How are our dogs matched to their future partner?

Our advanced training team are responsible for further developing the training that the puppies learn with their volunteer puppy parents. Our trainers are highly skilled dog trainers and have a breadth of experience which makes them perfect for the job!

They will further teach the dogs the tug, touch and retrieve basis of all commands our partners might need as well as taking them out into real-world situations to learn how to walk nicely alongside a wheelchair and deal with the natural distractions that take place in a busy environment, such as a town centre.

As this training is taking place, our advanced trainers will be working with our applications team to match a dog with someone on our waiting list. This matching will be dependent on a number of factors, including an assessment with the applicant where they meet and work with some of our dogs in training. The advanced training team will then introduce some new skills for their dogs that are tailored to the applicant’s specific requirements.

“Our dogs are truly amazing as they learn the most remarkable tasks and provide so much happiness and support to our partners. Canine partners are always so eager to please and have so much love to give their partner.

I work with people who sometimes have not been out of their home on their own for years as they are unable to open their front door. After going home with their canine partner, a new avenue of life happens where their canine partner gives them so much independence.”

– Sara Trott, Advanced Trainer

Partner training

Once the advanced training is complete, the applicant is invited to one of our training centres to meet their dog and begin a two-week course of training usually carried out at the training centre. The applicant and their canine partner will learn how to work as a team and begin forming that special bond together.

What happens next?

At the end of the course, the partnership will return home to begin their new journey together.

Our aftercare team are on hand to offer ongoing care and guidance as well as regular visits at the beginning of the partnership to ensure all is going well, and to provide further training as needs may change over time. This aftercare support will continue until the dog’s well-deserved retirement!

“In my job, I’m lucky enough to see the results of all the teams that come before me and the work that they put into our dogs. I get to support new partnerships, develop existing ones and see lives changing at every visit. There’s always a point, a few months in to a new partnership where the partner will tell me that they’ve been to a new place, somewhere they never thought they’d go, let alone by themselves and they look down at their dog and there’s a real acknowledgement that it wouldn’t have happened without them. I also love the phone calls I get saying ‘s/he picked up my phone when I dropped it in the supermarket!’ and it’s delivered with total joy.

When I first meet our partners I often hear similar experiences of people not feeling able to go out much or join in but within a few weeks, I hear more and more about the places they’ve gone, the people they’ve met and the circle of Canine Partners friends they have discovered. It can be quite an emotional job and I feel really privileged to be part of that transformational experience.”

– Hannah Liebeskind, Aftercare Instructor

Our director of Operations David Bailey has recently been in Spain as part of his role as an assessor for the ADI. In this post, David shares some insight into the assessment process.

As a member of Assistance Dogs UK (ADUK), Canine Partners is also part of Assistance Dogs Europe (ADEU), who form part of Assistance Dogs International (ADI). Phew – that’s a lot of acronyms!

The idea behind ADI is to ensure that its member organisations are regularly assessed to check that they meet the standards required to be a member. This doesn’t mean that organisations who choose not to join may be training dogs and clients of a lesser standard, but with the membership you have a recognised body that will give confidence to service providers.

In the UK, there is no legal requirement for any service providers to allow access to ADUK members only, and anyone with a disability who can show that their dog assists them has legal rights to public places. However, because airlines operate under different rules, some of them will only allow ADI dogs access to their flights. We know that this is challenged regularly by non-ADI organisations including those that deal with owner-trained dogs.

As part of the assessment process, an organisation has to apply for membership and meet the criteria set out. This includes training a certain number of partnerships between human and assistance dog per year as well as having a set number of established partnerships. Established schools also have to be reassessed every five years. Our last assessment was in 2016.

There are a number of assessors around the world whose job it is to go and carry out these assessments, and I am lucky enough to be one of them. I am “released” by Canine Partners a couple of times per year to carry out these assessments, and every other year assessors attend workshops and conferences that alternate between venues in North America and in Europe.

There is no cost to Canine Partners for me to carry out these assessments, and I love doing them as it is a great opportunity to have a look at what other organisations do and to exchange ideas with all involved.

Without a doubt, these assessments are challenging. ADEU doesn’t have a lot of money to support you with travel which has meant in the past I have had some very lengthy train journeys with numerous changes rather than internal flights. One time, I spent 10 hours on a train across France to reach Nice. Arriving at 11pm, I was then left to wander around a dodgy looking train station to find my hotel!

The organisation that is being assessed will cover all accommodation costs, and as many are very small you try to limit your time away to help them out. On some occasions, if I haven’t been to a place before, I may travel out at the weekend and cover a couple of nights cost in the hotel myself to do some sightseeing before starting the assessment on the Monday.

