GUIDE Dog Wilbur met children at Trowbridge Library as part of his intensive year-long training schedule before qualifying.

The year-old Labradoodle has almost completed the last lap of his training with long-serving puppy walker Hilary Reed from Westbury.

Hilary, 66, of Leigh Road, has coached Wilbur to become a fully-fledged guide dog for someone who is visually impaired.

“He is the 46th dog I have trained over the past 36 years and I shall be a wreck when he goes in three weeks’ time.

“It’s nice to see the children with Wilbur. They weren’t any trouble at all. I think that I’ve lost him. Our aim is to teach children not to be afraid of dogs.”

Wilbur is a half brother to Luna, a qualified guide dog which was recently featured on ITV’s This Morning programme with Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby.

After qualifying, he will go back to the Guide Dogs charity on June 21 to be assigned to a user.