Merry's on the move

Merry is coming to the end of socialising with Carolyn, her volunteer pup socialiser.

Carolyn has trained plenty of pups, and she’s absolutely adored Merry from the outset. “She is a really lovely dog, a pleasure to have had her and I will miss her greatly.” she says.

Over the past few months Merry and Carolyn have established a great working relationship and a regular routine. She takes Merry to Tescos most weeks for shopping trips. Says Carolyn: “She gets lots of admiring looks as she is so well behaved. She’s also very good at avoiding the shopping trolley when I have to steer it a different way.”

Carolyn has been helping the Milton Keynes group collect donations in the shopping centre. Below you can see a picture of Merry in her smart burgundy ‘I’m learning to be a hearing dog’ coat, together with Carolyn’s own dog called Lola, who is her brood bitch and has had two litters for hearing dogs. The pups are a great draw and love the attention, and help us raise funds to train even more clever canines. It’s one big family really!

Carolyn concludes: “She has certainly proved a very reliable and loving dog and I am sure she will learn her craft very quickly.”

But as one pup moves on, another begins the journey to becoming a hearing dog. Below you can see Merry with Luke, a gold working Cocker Spaniel, who is the new puppy for Carolyn to socialise when Merry goes. “Merry and Luke get on very well and play all the time.” says Carolyn. They certainly look relaxed together, happy to share a chair and the sunlight.

Talking of big families, Merry never had problems making new friends. From left to right below we have Tasha (Carolyn’s 15-year-old border terrier), Luke in front, Lola, Jessie (a Springer Spaniel having her holidays with Carolyn but who belongs to a friend) and, last but absolutely not least, Merry.

In the photo below you can see Merry, Luke and Lola from left to right, but we don’t know exactly what’s going on! It looks like fun for a pup (or three) however. If you have a dog and yours does this, then maybe you could tell us what’s happening in the comments section below?

So that’s all for Merry, for now. Carolyn has done a wonderful job of socialising her, as one of our lovely volunteers without whom we just couldn’t function. We’re confident that Luke will also benefit from her experience, ability and enthusiasm.

Merry is moving on to her soundwork – a big step for a little pup – and we’ll tell you all about this new, exciting stage of her life in future updates.