I have recently spent two days with an organisation called Bocolan, in Spain, who are an established school that trains dogs for adults with disabilities, children with autism as well as adults and children with diabetes. This was a tricky assessment to do as their CEO is also on the ADI board so it could have got very difficult if there was a problem that needed reporting!

What does an assessment look at?

The assessment covers a lot of factors including:

1. Their charitable status and how they raise their money.

2. How they run their business and look after staff. Do they have first aiders on site, where are the first aid boxes, how often do they practice fire evacuation and so on.

3. The application process for clients applying for a dog. It would cover areas like making sure that all medical files are locked away and that there is a right of appeal for applicants who may get turned down for a dog.

4. The training of the dogs to ADI standards and making sure it is humane, as well as ensuring that the equipment used isn’t designed to cause pain to a dog. The kennels need to be suitable, clean and dry with appropriate enrichment.

5. Are they responsible breeders of dogs and carry out the necessary health checks to ensure they breed healthy dogs.

6. Are the training courses they run for their clients suitable and meet their needs. Once again there is a minimum standard that has to be reached and this includes at least yearly aftercare support (visiting the client in their own home after they have trained with a dog) and making sure that the clients cover everything on the course that they need for when they return home. In my experience most organisations do two week training courses, but you will find that some who have vast areas to cover (South Africa/America), may do a four week course as they may struggle to offer the home support once the course has finished.

During the two days of the assessment, myself and a new assessor who tagged along with me to learn the ropes, spent time with various departments asking questions and observing. This includes meeting clients at the centre, but we also went to visit a young autistic boy and his dog that he has had for two years at his home in North Madrid.

We also spent a couple of hours out in a nearby small town looking at dog training and also observed some puppy training on site. The school has to provide an interpreter but usually most will have a member of staff that can speak English.

Carrying out the assessment is a non-stop job, and also involves working into the evening and occasionally followed by a working dinner. The Spanish culture is that they often go out late for meals so on the first night we didn’t go out until 9.30pm (I’d normally be thinking of bed at that time!).

Sometimes we will finish with one organisation and head on to another – on one occasion I did three organisations in two different countries in one go.

Fortunately Bocalan was a very straightforward assessment to carry out as you would expect with their CEO being on the ADI board – and they were very welcoming and open to our questions.

With Canine Partners having recently gone through our own assessment, I know how nerve-wracking it can be so will try where possible to try and relax the staff. We were informed at the end of the assessment that two of the Bocolan kennel staff took a shot of tequila at 9.00am in the morning to try and calm their nerves before we looked over their kennels!

The criteria for assessment is very straightforward so most schools will pass with perhaps a few recommendations here and there. New organisations can also ask for a mock assessment before the real one if they feel it will help. Unfortunately, on a couple of occasions in the past I have had to pass on the bad news to an organisation that I will be recommending they fail the assessment and things have got quite interesting with some challenging discussions with clearly very disappointed staff members. But it is important to maintain these standards.

I have assessed many schools over the years ranging from huge multi-million pound American schools to a husband and wife team in Scandinavia who keep the dogs in kennels in their garden. For the last 30 years plus, I have also been running training courses for clients in their own home.

On many occasions as an assessor you end up making lifelong friends, and we have had a number of visitors from other ADI schools who want to come along and see what we do which helps in the sharing of experiences.

The role of an assessor is challenging, interesting and enjoyable and I hope goes some way to ensuring that the assistance dog world is transparent and committed to working at high standards and sharing good working practice.

Canine Partners’ breeding scheme was developed in order to ensure that we could get the types of dogs we need in the numbers that we need them, so that we can continue to transform the lives of people with disabilities. We are always eager to create even more amazing partnerships, and so the breeding scheme plays a vital role in our survival and growth.

Making sure our canine partner mums (broods) and their puppies are healthy and happy keeps breeding assistant Sian Evans on the road quite a lot. She will regularly visit our volunteer brood bitch holders at their homes, and support them in the all-important job of caring for mother and her litter, as the pups take their first tiny pawsteps towards changing lives.

Let’s hand it over to Sian to share what her role as breeding assistant at our midlands centre involves.

What is your job title and what are your responsibilities?

My job title is breeding assistant. The breeding department is responsible for establishing a top quality breeding programme, allowing us to stack things in our favour, increase our success rates and ultimately create more of these life-changing partnerships.

