LOOKING after a puppy can be an exhausting experience — so try taking on 24 out of the goodness of your heart.

After just over a quarter of a century training puppies for Guide Dogs for the Blind, 65-year-old Pauline Fretter has decided to call it a day.

Mrs Fretter, of Home Farm Close, East Hendred, spent day and night on Golden Retriever and Labrador puppies from eight weeks to 14 months old to help them move on to more extensive training.

The charity praised her “fantastic work” and said she had helped blind people around the county.

As Mrs Fretter bade farewell to her final dog, 14-month-old Ella, she said: “You do feel sad when it comes to give it up, but if you do not give it up, then nobody could have a guide dog.

“It is hard work, but they are fun and you get a lot of pleasure from it. Every dog is different — they all have different personalities, so it is never boring.

“But there comes a time when you know you are ready to have a bit more time for yourself.”

The former home economics teacher at Faringdon Grammar School got her first puppy in 1984 after replying to an advert in a post office window.

She had read an article in a magazine and decided she could make a difference. Mrs Fretter said that despite the hard work, it had all been worthwhile.

She said: “If they qualify, it makes a difference to someone’s life. It is giving people their independence, the mobility to go out and do things.”

Volunteering has brought her many friends and she is still in contact with the person her first puppy went to.

She has also adopted Yazz, a two-year-old dog who suffers from a skin condition that meant she was not able to be a guide dog.

Michelle Thurston, regional volunteer co-ordinator at the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association, described Mrs Fretter’s contribution as “amazing”.

She said: “It is so important to get the foundations right before they go to training. She has done some fantastic work and she is a lovely lady as well.” Mrs Fretter said the charity was looking for more volunteer walkers to help puppies become guide dogs.

She said: “You have to have time and you have to have patience, but you get a lot of help from supervisors.”

l Anybody interested in becoming a volunteer puppy walker is asked to visit guidedogs.org.uk