Robert Johnson's posts

In the final recording of our walk along London Southbank Gio and I make good progress through the London Bridge area towards Tower Bridge.

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We continue along the river to the Millennium Bridge.

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Gio becomes extremely agitated whilst watching the skateboarders underneath the Southbank Centre.

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We walk along Albert Embankment and past the London Eye.

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Gio and I set out from Vauxhall station in London for a walk along Southbank.

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I look back on a slightly challenging walk through Richmond and consider how the rest of the week might pan out.

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It's the day after we qualified and Gio and I are out in Richmond alone, tackling the circular route from three days earlier. It was possibly a courageous choice on my part, given the number of parks and gardens it passes, but it is also one of my favourite walks, and one I want to crack with him sooner rather than later.

Listening back, there are definitely points which I could have improved, including being more encouraging when he was distracted from finding certain kerbs, however this is all part of the learning experience.

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Just 11 days after arriving at the Euston Premier Inn and beginning our training together Gio and I are qualified! In some ways, this is where the really hard work begins, cementing our bond together and learning to work as a team in any circumstance that life can throw at us.

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Having signed the guide dogs contract and handed over my 50p, signifying our qualification together, whilst waiting for the sun to go down, Gio and I walked across Waterloo Bridge back to the station.

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What better challenge for a confident dog like Gio than a walk through the crowds on Regent Street?

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