Aspen was my first dog, a curly coated Labrador. Aspen was always quick to learn and always behaved impeccably at the regular weekly training sessions. She was very intelligent and at home if she wasn’t helping me empty the washing machine or picking up dog leads she was teaching my own chocolate Labrador a thing or two! I never realised how many social activities I would attend with Aspen, fundraising or just raising awareness about Canine Partners. I have made new friends and when Aspen left me to start her advanced training I was grateful for their support as for a short time I was devastated. But when the news came through that she had passed her assessment and would continue with her training I was so proud of her and after a few months of helping out with short-term fostering while other puppy parents had holidays I felt ready to go again with another Canine Partners puppy.

On a sunny autumn day our satellite trainer arrived with the most beautiful yellow Labrador puppy I had ever seen. At only seven weeks O’Neil was so chilled he could have been served as ice cream. He was less than six months old when he attended his first dinner dance, a Burns Night organised by our local fund raising committee which he turned up in a very fetching tartan bow tie. O’Neil wasn’t as easy to train as Aspen and I had to learn new techniques to encourage play which forms the basis of the Canine Partners training. Although O’Neil loved to play about, encouraging him to retrieve toys wasn’t so easy but I had lots of help from my trainer and often at training sessions we would swap dogs and tips and gradually it all came together. O’Neil has since been partnered with a lady and I hope to one day meet them.

Aspen is not forgotten, I met her again at a Graduation Ceremony at the Charity’s Southern Centre and just seeing her again made everything worthwhile. Aspen is partnered with a lady who has multiple sclerosis and helps her physically and emotionally. We chatted about the times we have both had with Aspen and watched clips of her on an iPad. Aspen is loved to bits by her partner and we keep in touch with regular emails.

As always between puppies I love to help out with fostering other Canine Partners dogs. I attend the new training satellite at Oakwood Community Centre in Oakwood, near Derby, with trainer Heather Duffy. This keeps me up-to-date with training techniques and afterwards we have a good catch-up over a cuppa. Joining Canine Partners is a great way to meet new people, challenge yourself and is extremely rewarding not just to see your hard work pay off but to know what you are doing will help others.