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My name is Robert Ainsley-Raffel. I am totally blind, and for the last 2 years I have been paired with a German Shepherd Guide Dog called Umber.

Being paired with Umber has made a huge difference to my life... there's a lot more dog hair in it for starters!

But seriously, Umber's assistance enables me to go out independently into our home town and do all the things that sighted people take for granted - cross roads safely, go shopping, go to the bank or post office, get my hair cut, or just have a coffee.

Each Guide Dog costs around £50,000 over the course of its working life - from breeding to feeding, training to veterinary expenses.

I am hoping to raise enough money for a puppy to be puppy-walked (raised in a family environment and given its early basic training), which costs just over £5000.

To fund-raise, I am planning to abseil from (provisionally) the Tees Transporter Bridge in Middlesbrough during March/April 2015 (exact date to be arranged), and I am taking my dog Bella with me.

Umber was offered the role but decided under advisement that a Guide Dog's job description definitely does NOT include dangling from bridges in a harness. He has, however, agreed to support me by watching from a nice safe vantage point with all four paws on the ground!

Bella is also a German Shepherd, smaller (and thankfully lighter) than Umber. She is black-and-tan coloured. She is a very bright and brave dog, who doesn't mind at all being dangled, winched and otherwise moved around the landscape in unusual ways, just so long as she gets a tennis ball at the end of it - or even better, a tug toy!

To do the abseil, Bella will be wearing a special Canine Carrier & Descending Harness, as used by military working dogs, which has been kindly loaned to us by the manufacturer, Julius-K9. She has already been seen out and about in Hexham on everyday walks while she gets used to wearing it, and is getting quite accustomed to being hoisted up and down on the end of a rope with her paws dangling.

David Davies of David Davies Dog Training in Darlington has kindly agreed to oversee Bella's welfare during training.

Cliff Lowther of Roxcool is the professional abseil/climbing instructor who is training the pair of us for our adventure next year. Training should start during November, and the awesome Sunderland Wall are allowing us to use their fantastic facilities to train in. If you climb at the Sunderland Wall, keep your eyes out for us this winter!

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this!

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