Through a key supporter of Canine Partners, we have been given the amazing opportunity to take part in the Champions Tennis 2018!

Champions Tennis is held at the Royal Albert Hall and will feature the grandest players, on the grandest stage! The event takes place from 6-9 December.

Our very own “ball-dogs” will be playing the key role of retrieving the tennis balls for some of the biggest names in tennis, including former world number one John McEnroe and former British number one Tim Henman.

Other tennis legends to hit the stage include Goran Ivanisevic, Xavier Malisse, Jamie Murray, Tommy Haas, Mark Philippoussis, Thomas Enqvist, Henri Leconte, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya and Mansour Bahrami.

Our ball-dogs will be collecting the dropped balls during the doubles match and returning them to their handlers.

Off-court, our demonstration team will be meeting and greeting with some of the audience and showcasing some of the touch, tug and retrieve tasks our amazing dogs can do.

The event is being sponsored by Skinners dog food.

Meet the team

Meet our team of ball-dogs who will be lending a helpful paw for this event!

Watch our video

Stay tuned to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to see updates from the event!

With Christmas fast approaching, ’tis the season for singing carols and spreading festive cheer!

On Thursday 7 December 2017, our first East of England Carol Service took place at the Holy Trinity Church in Long Melford, Suffolk. The event was hosted by Mr James and Dr Charlotte Harkness of Harkness Kennett.

With over 400 guests in attendance, the service was a fantastic success raising in excess of £13,000. Special guests included Clare FitzRoy, Countess of Euston and HM Lord Lieutenant of Suffolk.

The evening included amazing performances by Band of the Queens Division, Sudbury Choral Society, Barnardiston Hall Preparatory School Choir and Stour Valley Community School Choir performing traditional Christmas music to get people ready for the holiday season.

In addition to musical entertainment, guests were treated to readings from British Paralympian sailor Hannah Stodel, BBC Radio Suffolk presenter Lesley Dolphin, Angela Farrell with canine partner Xavi, Dr Charlotte Harkness and author Fiona Pearson.

Our Demo Team were also on hand to showcase the amazing things our dogs can do to support people with disabilities. Guests were also able to meet some of our partners with their dogs to see and hear first-hand what difference they have made to their lives. A big thank you to Jo Hill and Unis, Jackie Kennedy and Kingston, Stephanie Flower and Wisteria, Barry O’Connell and Guy, Ruth Palmer and Ollie as well as Angela Farrell and Xavi who were all there to share their experiences.

To round off the evening, delicious mince pies and mulled wine was served to all of the guests.

We would also like to thank each of the following sponsors for helping to make this evening a huge success:

• Purina UK
• Knights Lowe
• Carter Jonas
• Harkness Kennett

…and of course to the Holy Trinity Church for letting us use such a beautiful venue!

Click here to visit our Facebook page and view the photos from the evening.

Hello again! Or “woof woof” as we like to say. It’s demo dogs Toffee and Yarna back again to share our London adventures in preparation for the Draycott Carol Service on Thursday 14 December. Which is very soon, especially in “dog time”!

Do you have your tickets yet? We don’t need them because we’re V.I.P’s (very important paws – or at least we think that’s what that means?). Don’t you forget to book though because it’s going to be lots of fun, and you get to meet us! You can book online here.

Anyway, we have had even more London adventures leading up to the carol service, so we thought we’d share them with you!

Popping to see the Queen

As Her Majesty came to visit us at the Southern Centre recently, we thought we’d pop by Barkingham Palace and wave!

Yarna became a bit famous after the Queen’s visit for accidentally dropping the posies. She was a little bit nervous about meeting the Queen but she did curtsey before approach so we think all can be forgiven! You can read about that, and watch a video here.

Although we didn’t get another glimpse of the Queen, we posed beautifully by the Palace gates with our snazzy purple jackets.

We did however get to meet a man with a very bright red jacket – apparently he is part of something called the Household Calvary – not to be confused with carvery!

