Alistair Johnston leads the way on International Guide Dog Day | OneFootball

Alistair Johnston marked International Guide Dog Day today (Wednesday) by meeting two guide dog puppies in training and learning about the vital role these animals play in supporting people living with sight loss.

Daisy, a 14-week-old yellow Labrador cross Retriever, and Bugle, a 17-week-old Labrador cross Retriever, are both at the early stages of their development as future guide dogs. The pups are currently going through basic training, building the foundations for the important role they will go on to fulfil.

Guide dogs provide independence, companionship, trust and emotional support, helping their owners feel confident in everyday life and more able to take on new experiences.

Celtic has supported a number of initiatives to assist blind and visually impaired supporters, with a range of dedicated matchday services in place at Celtic Park.

These include live VI commentary, providing detailed and descriptive coverage of the action, as well as audio programme notes from the manager, ensuring supporters can access key information and feel fully connected to the matchday experience.

As part of the club’s recent accessibility day, Celtic also welcomed a guide dog mascot on to the pitch, highlighting the important role these dogs play and reinforcing the club’s ongoing commitment to inclusion.

A dog owner himself, Alistair Johnston was keen to learn more about the work that goes into training guide dogs and the difference they make.

He said: “It’s been great meeting Daisy and Bugle. You can see how much potential they’ve got already, and it’s been really interesting hearing more about the process.

“What these dogs go on to do is incredible. They give people confidence and independence, and you can see how much of a difference that makes. It also shows the amount of work and care that goes into getting them to that stage.”

Working alongside Guide Dogs Scotland, the club is proud to help raise awareness of the organisation’s life-changing work and the role volunteers play in supporting guide dogs at every stage of their journey.

Fiona Fraser, Puppy Development Supervisor at Guide Dogs Scotland, said: “Celtic have been so welcoming to our staff, volunteers, and of course, puppies. They have really shown a commitment to supporting our pups and provided us with so many opportunities to socialise our dogs, both on a non-matchday and at games.

“One of these puppies today could go on to be partnered with a football fan who attends games every weekend, so we now know these pups have the foundation to be able to cope with such environments. 

“Daisy and Bugle had a wonderful time meeting Alistair Johnston and it was great to share with him how life-changing our services are for people with sight loss across Scotland.”

International Guide Dog Day also highlights the role volunteers play in supporting guide dogs through each stage of their development. Through Guide Dogs Scotland, supporters can get involved in a number of ways, including puppy raising, fostering and sponsoring a guide dog.

Each of these plays an important part in helping guide dogs develop the skills they need to support someone in the future.

The Hoops defender added: “If anyone is thinking about getting involved, I’d definitely recommend looking into it.

“Whether it’s fostering, helping with training or sponsoring, it all contributes to something really important.”

Celtic FC is proud to highlight the work being done to support accessibility and inclusion, and encourages supporters to find out more about how they can play their part in supporting guide dogs and the life-changing work they do.