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.
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