Canine Partners

The first week of June is #VolunteersWeek, so we wanted to shine a bright light on our wonderful volunteers who support us in our mission to train amazing dogs.

Our third volunteer profile is Finola Lewis, one of our fabulous fosterers who looks after dogs in advanced training at the weekend.

What is your voluntary role at Canine Partners?

I volunteer as a weekend fosterer for Canine Partners dogs while they are in advanced training until they are matched and partnered.

I pick up my foster dog every Friday afternoon from the Southern Training Centre and then return them to ‘school’ on Monday morning along with their weekend report. The top priority is that the dogs can rest and relax over the weekend after a busy week of training. When I collect my weekend visitor, their trainer will give me some pointers about any areas they may want me to focus on or watch out for.

As weekend fosterers, we need to attend regular training sessions to make sure that the dogs don’t lose the skills they have just learnt during the week. It’s vital that we try and think from the perspective of their future partner. For example, we don’t let them barge through doors, jump up at people or lunge at other distractions – however tempting. I wonder if sometimes the trainers may find us more challenging to train than the dogs!

The first two questions I’m asked by all my friends, family and seemingly every dog-loving person who I meet when I’m out and about with my foster dog are: “Don’t you get attached?” and “How can you give them back?”.

Yes, I do get attached – to every single dog that I have been lucky enough to foster. I think it’s impossible not to get attached when a dog is staying in your home. It also means that they have the best home experience while they’re training. I never forget though, on the days when I take them back to the Southern Training Centre, that this is not my ‘pet’ dog. He or she will be changing the life of their future partner and ultimately may save their life – by alerting a family member that help is needed, or pressing a button calling for the emergency services.

As well as fostering, I help out in the Canine Partners fundraising office on a regular basis and I give talks with the aim of spreading the charity’s message and raising funds.

How long have you been volunteering for Canine Partners?

I have been volunteering for Canine Partners for a year and a half now and I’m currently fostering my eighth dog, a lovely chocolate Labrador. It has been a great experience to get to know so many amazing dogs. They are all varying colours, sizes and have very different characters – but each one is totally adorable.

Along the way, they have all taught me more about dogs in general and I think they will have made me a better dog owner when I have my own again at some stage.

Why did you choose to volunteer for Canine Partners?

I absolutely love the core purpose of Canine Partners. In her later years, my Mum had severe physical challenges and was virtually wheelchair-dependent, but she could still do our favourite crossword more quickly than I could. She was fiercely independent and it was hard to see her forced to lose her physical independence.

We didn’t know about the charity then, but I’m sure she would have loved to have had a canine partner, both to give her practical help and to reassure me that I didn’t need to be worrying about her on a 24/7 basis.

I researched options with several charities and I thought it was great that Canine Partners offers such a wide variety of volunteering opportunities with varying time commitments.

What is the most rewarding thing about volunteering for Canine Partners?

I spent most of the last 20 years negotiating and opening offices and retail stores in China for big UK companies. I wouldn’t necessarily say that weekend dog fostering is any less challenging, but it’s definitely a lot more rewarding, as well as a lot more fun!

I have been privileged to see first-hand how dramatically these dogs transform the lives of not just their partners but their whole family. It’s not only the practical help they give, but the constant loving companionship. Partners have told me that they had lost the confidence to go out. Now in many cases, they and their canine partner have become local celebrities, so going out to the shops or boarding the train to London can take them a little longer than planned! Family members who used to worry about going out and leaving their loved ones on their own can now be confident that they’re in very capable paws.

If by volunteering I can help in some small way to change the life of even one person, it’s a ‘no brainer’ (in corporate-speak!). Getting to meet a lot of amazing dogs (and humans) through volunteering is a definite bonus.

Why should others volunteer for Canine Partners?

The opportunity to make a difference to someone’s life and to help them regain their independence is very special. You can do that by volunteering for Canine Partners even if you can only spare a few hours every now and then to help at one of the charity’s events.

In the words of an old Chinese proverb: “If you want happiness for an hour, take a nap. If you want happiness for a day, go fishing. If you want happiness for a year, inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime, help people.”