Hello! Or “woof” as us dogs like to say. We’re Toffee and Yarna – demo dogs for Canine Partners!

We’re well known for our demonstrations, where we show people the amazing things that an assistance dog can do. You may have seen us or our other demo dog friends at local events or information sessions at one of the Canine Partners training centres.

This December, you can find us and some of our fellow four-legged pals at the Draycott Nursing & Care Carol Service, a very special event up in London that always gets our tails wagging and raises the charity lots of money. In the lead up to this popular event, we thought we would share with you the hard work that we do to get ready to meet our adoring public and put on a show to help raise vital funds.

So welcome to our Demo Dogs Diary! Catchy, isn’t it? We thought so too!

Tourists in London

To get ready for the carol service, we have to travel up to London to scout out the venue so we know exactly what to do to make our adoring audience “ooh” and “ahh” at our amazing skills. We love going to London though as everything is big and exciting! Here’s how our most recent trip went…

The day started when we met up at Waterloo after travelling from our homes – it’s usually an early start when visiting the Capital, so we had a little snooze on the train up. Despite it’s name, Waterloo isn’t actually a giant toileting area…it’s a very busy train station where lots of people like to say hello.

To make our trip extra special, we couldn’t resist some sightseeing. We visited the London Eye which is a giant wheel that lets you see all of London from the sky – amazing! After taking in the view, it was time for a run around St James’ Park. As tempting as it may be, we avoided chasing the ducks which was very good of us really.

Have you seen Big Ben since it’s stopped going “bong, bong, bong”? We have! It’s very strange to not hear the sound as you cross over Westminster Bridge. But never mind, as we did get to see Buckingham Palace. We didn’t see the Queen though, but we waved anyway.

Next up, we took a stroll through Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. After all the fun at St James’, we decided to stop at an Italian coffee shop to rest our paws. The waiter was very friendly and kept calling us “doggies” and squeaking at us. We were very good though and stayed still whilst our mums chatted away. This became a bit of a challenge when the waiter threw his tray like a frisbee – but our mums were quick with a “down!” command and we stayed put. A well earned treat made its way to our mouths – yum yum!

Visiting the church

It was then time for us to make our way to the venue, a beautiful church called St Mary Abbots Church in Kensington. It’s very posh, as you can see! We met Tina and Hamlet, two other demo dog celebrities (we promise we all keep our paws firmly grounded really) before going to see the very nice people at Draycott Nursing & Care who were waiting to cuddle us and even bribed us with some special homemade biscuits.

At the church, we did what the humans call a “recce” where we practice our demonstration – not that we need it though as we are very smart and always ready to perform! But anything for a dip into the treat bag as we tug open doors, retrieve dropped items and press our noses on buttons to switch on lights. All in a day’s work!

After our “recce”, it was time for a special trip to Harrods before heading home. Our mums sure like an excuse to stop for a drink and some cake! Almost as much as we enjoy a good chewy bone or a runaround with a ball.

Finally, it was time to head home on the train again which is our favourite time for cuddles, kisses and to whisper sweet nothings into each other’s ears!

The build up to the big day!

Our exciting visit was just the beginning when it comes to our prepawrations – we have also practised walking up the aisle really nicely at a local church with Humphrey and Tina, picked out our favourite decorations to take along on the day and even picked out some outfits too!

No rest for the wicked!

We hope to see you for fuss and cuddles at the Draycott Carol Service on Thursday 14 December – book your tickets here!