Guide dog Sepra – who turned 2 recently – and owner Alexandra passed their traffic safety test despite pouring rain in Budapest’s Disctrict XIV. ‘Enjoying a lovely stroll in winter sunshine? None of my students had the pleasure recently.’- said Serpa’s trainer, Maria Kovacs Nyirine.

Serpa and Alexandra were walking along their usual route in District XIV in heavy rain, which makes it particularly difficult for visually impaired people to navigate as they need to rely on their hearing when listening to the sounds of traffic.’ The sounds the tyres make on a wet surface are muffled by the rain so I need to be very careful.’- said Dr. Alexandra Redei. ‘Sometimes I even have to ask for help from passers-by.’ -she added.

Serpa’s trainer Maria was really impressed by how Serpa managed to guide Alexandra across the wet road without either of them stepping into any puddles. The guide dog also managed to successfully avoid an electric scooter left lying around on the pavement which meant the dog had to decide on taking an alternative route. This hasn’t been the first time that Serpa has proved how great she is at navigating through crowded places’- Alexandra said. ‘At the Christmas market on Vorosmarty square, Serpa realized that it was going to be very difficult to walk across the crowds so she took another route to get to the tram stop and I followed her, completely trusting her lead.’

Public Service Guide Dog
During the exam, however, Alexandra had to take the lead and although Serpa wanted to avoid walking through a giant puddle,  Alexandra insisted on walking through it anyway. Serpa, the clever dog she is, jumped over the puddle and carried on nevertheless. Serpa – who is a very calm and well behaved dog – is very much liked at Alexandra’s office who works as a public servant. Given the opportunity, however, Serpa is up for a good game of chase and is very good mates with Alexandra’s old retired guide dog as well.

We would like to say thank you to Marta Vucseta who served as Serpa’s puppy host family providing her with love, care and lots of different early experiences which made Serpa into such a wonderful canine companion.

Congratulations to Serpa and Alexandra for passing the exam and we wish themmany happy years together!