From hoovering to heelwork, it's all good for Winnie

Before we go into your next Pupdate, let's just admire how beautiful Winnie is now...

She's so glossy and healthy, and that lovely line along her nose is so unusual, but so attractive. She's going to make her eventual deaf partner very proud!

But she's not just a pretty face. The title mentions heelwork and hoovering. If you're intrigued by the hoovering, well, we'll show you that in a second. For now however, look at how brilliant her heelwork is.

'Heelwork' is the name we give to a dog's ability just to walk nicely on the lead, always focused on the person they're with. So, as you can see, the lead isn't too slack or too tight, it's just right, and Winnie is more than happy to stop and sit when asked. She's so clever.

She's also cool as a cucumber...

That's right, Winnie is utterly unconcerned about the big, bright, loud thing next to her head. That's because she's been so well raised. She's seen (and heard) the hoover before, but because she's been gently introduced to it, she knows it's not a problem. It's the same for every experience she's had. They all build up her confidence, which is why she's so relaxed.

(By the way, quick note from Brendan here - while I was writing this, working from home, my cat didn't like that hoover sound at all, so it shows how well Winnie's been trained!)

You can see more of this beautiful behaviour when she visits a shop.

Again, see how calm she is. That's something you'll notice if ever you meet a hearing dog: they are all just utterly relaxed, quiet, well behaved... everything a deaf person would need in a friend, so that they can go anywhere together with no problems at all. Good girl indeed.

Winnie even likes being groomed, although we suspect that, as well as being trained to be calm during grooming, it's just something she really, really enjoys! Look at her tail go!

So there you have Winnie. Four videos showing four aspects of her training. Four ways in which she'll be brilliant for her eventual deaf partner, and change their lives completely.

Of course, she has downtime, which we may have mentioned before.

She thoroughly deserves it though. She's such a good girl. We're so very proud of her, and you should be too, because you've helped her come so far.

So, until next time, thank you once more for sponsoring Winnie!