SHE may have been scared of dogs when she was younger, but taking on a guide dog 30 years ago has changed Sue Mead’s life.

And one of them even helped her find romance.

Sue, of Nine Elms, who has owned five guide dogs since she was 25, is celebrating her 30th anniversary of being a guide dog owner this month.

The Swindon Guide Dogs secretary was diagnosed with glaucoma when she was 10 and was registered blind five years later.

“I was terrified of dogs, it took some getting used to. I lived at home with mum and dad when I went to get the first one and my mum didn’t think I would come home with a dog because I was so nervous of them,” she said.

“A dog jumped on me when I was five and put me off them. I was registered blind when I was 15 and started using a long cane when I was 17, but I got frustrated after a while.”

Sue got to know a guide dog user and decided to go to an open day for guide dogs in Exeter.

“Everybody else was poking their fingers through and trying to stroke the dogs except me. From that visit I learnt a lot about guide dogs and what they do and thought if I don’t do it now I never will,” she said.

Sue had training with her first guide dog, a yellow labrador called Amara, who she had for eight years.

She has also owned Mara, Nadia, and Tuppence. Sue has had her current dog, Minty, who will soon be retiring, for seven years.

“Having a guide dog gave me the confidence to go out and meet other people,” she said.

“I joined a group for 18 to 30s when I got a guide dog, which is where I met my husband Peter. Without my dog I wouldn’t have met him. We have been married for 21 years.”

Sue, who teaches visually impaired people to use computers, will be having a celebration at The Woodlands Edge pub in Peatmoor on May 26 to mark the anniversary.

Everyone is invited to attend the event from 7.30pm.

“I would find life very difficult without a guide dog. I couldn’t go back to using a long cane,” she said.