Here you can keep up to date with all your pup’s latest photos and videos of their journey to become a life-changing guide dog. We hope you enjoy watching your puppy transform into an incredible companion for someone who is blind or partially sighted. Thank you so much for your support; amazing people like you help make these special partnerships possible.

Pupdate 2

Hello, it’s Mary and Keith here, Poppy’s Puppy Walkers. Welcome to her second Pupdate!

We are excited to update you on this beautiful girl’s progress. Poppy is the thirteenth guide dog puppy we’ve raised and although it can be hard work, it’s so rewarding and we’ve loved every minute. When you hear from a new guide dog owner that the puppy has changed their life, it’s an incredible feeling to know you’ve been an important part of their story.

Keeping focused

Poppy has mastered her basic obedience commands. Sometimes she will ‘sit’ and then go straight into a ‘down’ thinking she is being clever and guessing our next move! Poppy has improved when walking alongside heavy traffic and now only large vehicles, such as tractors, worry her. We will continue to build her confidence with this.

The biggest challenge we have faced is that Poppy is very distracted by people and loves to say ‘hello’ to everyone. It’s important that when people see a guide dog puppy in training, wearing their blue coat, that they don’t stop to say ‘hello’ no matter how cute the puppy is. This is to ensure they can stay focused when out and about. Thanks to our efforts, Poppy is learning that she will be rewarded if she keeps her eyes on us.

Looking to the future

We’ve been teaching Poppy skills that will be valuable to her future owner. This includes ‘touch’, where she puts her nose against your hand on command so that her future owner will be able to find her. She can also ‘find the chair’ where she will locate any empty seats in shops, cafés or at the park.

Playful puppy moments

Poppy still has her playful, cheeky moments which are lovely to see as sometimes you can forget they are still just puppies when they are so focused during training. She has a habit of stacking her toys up on our laps, sometimes up to 3 toys high! She has a little soft rabbit toy and she adores her blue kong toy which you can see her catching in the photo below.

Curious girl

Poppy comes with us to lots of different environments so that she can get used to new sights and smells. She is the perfect travel companion on the bus and train and is always very well behaved in the supermarket with us.

We have taken her to our local bowls club where she likes to be a spectator, she even came with us to watch the skiers at the skiing centre and was fascinated by them; I think she wanted to go down the slopes too! We love her curious personality, nothing ever goes unnoticed by our Poppy!

Thank you for sponsoring Poppy. Soon she will be off to early training to continue her exciting journey. Look out for your next Pupdate in February.

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