Riley James and guide dog Rangi were matched three months ago – and their bond is already strong.
"My white cane, I can forget about at night but, with her, she's a live being and we're with each other 24/7."
But roaming dogs are a threat to both of them.
"Within the span of 10 days and four separate locations, I had four separate incidents with roaming dogs.
"The owner wasn't controlling the dog, so it actually attacked my cane."
Recently, Rangi was attacked too.
"The dog on my street approached us and jumped up from behind the pole and went towards Rangi's neck.
"If a dog is running towards us that's aggressive, I can't see the hackles going up and I may not be able to see the teeth, the white of the eyes."
Blind Low Vision trained about 30 guide dogs a year – a $175,000 investment for the dogs' lifetime.
Manager of training Aimee Hickman said the issues with roaming dogs were now widespread.
"In December alone, we had four dogs attacked and one of those dogs was attacked twice in the space of a couple of weeks."
Since January, there have been three more incidents involving roaming dogs, one of which included a guide dog being grabbed by the neck.
Attacks could mean a dog became unable to continue working or being trained due to psychological or behaviour effects.
Hickman said, in worst-case scenarios, applicants for dogs in prone areas were being turned down due to safety concerns.
"As a trainer, we can jump in the car and change our location, but our clients don't have that option."
Blind Low Vision is joining the call for tougher dog laws and changes to the Dog Control Act, now almost 30 years old.
Local Government Minister Simon Watts told 1News he had received advice on the matter and would have more to say soon.
"We've got a number of ministers that are involved. I also want to make sure that actions we have take onboard a lot of the advice that we've had across the board, including local government."
While those decisions were being considered, Riley and Rangi were being forced to make their own smaller ones, everyday.
She said they avoided certain areas and sometimes had to turn down invitations due to safety concerns.
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