Marnie's summer holiday

In your previous Pupdate we explained that Marnie had been living with another volunteer on holiday cover. Well, we managed to get more photos of Marnie enjoying her summer break!

She lived with Deborah who says Marnie was the best dog she'd ever looked after. That's definitely an endorsement for Marnie!

It didn't take Marnie long to make herself at home.

We think that photo is so funny - it took us a few seconds to work out which way is 'up'! Only the red collar gives it away.

Here's a very happy-looking Deborah with a very happy-looking Marnie with her tongue out!

Deborah explains: "This was during a blustery walk at Kingley Vale through a yew tree forest, the oldest living trees in Britain."

It looks like it was quite a warm day too!

Fortunately Deborah came prepared with plenty of thirst-quenching water for Marnie to guzzle.

Apart from walks, what else did they get up to together?

"Marnie tried out the fitness ball. She was actually very good at Pilates, especially the downward dog."

Do you notice something unusual about that photo? Yes, that's right - Deborah actually managed to capture Marnie's eyes! We think this might be a first.

"She enjoyed hiding in the leaves, waiting to take her ball by surprise."

"She 'helped out' in the garden."

"Marnie experienced a car wash for the first time. She did very well and only ducked when the jet wash was sprayed on the screen as she thought she was about to get wet."

This is all fun and games but actually the new experiences Deborah is introducing are all part of Marnie's 'socialising'. This is what we call the process by which a puppy is gently introduced to new situations, encouraged to behave well, and rewarded when it makes the right choices. It's entirely conceivable that Marnie's eventual deaf partner will want to use the car wash and the last thing we'd want would be for Marnie to find it upsetting. Fortunately, with Deborah's guiding hand, it seems Marnie just found the whole thing interesting, which bodes extremely well for the future.

And what else did they get up to? Well, they 'chillaxed', of course!

"This was with Mary my partner. They loved watching TV together!"

What a lovely photo. Again, this is part of socialising - the idea that our dogs live in a happy, secure, domestic environment while they are being trained.

"Marnie's favourite film was The Secret Life of Pets. Marnie also liked I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, especially when they showed a rat!"

The next Marnie training update is coming out very soon and we'll be telling you all about how her training is coming along. Until then, thank you so much again for sponsoring her!