Volunteers are needed to care for and educate guide dog pups from six weeks until approximately 12 to 14 months of age, when they are returned to the charity to begin specialised guide dog training.

There are 241 puppy walkers throughout Scotland and this is the first time the charity have looked to open up and recruit puppy walkers in this area.

Rosheen McCulloch, a puppy walking supervisor said: "Puppy walking is challenging and it is a commitment but our volunteers find it extremely rewarding and worthwhile.

"Puppy walking is an essential element in the development of a future guide dog.

"The young dogs will spend much of their first year with the puppy walker volunteers who will teach them basic obedience and get them used to a home environment, noise and the bustle of towns."

They will prepare the pup for their working life ahead which includes taking them on public transport including, trains and buses.

A young guide dog puppy is a companion for its temporary owners, who find it so rewarding to raise a dog who will one day give a blind person a new independence by acting as their eyes."

For more information about volunteering for the charity as a puppy walker, call (0845) 3717771, or visit www.guidedogs.org.uk/puppywalking