Toby: Bus trips, bubbles, stars, stairs and snoozes

What's Toby been up to?

Let's start with the bubbles shall we?

Look at that cheeky little face! And Toby looks quite interested too.

This is Phoebe, who is the grand-daughter of Toby's Volunter Puppy Trainers, Nicola and John. As you can see, Phoebe and Toby have lots of fun together, especially when there are bubbles involved.

Is this training? Actually, yes, of a kind. Sometimes dogs can be a bit overwhelmed by young children, with all their energy and enthusiasm. Not Toby. He's been brought up in a happy home, with plenty of coming and going, and this has all been done gently, at his own pace, so he knows it's all fun. Perhaps his eventual deaf partner will have young children of their own, in which case, it will all continue to be fun!

Now this really is training - Toby's first bus trip.

When Toby graduates as a hearing dog, he'll need to be happy wherever his deaf partner wants to go, whether by bus, train, car... we've had hearing dogs accompany their partners on planes and even helicopters! As you can see, Toby is very happy indeed just to sit patiently and be no fuss. Perhaps this is something to do with the treats John has on offer?

Talking of happy...

We just wanted to show you that photo for absolutely no reason other than we love it! Toby is definitely a contender for Tongue out Tuesday, don't you think?

We mentioned stairs, and here's Toby's unique method of coming down them.

He seems to have just... stopped! Don't worry, we're sure he got down in the end.

Well, we know he did, because here he is with his Star award! That's what the 'stars' meant in the title.

The Puppy Star awards are our means of recognising how far a puppy has come. Now that Toby's passed his Puppy Two Star, we know that he's happy walking on his lead, coming back when called, has mastered all his basic cues, and is ready for the next stage of his training. Clever Toby!

As a reward, he visited Waddesdon Manor, which is a beautiful estate not far from our Southern Training Centre. 

Again, this really is training: it's Toby learning, day in, day out, that new people, places and faces are to be enjoyed. It's the best way for him to grow in confidence. As you can tell from his face, he's just taking it all in. Plus, he matches the paving stones and gravel, which is a particularly nice artistic touch.

Finally, did we mention snoozes...?

Every Puppy Pen should have a photo of a snoozy pooch!

Every Puppy Pen should also have a photo of a happy puppy, loving life, tongue out, smiling broadly, and looking ahead to the day when he is matched with a deaf person, and changes their life.

When this happens, it will be down to your generosity in sponsoring him. So again, until your next update, thank you so very much for sponsoring Toby.