On Wednesday 11 April, Ian and his canine partner Kelsie were joined by volunteers Bev and Kerry to deliver a talk to the team at the Empower Centre in Gosport, Hampshire.

The church group offered a very warm welcome to the team and thoroughly enjoyed learning all about the work that we do and how we train our amazing dogs to transform lives.

Kerry, one of our fantastic puppy parent volunteers, was also able to talk about her vital role in the charity and the importance of training and socialising our puppies ready for their journey to becoming an assistance dog.

She also explained how it felt to hand over her most recent puppy Whisper, who has recently started his advanced training. This means he is now honing his skills and learning specific tasks that will help provide greater independence to a person with disabilities. Although it is sad to say goodbye, it is rewarding to know what incredible things a puppy can go on to do!

To discover more about what a canine partner can do, Ian took to the floor to talk about the journey he has had with his canine partner Kelsie. Ian has been with Canine Partners from the early days, and Kelsie is his third canine partner. Ian spoke with passion about the work we do and the support he receives both from Kelsie and our aftercare team.

Over the years since being matched, Kelsie has learned many fantastic skills but one of those was particularly amusing to the audience! Both Ian and Kelsie are avid Portsmouth Football Club supporters, and whenever Portsmouth score Kelsie cannot resist joining in the celebrations with the fans! When everyone claps, Kelsie joins in by barking with glee. The Empower Centre group were lucky enough to experience this first hand at the end of the talk when everyone clapped!

A big thank you to the Empower Centre for inviting us along to spread awareness of the crucial work that we do.

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