Meet our new sponsor pup, Marley!
As our previous sponsor pup, Spirit, is now fully qualifiedand with his new owner, James.png?width=640&height=480&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE)
, we are now sponsorting a new puppy called Marley.
We will receive regular 'Pupdates' informing us of Marley's progress and we would love for you to follow his journey from puppy to fully trained Guide Dog for the blind.
Marley
Breed: Labrador
Mum: Mosey
Dad: Ibsen
Loves:
Playing with his human friends.
Playing with his cuddly teddy bear toy.
Snuggling for a snooze.
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Pupdate 1 - Marley's Training has begun!
Linda is Mar
ley's Puppy Raiser. She has been training for 33 years and had around 40 puppies in total.
"Being a Puppy Raiser brings a lot of satisfaction to your life. It's lovely knowing my hard work with a pup will help change someone with visual impairement's life. I get a buzz everytime I see a qualified guide dog working, even if it is not a pup that I have worked with!
Marley is a very good pup. I have had black labradors before and so
metimes they can be more boisterious than other breeds. However, Marley is calm and chilled about most things. His is very confident when out and about and is not bothered by loud noises such as traffic.
Marley absolutely loves a cuddle and being stroked. He will lie on his back with his paws in the air so that you can rub his belly! He wags his tail like crazy when he is happy.
When Marley was first settling in, he found nights a bit or a struggle. He didn't like to be left on his own. However, now he is fine and has continued to grow in confidence.
Marley's training is going well. Prior to lockdown we went on one trip on the bus, which went surprisingly well for his first go. We were also able to visit a National Trust property. Marley had a great time and love taking in his surroundings. Lockdown has given us a chance to practise working on obedience skills. Marley has learned the 'sit' and ' down' commands and walks very nicely on his lead. We are looking forward to working on his dog distration skills once lockdown is over, as we haven't had a chance to see many other dogs.
I have no doubt that Marley will continue to do well in his training. and look forward to updating you in our next Pupdate"
Linda - Puppy Raiser
Pupdate 2 - Continuing to progress
Marley has grown a lot bigger in the past few months. He's a really nice dog to raise and has been lovely to have around. People tend to think that guide dogs are all perfect dogs, but just like humans, each have their own quirks and personality. Marley's quirk is that he is a chewer! He loves to chew on things! Most of his fleece blankets now have holes in them!
Marley loves playing with my pet dog, Grace. He loves to play tug with her when they wake up in the mornings. Marley loves his food and has a toy that is stuffed with food, called a Kong. This encourages to spend time and to be patient getting his food out.
Marley has now reached a place in his training where he automatically does things, which is great to see. When Marley approaches the steps, he automatically sits at the top of the3 step without being asked.
Due to lockdown, Marley has been taking the same walking routes around the village, but is very intuituve and has started to hesitate when we go different way to usual. You can tell he's starting to think for himself about things.
Whenever I take Marley anywhere, he's always well behaved. I am looking forward to taking Marley to the village cafe when restrictions allow and will also take him to church.
Marley is a lovely, sociable pup who does really well around new people and animals. He was able to meet a retired racehourse called Archie when we were out and about on one of our walks. He.png?width=640&height=480&scale=LIMIT_MAXSIZE)
now loves to walk that way to say hello.
Marley travels really well in the car and anticipates when he needs to jump in to the car. He's now learning to wait to be invited in and out of the boot. This is important for future guide dogs, as they will need to respond to their owner when getting out of the car. Although we haven't been able to travel on public transport, I am looking forward to introducing Marley to this when it is safe to do so.
I am going to 
continue to train Marley on being better when passing other dogs, as he can be a bit distracted and want to say hello - especially if the other dog has a waggy tail! I have no doubt that Marley will continue to do well in his training.
I will give you his next update in October.
Linda - Puppy Trainer