Rabbsfarm Primary School

Linda is Marley'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 sometimes 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 

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 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

Marley is a brilliant boy.  He's so easy to handle and is excellent on a lead and confident in new environments.  I can't wait to see what's in store for him!

Home Life - Marley hasn't just been good in his training, he's great to have at home too.  We recently got a little kitten called Line and she is quite energetic compared to Marley, who is a very chilled out dog.  Despite how much larger he is, Luna and Marley play together so gently, even when she is jumping on his tail! 
The have become best friends.  It's great for Marley to be able to get used to another pet in the house.  They snooze together in his bed and it's lovely to see how wonderful he is both in and out of training.

Advancing his skills - Over the last few months, Marley has been progressing brilliantly.  His 'sit' and 'wait' cues are great and I have taught him to wait to get in and out of the boot of the car.   We have walked around a few National Trust gardens, and Marley really enjoyed visiting these places and lying down in different areas.  Especially, when practising skills outside.  I have a little square blanket that I carry with me when I'm out.  I used to train Marley with this when he was younger, as a 'target' for him to practice with.  The moment that I place it on the floor, Marley lies on it instantly. 

I have been refreshing his recall skills when running free too.   Marley's taken back to it like a duck to water and as soon as I call him, he'll come racing back.  Even if there's another person in the park, he has no trouble listening to me.  I'm pleased to say that he’s improved leaps and bounds when meeting other dogs when we are out on our walks.  Previously. he got a little bit distracted when saying 'hello' but he's improved a lot and now stays focused on what we're doing together.  Marley is so calm and I am very proud of how well he is doing.

Future Plans - In our last few months together.  I', planning on strengthening the skills he's learned already, such as making sure that Marley’s completely confident with getting out of the car when parked alongside a busy road.  He’s so intelligent and picks up new skills quickly, so I know he will do well when he moves on to training school.

I've been a Puppy Raiser for over 30 years, and Marley has been one of the best dogs I have had for how well he picks up new skills.  As I’ve been teaching him the essential guiding skills from such a young age, he's learnt early on how to behave in different environments, and I have no doubt at all about his ability.  He's been a gold-star pup and I've loved every minute of having his calm, solid personality by my side. 

I look forward to giving an update in the New Year.

Linda - Marley's Puppy Trainer

Hi, my name is Emily and I am Marley's Training here at the Training School.

I have been working at Guide Dogs for about
4 years now and have learnt that no two dogs or days are the same.  So, coming to work every day is exciting.  I love working with Marley, he is so loveable and friendly - there is something really special about him.

Settling in at training school – Marley has settled in so well at training school.  Each morning, his fosterer drops him off at the office where he usually starts the day by greeting his best friend, Hope.  We have two short training sessions before a lunchtime nap – he loves a midday snooze!  Between each session there is lots of time for Marley to play with his favourite stuffed hamburger toy, which he likes to play fetch with.  In the afternoon we practice new skills before his picked up between 5-6pm.

Often, we go to a local forest park for Marley to have a long free run.  He loves weaving in and out of the trees, playing in the grass and saying hello to other dogs.  He is so friendly; he doesn’t quite understand that not every dog he meets wants to be his friend.  His confused face and safe eyes whenever he realises makes me love him even more!

Marley loves to learn – Marley has been a dream to teach because he is a super smart boy and picks up new things very quickly.  We have been working on lots of the different skills that Marley will need as a guide dog – and I am so pleased with his progress.

One skill we have been working on is platforms, which teaches guiding tension on the lead and tells dogs when to stop.  Marley can successfully walk between two platforms without pulling at all on his loose lead.

I am starting to introduce Marley to the guiding harness and handle.  He has been a bit unsure of his harness on his back, so we have been using a towel to get him used to the feeling.  As each day passes through, he becomes more confident at putting his head through the harness and letting it rest on his back.

Looking forward – Once Marley is comfortable wearing his harness, I will start to teach him to step ahead and provide more tension in the harness, which is important when he’s guiding a person with sight loss.  We will also try busier areas with more obstacles, noise and distractions.  Marley has great focus and I know he will cope well with this next stage of his training.