Preparing to bid farewell to Ruby

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7
Jun
2010

Ruby will soon be moving on to her next stage of training

Julie Cozze-Young first volunteered as a Puppy Socialiser for Dogs for the Disabled, the assistance dog training charity, in April 2007. She wanted to be involved in the work that helped disabled people live fuller, more independent lives with the help of their trained assistance dogs. Recently, Julie welcomed Ruby, her second Dogs for the Disabled puppy into her home, and in her blog we follow her progress as she socialises and trains Ruby.

“Ruby’s stay with us has been extended by a week, as her confirmed date to start the next stage of her training has now been moved to June 11.

During the week, Ruby and I accompanied our Dogs for the Disabled puppy co-ordinator, Claire Lush, to a presentation she had been invited to give at a Careers Day at Moulton College in Northamptonshire.

Claire talked to the roomful of students for around 30 minutes, about the Charity’s work and a career working with dogs. For her part, Ruby was very calm and quickly settled into her ‘down’ position, before stretching out on her side to doze, and, finally, rolling onto her back into a deep sleep with all four paws in the air!

It’s fair to say that the students paid far closer attention to the presentation than Ruby did! But she did wake up for the question and answer session at the end, just as I was explaining about the rewarding role of a socialiser.

I mentioned that Ruby’s intake date had changed. One of the reasons for the change was that the Charity decided to book her in to be spayed, so that she could spend a week recovering with us before being admitted to the Training Centre.

So, on Friday, I took Ruby to the Charity’s vet and collected her later in the day. Of course Ruby was not allowed to eat after 6pm the night before, and, as any Labrador owner would fully understand, Ruby did not seem to appreciate missing her breakfast!

However, she was fine at the vet, slept well in the evening and overnight back at home, and is gradually recovering from the effects of the operation.

So, Ruby’s final week with us will be limited to time in the garden (separated from our other two dogs so they do not start a game of chase) and, if all goes well, a short walk on lead before Friday arrives.”