One of my responsibilities is assessing the potential canine partner mums to determine if they meet the high standard required. To be selected, she must have a fantastic temperament and has to pass strict health tests that include PennHIP which assesses the quality of the hips, a CT of the elbows to ensure quality, and a BVA (British Veterinary Association) eye test. We will also carry out various DNA tests.

As well as this, I supervise the process of checking that they remain fit and healthy, that their training is maintained and that their annual eye tests are kept up to date. Prior to mating season, I will also make sure a suitable stud dog is available.

The job certainly doesn’t stop there, as I will organise the necessary testing at the local vet, determining the best time to mate and will also take the brood for mating as well. Next, I will organise a pregnancy scan at the brood’s home to determine if the mating was successful. This is when I will also bring all of the equipment required for the litter so that everything is in place should the mating be a success.

For the first litter, I will be on hand to support with the whelping, and will visit the brood bitch holder’s home on a weekly basis to check up on the dogs and discuss how the pups are getting on.

At six weeks, they will be assessed to ensure they are in good health and ready to move on to the next stage of their journey when they turn seven weeks old. This is when the puppies will be taken to their puppy parents, who will then take over with caring and training the puppy for around a year before it goes on to one of our training centres for its advanced training.

Other duties include interviewing potential volunteers to take on a canine partner mum, as well as supporting puppy training and breeding manager Lyn Owen in building relationships with external breeders.

What is your experience in this area?

I have been in my role at Canine Partners for two years.

Previously I worked for Guide Dogs for the Blind at their National Breeding Centre for eight years. Most of this time was spent working within their dog care team, as well as providing maternity cover for the Brood Bitch Supervisor.

I also have a retired Guide Dog brood bitch, who has had several litters.

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

I think that being there to support the brood when the puppies are delivered is one of the most magical experiences!

I have the opportunity to watch the puppies grow and develop, knowing that one day they are going to change someone’s life. Being there at the partnership day and seeing the difference those puppies have gone on to make makes me incredibly proud.

What is the biggest challenge in what you do?

The biggest challenge I have found is finding volunteers to take on a canine partner mum. However those that do take on the role get a fantastic dog and don’t even need to have any experience at all of having litters as all of the support is provided. I would encourage people to read more about becoming a brood bitch holder to see if they might be suitable.

What are your hobbies outside of work?

I have two Labradors at home and love to go out on long walks. I have also recently started agility training with my dogs.

What do you get up to on your days off work?

I go on plenty of long country walks and enjoy visiting family and friends.

 

Last year, over 100 people joined our waiting list for a Canine Partner, and as of January 18th this year we had 142 people on the list waiting for a dog. In order to ensure our existing partners and applicants on our waiting list are able to receive the best level of care, we had to make the decision to stop accepting new applications at the beginning of 2017.

Our Applications team work incredibly hard on processing all of the existing applications and arranging assessment days for prospective partners – a job that keeps Applications Assessor Laura Loftus very busy!

So let’s hand it over to Laura to share more about her role as Applications Assessor at our midlands centre in Osgathorpe, Leicestershire.

What is your job title and what are your responsibilities?

My job title is Applications Assessor. Our department is responsible for processing people who apply for and wish to take on a canine partner. My role involves reading through applications and if the person qualifies for one of our dogs, they will be invited for an initial assessment day.

The applicant will come to one of our two centres for the day and work with our dogs in training. This gives us the chance to assess in person whether someone is suitable for a dog and if they are truly committed and feel like an assistance dog would benefit them. The applicant will also get the chance to practise walking the dogs on a lead, getting them to retrieve items and exercising them on the field.

At the end of the day, I will let them know how we plan to proceed with their application, and if all goes well the next step is to arrange for one of our occupational therapists to visit their homes. The home assessment is designed to make sure that the applicant’s home is suitable for the placement of a canine partner. Occasionally, I will do these home visits if they are local to the midlands centre.

Another part of my role is to visit the applicants home to assess any existing pet dogs currently in their home to ensure they will adapt well to a canine partner. This is where my demonstration dog OJ steps in! We will go lead walking to a park with the pet dog before returning to the house all together. This gives me the chance to see if the pet dog is comfortable with a canine partner around that is working with the applicant, and if there are any issues around sharing space and toys within the home.

Now that the applications list is closed due to the high demand last year, the team are working hard in processing some applications that remain active from before we closed. We will also be kept busy with any successor applications that come through (applications from existing partners whose current dog may have retired or is no longer able to work), as well as supporting other departments where needed.

What experience do you have in this area?

I have been in this role for 1 ½ years now but have worked for Canine Partners for nearly 5 years in total. I was previously an advanced trainer for Canine Partners and placed over 20 dogs.

