Carl Lintott from Christchurch was part of the panel discussion at our Walking Summit last year. He talked about the challenges of being a deafblind pedestrian with a white cane. These challenges included interactions with cars, scooters and cyclists, vegetation blocking footpaths, the location of parking meters on footpaths & roadworks. (You can see the video here – from 5:35 to 12:40 mins: Walking into the Future – Pedestrian Perspectives.)Since the Walking Summit, Carl has been matched with a new guide dog, Michael. We asked Carl how having this dog has changed his daily walking activities. Photo: Carl Lintott sits on a park bench with his new guide dog Michael, lying at his feet.Could you tell us about your new guide dog?My new guide dog is Michael, a two-year old yellow labrador. He is my fourth guide dog. He arrived in October 2023 and we graduated as a guide dog team in early 2024. Michael has quickly become my best friend. When he is not working, he loves to run zoomies outside or play with his squeaky toys. We also share a birthday. How has having a guide dog helped you with walking in Christchurch? Michael has made things much easier for me. He knows to slow down and lets me know when we will be walking over rough, broken or uneven paths. He lets me know about hazards on the path, and also stops me when cars come out of driveways. Electric cars are very quiet and hard for him to hear. He also tries to walk me safely around overhanging trees when the footpath is wide enough.How does having a guide dog compare with when you walked with a cane?Using a cane was slow and I had to really concentrate. In strong winds I would get blown off course but with Michael, he keeps me grounded and on the right path. I still need to focus on Michael, but now I trust him to keep me safe. People used to push me out of their way on shared paths when I used my white cane. They are much more respectful when they see my guide dog. Cyclists and people on scooters now slow down and give us more room. When it’s very sunny or windy, my eyes don’t work at all. Before I would get scared in case I got lost, but I know Michael will help me get to where I want to go. Using a white cane was much more scary for me.What are the challenges of walking with a guide dog?A new challenge in my area is the new shared paths. They are fantastic to walk on, nice and wide, plenty of room for walkers and cyclists. But when I am on the footpath on the roadside and need to cross the shared path exit, the give way warning for cyclists is painted at the road kerb, not before they get to the footpath. It’s scary when the cyclists don’t slow down, and don’t see Michael and me. Michael always stops me, but the cyclists are sometimes so close that I can feel the wind as they fly across the footpath in front of us.There are other hazards we encounter that could hurt Michael. For example, broken bottles,, karaka bushes that drop toxic berries, dogs that are aggressive and very friendly dogs whose owners let them race up to Michael when he is working. Michael is very obedient. Through his harness I can feel him reacting to things around us. I can control him when this happens, but I can’t control other people’s dogs. I also still struggle with road and footpath works where workers put up signs. Michael stops me, but we can’t read the signs and there’s nobody around to help us.How do people react to you and your guide dog? People are much more respectful when I have Michael with me. When I was using my white cane, people saw me as blind and maybe a bit stupid when they realised I was also deaf. But with my guide dog they take time to listen to me.Most people understand that when Michael has his harness on he is working and they leave us alone, or they ask if they can say hello to him. Sometimes people do rush up to Michael. I am very lucky that he usually ignores them. If people don’t ask before they say hello to Michael, I will growl at them for distracting him. He needs to focus on me to keep me safe.What would you like to see change to help people like yourself with walking in their town or city? Do you have a message for city councils?I would like to see better footpaths, with less holes and bumps. Also, better path maintenance to clean up broken glass and other hazards.I would like drivers to not park their cars across driveways and footpaths, making Michael and I need to step onto the road to go around them. If the road is busy, we have to give up, turn around and go home.Vehicles should be kept off the shared paths in the central city, or at least slow down to a walking pace. Cyclists should have speed limits on shared paths. I’m sure some cyclists go as fast or faster than cars.People using the shared paths that cross other footpaths need to slow down and give way to pedestrians on the footpath as well as the cars on the road. Maybe the Give Way markings should be before the footpath not at the road edge.All working dogs, like Michael, need to be safe while they are working. For this we need much better dog control rules and dog owners need to learn what to do around working dogs.