Natalino Cristiano was 45 years old when he was diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a rare genetic disorder that breaks down retina cells.

There was nothing the doctors could do, and in time, he gradually lost his eyesight.

Today a pensioner, Mr Cristiano is surprisingly active. Although blind, he has a trained guide dog, Glen – which was brought over from Slovakia in 2013 by the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation – and together they run errands and go walking around his hometown of Gżira.

Once a week, they catch a bus to Valletta, where Mr Cristiano attends Mass at the Collegiate Parish Church of St Paul’s Shipwreck. The two also regularly tour schools and businesses to make presentations on what it means to be blind and highlight the independence a guide dog brings.

“Thanks to Glen and the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation, I have regained my freedom and am no longer a burden on my family,” Mr Cristiano said. “So I feel that the least I can do is reach out to members of the community to make them aware of what these highly intelligent dogs can do.”

The foundation has been active for just a decade, but in that short period of time, it has ensured that 16 guide dogs – black, tan and white Labrador retrievers, which cost between €14,000 and €21,000 to acquire and train professionally – are given to individuals who qualify after attending a course in orientation and mobility.

Both the guide dog and the training, including guidance in the use of the white cane, are provided free to the clients, which is possible through the foundation’s fund-raising efforts, as well as support given by a number of sponsors, including the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.

The foundation has an internationally accredited guide dog and mobility instructor, Luca Taliana, who graduated earlier this year from a two-year course at Guide Dogs Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, and an orientation and mobility specialist and puppy-walker supervisor, Rita Criminale, who works with the board to implement an ambitious programme to deliver five-locally trained guide dogs by the end of 2018.

This process began in 2014, when three puppies were imported from a breeding centre in France. Two of them, Justy and Juno, have gone on to become fully fledged guide dogs, serving a user in Marsaxlokk and another in Xagħra.

The third puppy, Jody, was sent to the same breeding centre in France and, last November, had a litter of nine puppies. Sadly, two did not survive the first week, but the other seven, a male and six females, are now being ‘puppy raised’. This involves placing them with local families, who teach them basic commands and socialisation.

Thanks to Glen and the Malta Guide Dogs Foundation, I have regained my freedom and am no longer a burden on my family

Another sponsor, Borg Cardona & Co. Ltd, supplies the puppy food for free and gives preferential prices to the adult guide dogs.

To speed up the training process, the foundation made arrangements with a guide dog school in the Czech Republic to exchange a one-year-old dog, Albert, for three puppies. This exchange was carried out last month, and Albert is currently undergoing training with Mr Taliana.

When he is 18-22 months, Albert will be matched with its new owner – based on the activity profile and character of both of them, and the new team will be taught to meet all possible hazards together before the final graduation.

Mr Taliana will then monitor them on a monthly basis for at least a year and continue to do so on a regular basis to ensure they are working well together, the dog is not under stress and, above all, that safety procedures are followed.

The foundation was formed when three local associations for the blind ‒ the Malta Society for the Blind, the Torball Society of the Blind and the Gozo Aid for the Visually Impaired ‒ teamed up under the leadership of the late Ronald Colombo, the foundation’s first chairman, who passed away in 2011.

Its current chairman is Leone Sciberras, who heads a board composed of three visually impaired people and three sighted members. All three chairmen so far have been visually impaired.

Mr Sciberras, who was one of the first recipients of a guide dog from the foundation, has recently taken delivery of his second guide dog, Zara, who was trained by Mr Taliana in Australia.

He opted to keep his first guide dog, Aval, as a pet. Aval served his master faithfully for nine years but is now retired due to age.

One of the foundation’s goals is to ensure that all public and private services in the country are available to all, including to blind and visually impaired people. This includes accessibility to public transport and all places open to the public, including hotels and restaurants, and also all government offices. The national airline, Air Malta, has agreed to allow up to two guide dogs at a time on its flights.

The foundation takes part in annual events including International Guide Dog Day, International White Cane Day, the President’s Solidarity Fun Run and L-Istrina.

It is also raising funds to develop a site allocated by the government and turn it into a multi-purpose centre for independent living, where visually-impaired people can be taught in a safe environment and the guide dogs are trained.

The foundation is constantly on the look-out for volunteers who can offer their help it in its awareness-raising and fundraising initiatives. More information is available on the foundation’s Facebook page or at www.maltaguidedogs.org.

How to approach a guide dog

For the safety of the handler, never distract a guide dog while it is working.

Note the following:

• Don’t pet a guide dog while it is harnessed, even if it is sitting or lying down.

• Always talk to the handler, not the guide dog.

• Don’t whistle to a guide dog or distract it intentionally.

• Don’t offer food or treats, although a bowl of water is nice, especially in the hot summer months.

New tool measures puppy love

Guide dogs lend their eyes to blind people, enabling them to find their way around places they cannot see.

This tool has successfully predicted training outcomes in young dogs five to 12 months old to an accuracy of 84 per cent

These dogs require four years of training, and a fully trained guide dog can cost over €20,000 in most European countries, so it is very important for financial reasons, animal welfare and time to ensure that the right dog, having the right temperament, is chosen to be a guide dog.

Animal behaviour experts at the University of Nottingham have recently developed a tool that can be used to predict a puppy’s chances of successfully completing a guide dog training course.

Dog organisations in Britain like the charity Guide Dogs UK, which funded the research, need to regularly assess the behaviour of the dogs they breed for training, since not all of them turn out to be suited for the role. Researchers at the university’s School of Veterinary Medicine and Science have drafted and tested a questionnaire-style tool that may help trainers from Guide Dogs UK to monitor and evaluate their dog’s behaviour.

The tool has successfully predicted training outcomes in young dogs five to 12 months old to an accuracy of 84 per cent.

Called the Puppy Training Supervisor Questionnaire (PTSQ), the aim of the tool is to identify dogs that are not suitable to be guide dogs early, before they enter time-consuming and costly training.

It also intends to improve the understanding of a young dog’s behaviour, which Guide Dogs UK can use to inform future training processes for the best chances of success.