Before this I went to Chester University and studied Animal Behaviour and Welfare whilst volunteering at a local dog training club. When volunteering I worked with a very experienced dog trainer and behaviourist who volunteered her instructing skills to Dog AID, an organisation that trains people’s own dogs to be assistance dogs. This is where I worked closely with a lady who trained her own black Labrador puppy up to be her full working assistance dog – and where I got my inspiration from to continue in this field.

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

Working with people where you can tell that a canine partner is going to change their lives. Seeing them work with the dogs on their assessment days can be so inspiring knowing exactly how much our dogs could help.

What is the biggest challenge in what you do?

Having to give negative news to applicants or work with people who end up not being suitable to have a canine partner. This is often a joint decision between ourselves and the applicant but can still be hard for people to come to terms with.

Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

I currently have my own demonstration dog, OJ, who is a yellow Labrador. I attend agility training with him each weekend and enjoy the relaxation of a long dog walk after work. I also used to do bouldering, a version of low level rock climbing without harnesses, and hope to start this again this summer.

What do you get up to on your days off?

I have family on the coast of Wales so enjoy weekends away enjoying the beach with family, friends and canines of course!

 

Working with dogs is hugely enjoyable, and needless to say that all of our staff are dog lovers. Whilst most of the Canine Partners team spread across the UK will see at least one waggy tail a day, our Dog Welfare team members will see quite a few more!

So let’s hand it over to Kara Carver to share what it’s like being a Dog Welfare Officer at our Southern Centre in Heyshott, West Sussex.

What is your job title and what are your responsibilities?

My job title is Dog Welfare Officer and my role involves looking after all aspects of the health and welfare of the dogs in Advanced Training. The aim of my job is to ensure the dogs are fit and healthy enough to continue in the training program and resolve any health issues they may have before being partnered.

The role is very varied and includes weekly grooming, health checking and weighing of the dogs. We are responsible for the dogs weight whilst in training and set them a target weight/ideal weight when they arrive, and adjust their feed amounts accordingly as and when required. We make sure all the dogs are vaccinated and regularly treated for fleas, worms and ticks and record this information in their file. We take the dogs to the vet should they need to go and administer any medications that they require.

A very important part of the role is to teach our partners how to care for their new dog so we deliver health and grooming lectures for them whilst they are taking part on On Site Training. We prepare them with all the relevant information and paperwork they need before they go home and answer any health or grooming questions they may have.

Cleaning is a big part of our job and we have monthly kennel checks to ensure our standards remain high. Toileting the dogs at regular intervals in accordance with their training routine again is another important part of the job and essential in helping develop a good toileting routine before the dog is partnered .

We provide enrichment for the dogs whilst they are kennelled – they love our famous pilchard cake that we make here ourselves, and assist in exercising them when needed. As the dogs are in training a lot, we highlight any training/behaviour issues to the dogs trainer and assist in creating and implementing regimes to overcome these.

We have also recently taken over the re-homing of all of the withdrawn dogs throughout the charity. This involves answering any initial enquires, updating and maintaining the waiting list, organising meet and greets with the dogs and potential new owners, carrying out home checks and providing a level of aftercare once the dog is re-homed.

What experience do you have in this area?

When I got the job as Dog Welfare Officer I had no previous experience in this field. I have always had family/pet dogs and a keen love for animals and was looking to get into the profession.

My previous jobs included care for the elderly and working in a nursery for children aged 2-4 years.

What is the most rewarding part of what you do?

The most rewarding part of working here at Canine Partners is being able to see first-hand what an amazing job these dogs do and how they really do transform people’s lives.

We are lucky enough to work closely with the dogs, the trainers and the partners so we get to see the dogs progression in training and see them improve week on week.

We also get to witness the bond developing between the partner and the dog and this is something that never gets old. I am always surprised at how quickly they get attached to one another and this is simply lovely to see.

What is the biggest challenge within your role?

I would say the most challenging part of my job is getting up in the morning as its quite an early start for us in Dog Welfare at 7:30am – but it’s all worthwhile when I arrive to lots of wagging tails.

Do you have any hobbies outside of work?

Walking my own little woofers, and I am looking to start an art project in the near future.

What do you get up to on your days off?

On my days off I like to have a lay in! I also enjoy visiting family and friends, going to the cinema and eating lots of food!

I am currently expecting my first child so I am busy preparing the nursery and very much looking forward to becoming a mummy.

Interested in working for Canine Partners?

Keep an eye on our Vacancies page as well as our Facebook and Twitter to find out about roles as they become available.