Leo is loving living with Joy

You'll be pleased to know that Leo is having a wonderful time with Joy, his volunteer puppy socialiser!

For his first year, Leo will live with Joy and her family. This is so that she can take him to puppy class, while also giving him a warm, loving, secure home in which to live. It's a great arrangement that works well for everyone - Hearing Dogs, volunteers and puppies alike.

Joy has taken lots of great photos and videos for us to share with you. So, first up, here's Leo looking ready for action!

And... action!

Yes, it seems Leo loves running round and round and round and round and round.

Joy explains: "Leo adores the garden. Whether it's racing around like a mad thing, helping to dig (although he hasn't yet managed to figure out which ones are weeds and which ones are lovely plants) or just having a bit of a chew on the odd flower or two. He is also a bit of a 'sun worshipper' and likes nothing more than to bask in the sunshine on the patio!

Here he is worshipping the sun...

... and here he is playing with a plant pot:

Joy tells us: "Leo loves a good solid plant pot. He'll play for hours chasing it around the garden. His favourite place to play with his plant pots is out in the garden, even better if it's still got a bit of soil in there for him to dig his nose into!"

We don't mind Leo sticking his nose into soily plant pots. He is a puppy after all.

But just to show that it isn't all play-time, here's Leo getting down to some serious business: learning to walk nicely on his lead, which we call 'heelwork', this time with Joy's husband taking on training duties.

"Leo is training hard to be extra good on his lead when he's on the pavement on a walkabout," says Joy. "Although the odd treat to encourage him works pretty well to keep up momentum! He's doing really well with his training but still can't resist saying hello to people on the way."

We don't mind that he likes saying hello to people. In fact, it's just what we want - happy puppies that are confident and friendly. Later, Leo will learn to focus more on the person he's with. But for now, he's just a healthy puppy, full of life, and at the start of an amazing journey to help a deaf person leave loneliness behind.

This is thanks to you for your kindness in supporting him. So from all of us - thank you for sponsoring Leo!