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that Finn and his fellow trainers at the Leinster Guide Dog Centre carried out from year to year. There was nothing more satisfying than taking a seemingly mischievous puppy and grooming it to become a worthwhile and essential aid to the visually impaired.  But while Finn, like most of his colleagues at the centre, had a huge affection for each and every dog they trained, he also had an additional attachment to some, in particular the ones that Lucy had given birth to. A retired assistance dog of some years, Lucy’s even temperament and incredible intelligence made her an ideal candidate for the centre’s breeding programme, and she’d so far produced three different litters who had gone on to become model trainees.
    Her earlier sombre mood now greatly improved, Finn released Lucy from her leash and she raced off to join her offspring, while he went to speak to the adults.
    There was no need for introductions as Finn recognised pretty much everyone from the four-week intensive ‘class-training’ programme the centre held, whereby each dog was matched with a potential partner in order to make up a successful guide dog team.
    “Hi everyone. Enjoying the day?”
    “It’s fabulous,” Melanie, a partially-sighted woman in her mid-thirties who had been partnered with one of Lucy’s offspring smiled in the direction of the dogs. “They seem to be enjoying it too.” Now Lucy was lying on her back with all fours in the air, happily letting the other dogs climb all over her. “That’s your dog, isn’t it? Michelle’s mum?”
    “Yes it is.”
    As Lucy only attended the centre throughout the breeding programme and for a brief period after giving birth, she didn’t have much contact with the dog’s eventual companions, except on days like today.  Normally, she stayed at home with Finn, who as well as being a qualified guide dog trainer also acted as a puppy raiser for some of the potential trainees–usually Lucy’s. When the pups were about nine weeks old he brought them home with him for a while to help socialise and get them used to their environment, teaching them good behaviour and manners as well as get them used to living indoors, something they needed to do should they eventually be suitable as guide dogs.
    “She’s gorgeous, and obviously knows how to put them in their place!” She and Finn laughed as Lucy nipped one of her charges for being too overzealous in his energy. “Brendan told me she was a working dog herself once, but she seems very young to be a retiree?”
    Finn sighed. “She’s six, but was only three when we had to retire her. Halloween fireworks,” he added in a flat voice when Melanie gave him a questioning look. “The noise frightened her so much, it rendered all of her training useless. She was only on the job for a few months.”
    “Oh no, what a shame.”
    Finn nodded. It was a crying shame, and was happening more and more as time went on. He sorely wished that the parents who were stupid enough to buy illegal fireworks for their little darlings could be around to see the damage they caused. If they could only experience what he had; the sight of a terrified dog shaking and cowering in a corner and refusing to eat for days it would be more than enough to make them change their minds. Or would it? Finn didn’t know. He didn’t have a whole lot of faith in human decency anymore, which is why he spent all his time working with animals.
    Finn had been Lucy’s original trainer and the two had always shared a special bond right from when he’d first brought her home to raise as a puppy, to when he’d eventually handed her over to her new partner at a graduation ceremony just like this one. Then, when the incident with the fireworks occurred and Lucy’s partner applied for a new dog and didn’t have the space to keep her too, Finn decided to take her in. Guide dogs worked for an average of eight years and while the centre often had a policy of finding retirees a loving home when