My husband Andy and I love dogs and to be able to train a puppy with the aim of it helping a person with disabilities is a wonderful combination. Meeting some of the people who have a canine partner really brings home how much these dogs can give them their lives back in terms of confidence, independence, companionship and helping with day to day tasks. One lady described her canine partner as her guardian angel, which really made an impact on us.

As puppy parents for Canine Partners we look after a puppy from the age of eight weeks up until it is ready for advanced training, at about 14 months of age.  This involves bringing the puppy up in a loving home, taking it to weekly training classes and socialising the puppy in the local community. The training programme consists of basic obedience work and teaching the puppies core skills of touch, tug and retrieve which form the basis of their future advanced training. We gradually introduce the puppies to a variety of experiences that they are likely to meet as assistance dogs. This includes taking them on buses and trains, to the supermarket (we always ask for permission first), shops, hospitals, doctors surgeries, garden centres, village fetes, coffee shops and pubs etc.  We are always given a wonderful welcome by everyone, staff and customers alike, which assists us greatly in producing a well-balanced, socialised, confident dogs.

Our first puppy Widget was a retriever/poodle cross, or a ‘doodle’, as we call it! He was unbelievably cute as a baby puppy and he proved to be a very bright, bouncy and cheeky young dog…and a real show-off. Widget was partnered with a young lady in Cambridge in 2011. Our second puppy, Griffin was a Labrador/retriever cross who was affectionately known as ‘ASBO’ throughout his puppyhood because of his exuberant nature! He was a gorgeous puppy who turned into a stunning dog with a very big personality, loving life and living it to the full. Griffin was partnered with a young lady in Middlesex in 2013.

In addition to our two full-time puppies, we have also looked after several other Canine Partners puppies on holiday cover and short-term stays. This has been great fun and very interesting to see all of their different personalities.

We currently have a young labrador called Toffee who we are training to be part of the Canine Partners demonstration team. We are really enjoying taking him to fundraising events where he demonstrates the various tasks that our assistance dogs perform for their partners.

Being a puppy parent is immensely rewarding and great fun. We have met lots of lovely people and learned a great deal about training dogs. A huge amount of support is provided by our Canine Partners trainer and by the other puppy parents. There is no greater sense of achievement and pride than when you see your puppy embarking on a wonderful new life with his or her new partner.