Chrissie the sportsdog

Did you know that Chrissie is very sporty?

No, neither did we! But she's a dog of many parts. She excels at being beautiful, and clever, and, it would appear, golf.

Her handicap? Maybe not being able to grip the club for a proper swing?

We mentioned that she's clever, so she also exercises her intellect with board games such as backgammon.

We'd love to make a witty comment about that photo, but we don't know anything about the rules of backgammon! Chrissie looks like she does though. Perhaps she moves the pieces around with her nose nudges?

She's also something of a swimmer.

And even though this photo doesn't show it, we're fairly sure that, immediately after it was taken, she was off to the local tennis courts to practice a few serves.

Chrissie's so clever, she's even invented her own sports! This one's 'The Watering Can Game', which involves running around the garden with a watering can in your mouth. That's it. No scores or goals or tries or any of that complicated stuff.

Here's Chrissie playing another game: being an amazing hearing dog.

Actually, it's not too far from the truth to call it a 'game'. All our dogs are taught that, when they do the 'right thing' - settling nicely, walking calmly on their lead, coming back when called - they get a lot of love, fussing and treats. The 'wrong thing' is just ignored. So in their minds, everything is a fun game, where they get rewards for winning. It's called, appropriately enough, 'reward-based training', and it works really well. It makes training our dogs such a pleasure, for volunteers and staff alike. Oh, and for the dogs too, of course!

The photo above shows Chrissie just settling nicely in the supermarket, looking stunning in her burgundy 'I'm learning to be a hearing dog' coat. She's no bother, no problem, just focused on the person she's with. One day, when she's matched with a deaf person, she'll be such a well-behaved friend, always looking after them wherever they go.

Did we say stunning in her burgundy coat? Well, she looks stunning anyway...

Her coat is so glossy. She's clearly a happy, healthy hearing dog in training!

This is all thanks to you for supporting her this far. One day, she'll totally transform a deaf person's life, helping them to leave loneliness behind and reconnect with family, friends and the world around them. Today however, we just want to say thank you so very much for sponsoring Chrissie.