Bella: Training and entertaining

Bella has been training!

What do you think this is all about...?

Whatever is is, she can do it both ways!

What's going on above is what we call 'recall'. 

It's the start of Bella learning to come back when called. Eventually she'll learn to do this when called by voice, or with a whistle.

And why is this so important? Well, imagine you're a deaf person out for a nice, refreshing walk with Bella. You might want to go for a walk in the woods, so Bella will have a snuffle around the undergrowth. Or, maybe in the playing fields, and Bella can have a bit of a play with the other dogs.

But when you want Bella to come back, you really do need her to come back as soon as she's called. The last thing you'd want is for Bella to disappear and leave you on your own.

So, Bella is being taught (and taught very well by her Volunteer Puppy Trainer Brenda) to come when called, and she gets a treat and a fuss when she gets it right. As you can see, she's already getting it right, so that's lots of fusses and lots of treats for Bella!

Some more training below...

Again, this is all part of Bella learning to be a nice, well-behaved little dog. The idea is that she walks along happily with her deaf partner, the lead not too tight, not too slack, which we call 'heelwork'.

She's getting the idea (and loving it - look at her tail), but it really is early days and she's allowed to have slight diversions on the way. We're confident that we'll eventually be able to show you Bella doing brilliant heelwork some time in the future.

Now, the title of this Puppy Pen was 'training and entertaining'. You've seen the training. Here's the entertaining.

Our puppies are so funny. They develop their own little habits, their own little preferences for certain things. Some like sweaty socks. Others enjoy watching birds. Bella, it seems, absolutely adores her wooden box! Until, that is, she's distracted by what sounds very much to us like a chimpanzee off-camera, but in the absence of Brenda actually telling us she has a chimpanzee, we'll assume she doesn't.

And if that didn't entertain you...

It's very important that our puppies are kept mentally and physically stimulated, even outside of their training. This is especially so if there are Covid restrictions in place, and they might not be able to get out and about quite as much. So, Bella has found the ideal way to expend energy - and amuse everyone at the same time.

Now for three photos. Here's Brenda's description of this one: "We took Bella to our local church as they had Deaf Church, and Bella was a superstar. She sat on the floor next to us and behaved beautifully. As you can see from the photo it looks like a halo around her head."

It really does!

Deaf Church worship services are often led by deaf people or hearing friends who are fluent in British Sign Language (BSL).

Next, again according to Brenda: "This is Bella at my audiologist appointment. He adored her, and she seemed to enjoy it too!"

This is something we often find - hearing healthcare professionals such as audiologists, speech and language therapists, ENT specialists and so on are often fascinated by hearing dogs, and are very interested to know more. We also know that quite often, it's those same healthcare professionals that have gone on to recommend hearing dogs to their clients. Perhaps this is the start of a beautiful friendship?

Finally, well, no Puppy Pen is quite complete without a picture of a pooped pooch.

Yes, you're right - we ended the previous Puppy Pen the same way. That's because the photos are adorable, and it's such a fitting end after all that activity.

So you see, Bella is having a wonderful time. To her, training is a game, where she gets tummy-rubs and treat. As a result, she expresses herself so freely because she's such a happy, confident little girl. One day, this will all come together and she'll help a deaf person to leave loneliness behind by being their friend and helper.

Until that day, it remains, as ever, for us to thank you for your kindness. So, thank you for sponsoring Bella!