Kara (10 weeks old) has started taking herself into the spending area, I am mighty pleased about this as she can widdle for England! She leaves me a week on Monday to join her 'proper' puppy walker, who is new to the job. Kara is such a good girl - the best pup to start with, an easy introduction to puppy walking. She's never really been a crocapup at all and she's super intelligent, picks up new commands in no time. My next pup is gorgeous GR Bruce, eight months old, who is coming to me while his puppy walker is on holiday. We went for a free run with him and Tatze yesterday, she loves him (as she does all the pups). He's got a real problem with recall so my supervisor has asked me to cure him! no pressure then !!
Aww, lovely photos. Kara is very sweet, she sounds like a dream. And Bruce! That GR smile gets me every time.
I'm sure Bruce will end up with a much better recall after a stint with you. He looks like a happy boy too
Do most puppy walkers have a pet dog of their own? I think if you didn't it would be so hard to keep giving your heart to a succession of pups and letting them go.
About half of us do - it's MUCH easier in every way with a pet dog in the house. My husband is away for twelve weeks (cycling coast to coast USA ) and I have found giving Tatze enough exercise hard. The pup needs a lot of carrying about, socialising and shop walks. So I have employed a dog walker, who gives her a good two hours every day with one or - at most - two other dogs. Tatze loves it and has started looking out for her. Usually my husband is on Tatze duty while the pupster is tiny. ...
It's hard anyway - utterly heartbreaking. But I can't do the job if I don't give them back, so it comes with the territory. There isn't a day goes by when I don't think about Gypsy and Twiglet and imagine what they are doing. My friends and family fall for them too! My brother has wept each time one has left us. One friend is head over heels with Kara and very cross with John that he asked me not to get 'our' new pup while he's away! I think she will be having words with him! But I am really pleased, as it shows how much he has also bought into this roller coaster puppy walking ride ...
A gentle session of bitey face and a perfect lesson in puppy training! (play stops when the pup nips too hard) (Tatze, 3 year old pet black Lab and Kara - 10 week old yellow Lab/GR GUide Dog Puppy, lying on the floor having a gentle game of bitey face, when the pup nips too hard the older dog turns away, but she isn't cross with the pup ~ just teaching her patiently) ...
Just concerned that Kara is being separated from you so early in life, must be unsettling for her, shame she cannot stay with you.
She'll be fine, these pups are bred and chosen for their boldness and have no trouble moving on. Gypsy came to me at 10 weeks old after being with a different puppy walker for three weeks. She didn't bat an eyelid. It's the humans who get sad, not the dogs. We see many, many dogs move on at very young ages - tails wagging, without a backward glance! I went to Heidelberg to see my son last weekend from Friday to Monday, Kara went to another puppy walker. She headed for the toy box and that was it, She didn't look back and was 100% fine. The thing which helps is that all the routines, training methods and commands are the same throughout Guide Dogs, from birth to retirement. So nothing changes for them except the setting and the hoomans. ...
