Robyn: snuffle mats and herby toys

Welcome to your next Robyn Pupdate!

Let's get straight to it shall we? Take a look at how Robyn's grown!

That's Guy, one half of Volunteer Puppy Training team looking after Robyn during the first year of her life. The other half is Heather, who took this photo and shared it with us. 

Guy looks fairly smitten, don't you think? Robyn seems extremely comfortable in his arms too. All our volunteers become very fond of the puppies they help to bring up, and it's hard when they have to let them move on with their training. But they all know that their special puppy (because they're all special!) will eventually help a deaf person to leave loneliness behind. Having such a soft, affectionate dog like Robyn plainly is, will make their lives so very much better.

Did we say Robyn's grown up...?

Not quite! As Heather tells us: "To keep Robyn mentally stimulated, we bought a soft toy that had been stuffed with herbs, which we then named ‘Herby’, of course! Now, Robyn loves snuffling around looking for it."

So it seems Robyn is still a puppy after all, even if she's quite a big one now!

She's still benefiting from the friendship of Heather and Guy's own lovely Lab, called Charlie. Here they are looking incredibly content in each other's company:

Our puppies often do better when there are other dogs around. It helps them just to become comfortable in their company, and learn that they can share time and space together. A lot of our volunteers also tell them that their own pets really love having new puppies in the house to play with too!

Now, time for a video. 

Labradors are famed for their love of food, and so Heather and Guy have realised that, to keep Robyn entertained during lockdown, using a snuffle mat is a great idea. It's a bit like Herby: Robyn has to search for food, in the same way she has to search for Herby. The difference is, the end result is tasty treats!

We also came across this video which we didn't use a while ago, but on viewing it again, we think it's so lovely, we just had to show it. Robyn looks so happy and handsome (yes, girl dogs can be handsome too!). 

Let's end this Pupdate as we do so many on the Puppy Pen: with a slightly snoozy pooch!

Robyn's obviously had too much snuffling for one day!

She's living a lovely, full life with Guy and Heather, and we'll tell you and show you more in Puppy Pen Pupdates to come. Until then, thank you so much for sponsoring Robyn!