He looked very serious and focused on his job, so we posed for a photo before moving along.

He was even better at standing still than we are – which is saying a lot because we’re great at it!

Although we bet he’d quite like to sit down for a little while, like we do!

Catching up on Christmas shopping

Have you finished your Christmas shopping yet? We have!

As part of our latest London adventure, we stopped by the shops to buy our loved ones some Christmas treats!

Naturally we also snapped a few touristy photos in front of Christmas trees, including this very regal tree decorated with mini crowns. We wonder if the Queen decorates her tree like this?

Our Christmas tree would be covered in Gravy Bones and Bonios – that is if we didn’t eat them first!

We can’t wait to see all of the Christmas trees on the way to the Draycott Carol service next week either – maybe they’ll inspire us to come up with some less edible decorations for our tree!

Getting the latest scoop at the Telegraph offices

We lead very busy lives as demo dogs for Canine Partners – and as one of the Telegraph’s chosen Christmas charities, we had the chance to stop by the Telegraph offices whilst up in London on Sunday.

We had a very fun day of answering the phones and helping to raise lots of money to transform lives. The phone in day raised over £80,000 for the charities.

We even made some very busy journalists smile – a triumph indeed! Here we are with one of our canine partner pals resting our paws after many cuddles and calls with generous donors!

To round it all off, we were also invited along to the Telegraph carol service which is usually reserved for journalists only…we forgot our reporters notebook and tape recorder so we were a bit embarrassed!

Our adventures are all very good practice in preparation for our duties next Thursday when we will be showing off our skills and wagging our tails lots as we meet the carol service guests.

We hope to see you at the beautiful St Mary Abbots Parish Church then – where we will be joined by celebrity guests and more furry friends!

Book your tickets for the Draycott Nursing & Care Carol Service now

It’s not every day you get a very royal visit, but on Thursday 30 November 2017, the Canine Partners Southern Centre had just that, from no less than the Queen herself!

As part of a tour of West Sussex, Her Majesty arrived at our Southern Centre to come and see the work that our amazing dogs can do, as well as unveil a special plaque to commemorate a total of 750 partnerships between human and canine partner since the charity was founded in 1990.

HM the Queen had the opportunity to meet our dogs at all stages of their special training to assist a person with disabilities. The youngest puppy she met, black Labrador Flint, was just 12 weeks old and keen to make an impression! The Queen commented on how friendly he was and not at all shy!

She also had the opportunity to meet some slightly older puppies and watch them carry out some of their all-important training that takes place with their puppy parents. This included 14 week old sponsored pup Wilko who in a spurt of excitement missed the last hurdle on the obstacle course.

To showcase the task work our dogs are trained to do, Her Majesty watched a demonstration by our advanced trainers. She was impressed by the dogs’ ability to unload the washing machine and pick up dropped items, asking questions throughout and commenting on their impressive skills. In addition to this, staff were on hand to impart information about our breeding programme and the welfare of our dogs.

Two lucky partners who were taking part in their on-site training with their dogs also had the chance to meet the Queen and talk about how excited they were to start their journey with their canine partner by their side. She wished them success with what will be a new chapter in their lives.

The visit was also an opportunity to introduce the Queen to our senior management team, trustees and major donors who are all instrumental in the success of the charity.

As is customary with a royal guest, the Queen was then presented with gifts from Canine Partners. Demo dog Yarna politely curtsied before handing over some purple posies to Her Majesty – but nerves perhaps got the better of Yarna as she dropped the posies by mistake! The Queen was also presented with purple blankets and toys for her infamous corgis to enjoy.

We had a fantastic time hosting Her Majesty and hope she visits us again soon.

View more photos

You can view all of the photos taken by Charlotte Jopling Photography over on our Facebook page

Read all about it!

The charity got lots of fantastic coverage from the visit – here is a selection of the stories below.

