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Rosie & Jim Sponsor three Irish Guide Dog Puppies!

We are delighted to announce an exciting new partnership with the
Irish Guide Dog Association.

As part of the sponsorship Rosie and Jim are funding three puppies for two years. The €30,000 sponsorship covers the dogs vitally important training.

With more than 13,000 registered blind people in Ireland and over 250,000 people impacted by autism, the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind works tirelessly to facilitate those affected by providing them guide and assistance dogs. The average cost of training a dog is in the region of €53,000 and the charity rely on 85% of their funding through sponsorship like this and fundraising to continue to deliver their vital services for free throughout Ireland.

Irish Guide Dogs for the blind - Logo
Rosie with Puppy

Director of Rosie and Jim, Rosie, says;

We are delighted to be involved with the Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind and look forward to watching our puppies as they grow throughout the year on their way towards becoming a Guide or Assistance Dog, in turn providing a great sense of assurance and independence for families and individuals ”.

Irish Guide Dogs for the blind

At the announcement, John Burke of Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind said:

"It is only through the generosity of the public and the support from companies such as Rosie and Jim that we are able to help families of children with autism and those with visual impairment achieve independence and mobility. We thank them for their very generous investment and continued support.

Puppies at 8 Weeks

Puppies at 3 Weeks

Hank - Guide Dog for the Blind October 2019 - standing on a boulder

Hank - our handsome boy enjoying his last few weeks with his puppy raiser Bernadette.

The pups will make their way to Cork in the next few weeks for year 2 and formal training will begin.

Exciting times for all three of them - though they are sure to miss their puppy raisers.

Wow - Andrew, our sponsored Irish Guide Dog in training is doing so well. We received this update on how he is doing in his training.

Andrew’s training has been coming on a treat. He is now just over a year old and about to head off to Cork for his adult training. When he is out and about on a training walk, he goes about the business of leading, walking calmly.
He is now good at ignoring the enticing smells of lamp posts - focussing instead on the treats he gets for doing so. He has been travelling on the Luas, a bus and in the car. He has not been able to enjoy the social life in cafes due to covid but has been very good at sitting down under park benches in preparation for a cafe lifestyle.
He is very aware of people. He walks up the stairs slowly next to me, waiting on the return for me to turn to go up the next flight of stairs. Although he is very sociable, he prioritises a call or whistle from me over playing with his friends - he has great recall. He is learning to avoid distractions when in a “wait” in a sit or down position.
On free runs Andrew is very sociable and likes to play with dogs of equal energy. Although he is no toughie when it comes to other dogs, he shows his confidence and belief in aiming high when it comes to what he thinks of as sticks but are, in reality, logs, as you can see in the photographs.

It's really fantastic to hear how he is learning and progressing as well as what he is good at and what are his favourite things to do. We are very excited for his future.

Find out more about Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind on their website:

https://www.guidedogs.ie

Follow and Like them on their Social Media platforms :

https://www.facebook.com/irishguidedogs

https://www.instagram.com/irishguidedogs/

Kathy - Puppy Raiser

Meet Champ and his puppy raiser, Kathy!

Champ is settling in to lovely Howth and is enjoying being beside the sea, which he loves.

Kathy is going through early socialisation training with Champ at the moment and introducing him slowly to more and more crowded public spaces. She will work continuously with her dedicated puppy raising supervisor now to gauge Champ’s reactions to certain situations and how he is settling in at home with Kathy.

Kathy is an experienced raiser and supporter of Irish Guide Dogs.

Photos of Champ - he's growing fast!

Champ with his puppy raiser, Kathy and some adorable photos of him with her grandkids.

These are the last few weeks that Kathy and Champ are together as he will head to HQ in Cork soon for formal training.

It must be very difficult to say goodbye to such a gorgeous dog. Well done on raising a fabulous puppy Kathy!

 

Champ - dressed up for Halloween
Champ - with raiser Kathy
Champ walking

We're so proud of April - our gorgeous sponsored Irish Guide Dog for the blind. We received this lovely update on how she is progressing.

April is excelling in her training.
She loves going on her training walks to shops and cafes but especially loves going out with her room mate ambassador dog Yanson. He has been a great help in showing her the ropes. She has great recall so gets to enjoy some time off running around the Dublin mountains. We are hoping that April will be picked for breeding so that other puppies can take on her amazing personality! We will miss her dearly but know that she is destined for greater things.

We can't imagine having to say goodbye to her.

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Guide Dogs Puppy - Izzy

Meet Izzy and his puppy raiser, Emma!

Izzy is now settling in well in Duleek, Meath with her puppy raiser Emma, but has already made a few trips to Dublin during her early solcialisation.

Emma refers to Izzy as her baby now! She is a great spirited young pup as Emma says and she is taking to her training really well.

Have a look as photos of Izzy, some of her when she first arrived with Emma, and some recent ones also.

Photos of Izzy - he's growing fast!

Hank - Guide Dog for the Blind - on the luas

Hank is a hard worker on the farm and likes to hang out with his farm friends!

A lovely shot of him at home having some fun! What a cheeky chap :)

Aska, one of our sponsored Irish Guide Dogs for the Blind is now in training on the Guide Dog programme with trainer, Allyce.

Here she is pictured (left) with the handsome golden retriever brothers Beckett & Bramble.

Guide Dogs Puppy - Hank

Meet Hank and his puppy raiser, Bernadette!

Hank is settling in to life in Sandyford with his puppy raiser, Bernadette.

Hank is Bernadette’s 7th puppy she has raised so he is in good hands! He is a bit of a cheeky chappy and a bit of a character, something that Izzy has shown also. Their raisers are finding it hard to be too hard on them. Training for Hank is also going very well at present and presenting to be a very quick learner.

 

 

Photos of Hank - he's growing fast!

Izzy - Guide Dog for the Blind - Kerry Mountain October 2019

Here's Izzy on a recent trip to Kerry!  She loves to travel and explore new places :)

Here are some gorgeous images of April who will become a brood, a mum, to many more superhero doggies. It will be some time yet before she has her first litter but we can't WAIT for that cuteness!