has a hood and that is in a nice fit and design. Otherwise I will come and find you!
10. Always have a flint roller with you, you know one of those little contraptions with the sticky tape that you can get from the pound shop or the counters of H&M

So, that concludes my fashion life jacks for guide dog owners. Really hope you enjoyed it and it has helped you. If you have any of your own to add please comment below, I would love to hear them.And I will see you all next time!