National Coverage

Queen presented with posy of flowers on visit to charity – by a labrador – Telegraph
Her Majesty the Queen visits West Sussex – ITV
Adorable Labrador gives the Queen a bunch of flowers during royal charity visit – Evening Standard
You want flowers to give the Queen? Just hail a black lab – Metro

Local Coverage

Royal visit: Queen unveils plaque at Canine Partners – Midhurst & Petworth Observer
AS IT HAPPENED: The Queen’s visit to Chichester – Portsmouth News
Royal visit: ‘Sorry I haven’t anything for you’ Queen tells young Labrador at Canine Partners – Eastbourne Herald

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!

The Balharrie family from Surrey are saddling up and preparing to take on our Pedal 4 Paws cycling challenge on Sunday 1 October, raising much needed funds to train our amazing life-transforming dogs.

Gordon and Karen Balharrie, along with their children Sam and Lucy are the latest to sign up to Pedal 4 Paws which is made up of two road cycling routes through the beautiful South Downs countryside, before finishing at our Southern Training Centre.

They will also be met with a snazzy medal and some of our amazing partnerships who will be on hand to cheer them to the finish line.

They found out about the challenge from Karen’s sister Sarah Bolton who is a member of our fundraising team.

Gordon and son Sam who is a student at the Hollyfield Sixth Form college will be braving the longest route at 52-miles, whilst Karen and daughter Lucy have opted for the 29-miler.

Of the challenge, Gordon said: “We like cycling and we thought the South Downs would be a nice area to ride – although it might be a bit hilly.

“A challenge like this is a fun way to do a bit of exercise while supporting a good cause.

“We heard about Canine Partners’ life-changing dogs through my sister-in-law Sarah so we like the idea of helping them train even more of these amazing dogs so that they can help even more people.”

If you would like to join the Balharrie family by getting on your bike to transform lives, please contact Helen Watkinson on 01530 225939.

Advanced tickets cost £20 for adults and £10 for children under 16 and must be purchased by Friday 22 September. Participants are also each asked to raise at least £100 for the charity.

For more information about Pedal 4 Paws, click here.

You may have seen over our social media this week that it’s been all about #woofie ‘s for International Assistance Dogs Week, but how about a #horsey ? That’s right, we’ll soon be horsing around at the Vale of York Polo Match this Sunday 13 August!

The Vale of York Polo Club will welcome hundreds of people into its fields this weekend to raise vital funds so that we can train more amazing dogs to transform lives. With six chukkas to enjoy, and a host of exciting entertainment on the agenda too, this event is not to be missed.

As well as demonstrations from our amazing dogs, you can also catch live music from our very own advanced trainer Cat Howourth, pictured right with her Spanish horse Invasor!

It’s the seventh year that the club has held this very special match, with the first taking place back in 2010. Since then, they have raised more than £7,600 for us which has enabled them to sponsor Labrador cross golden retriever puppy Polo through our Gift of Independence scheme.

They are hoping that this event will bring their total to £10,000 – enough to continue sponsoring Polo through his final stages of training before being partnered with a person with disabilities.

“We’re incredibly excited about the Vale of York Polo Club’s event after the success of its previous events. It’s a fantastic day out and we’re looking forward to turning Yorkshire’s polo whites purple for the day.

“We’re grateful that the club has chosen to support Canine Partners again after sponsoring Polo the puppy. Every penny donated will go towards changing someone’s life.”

Date: Sunday 13 August 2017
Time: 12pm – 6pm (match starts at 2pm)
Location: Vale of York Polo Club, Highwood Farm, Bracken Hill Lane, Misson, Doncaster DN10 6EP
Ticket information: £5 per person or £20 per car – payable on arrival at the entrance to the club
Contact name: Julie Lawrence
Contact number: 01530 225945
Contact email: juliel@caninepartners.org.uk

For more information about the event, please call Julie on 01530 225945 or email juliel@caninepartners.org.uk.