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Training
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Each of our puppies is specially
chosen to ensure we pick the best temperament dog that is healthy,
confident and as
capable as possible for the special work ahead. The initial twelve
months of our puppy’s life is spent with our puppy socialisers. These
are dedicated families that socialise and educate our pups whilst making
them part of their own families. Without our socialisers we would not be
able to continue. Everyone asks how can they give the puppy up and yes
it is very difficult with lots of tears but the gift they are giving is
the greatest gift of all, a totally selfless act. The sense of
achievement and pride when you see how your puppy makes a real
difference to someone’s life, who is dependant on your pup, can’t easily
be matched.
All our dog training is based on positive education. We want our dogs to
really enjoy what they do and play is a big part of our training
process. During training we always have to keep our clients in mind as
there is a wide variety of disabilities and conditions that can affect
people differently. When dogs start the training process we look for
their strengths and weaknesses keeping in mind the type of client they
would best suit. It’s important to remember that each dog is individual
and has its own personality and personality is very important to us.
 We use a selection of enrichment and educational toys to develop the dog
thought process and encourage different aspects of behaviour that we
wish to use in other areas. These are similar to early learning toys for
children and works in the same principal. Toys are used to encourage
behaviours and tasks which we require for our everyday work like
pushing, pulling, retrieving and speaking on command. Once the dog
offers the behaviour we then introduce verbal commands and hand signal
to benefit the dogs understanding.
It takes approx six months to train an assistance dog, with most dogs
qualifying at eighteen months old. The client then attends a residential
training course where they learn how to instruct the dog under the
supervision of the instructor. On completion of this course the client
and assistance dog become a qualified working partnership. An aftercare
service is also provided to help in any additional areas and to ensure
standards are maintained through out the assistance dog’s working life.
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Here a trainee Labrador is
learning the art of door opening |
Some of our dogs in advanced training. All our dogs all have their own
unique personality and this is something which we value as this is what
makes them special. Each dog is assessed on entering training to
identify their individual strengths and weaknesses.
Once this assessment is completed we then decide which
type of working environment is best suited to that
dog.
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| Like people some of us like to be kept busy while others enjoy a quieter
lifestyle and it's much the same with dogs.
The training needs to be interesting and fun for the dogs and this in
turn speeds up the learning process. Through the use of our educational
toys and chicken titbits, we teach the dogs to
use their nose and paws to touch, retrieve and pull. |
Black Lab
Arron and the goldens Amy, Andy,
Alex and Alvin |
Play is an important part of dog training, here some
of the trainee dogs show how fond of water they are |
Then from there we progress the dogs onto more difficult tasks but
always remaining fun and positive for the dog. After all the most
important thing our dogs do we can't train, give unconditional love.
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Here a trainee puppy is learning how
to remove wooden objects from a training toy - in later life these could
easily be tins from a supermarket shelf
Everyday tasks, routine for the able bodied can mean so
much to those less able here assistance dogs
empties a washing machine and collects
the post |
