Winnie in video

You've seen the photos - now watch the videos!

Winnie is still living with her lovely volunteer family. Her 'official' Volunteer Puppy Trainer is called Liza, but as you can see, her son Jay has been helping out too.

It's wonderful that Winnie and Jay have grown so close. A lot of our volunteers say children and puppies learn from each other: the child learns how to care for a dog, and be responsible; while the dog in turn learns how to play nicely and be at ease around children. Everyone wins! Or, in this case, 'Winnie's!

So, let's see the first video of them together...

As you can see above - and maybe also hear - Winnie is getting very good at waiting for her food, with Jay's expert help. It's important that our puppies don't pester for food, especially Labradors which are famous for their appetite! So, Winnie knows that, if she waits for the signal, and then eats, she'll get a lot of praise and a fuss. All good things to puppies who wait!

Next, below, a wonderfully accomplished bit of heelwork.

See how Winnie just walks alongside Jay? This is what we call 'heelwork'. No fuss, no bother, lead is nice and loose. This is because Liza and Jay have made sure Winnie knows she doesn't have to push and pull. It's very like with the food bowl: they've let Winnie make her own decisions, and whenever she's done the 'right' thing (just walking nicely), she's been given a treat. So, she thinks life is one long game, one in which she gets treats for 'winning'! Or, in this case, 'Winnieing'!

Now another brilliant bit of training, with another interesting word: recall.

This time, you can see how well Winnie responds when called. This 'recall' is really important because a deaf person must be confident that Winnie will come back to them. The last thing they want is their assistance dog disappearing to play with other dogs or inspect interesting undergrowth. Winnie is so clever!

And that's not all. See below how Jay is also helping Winnie learn how to 'wait'.

That action with his arm is Winnie's signal to sit and wait patiently. Again, this is another important skill for a well-behaved puppy. It can be really important for example when getting out of the car, or waiting before accessing public transport. Sometimes a deaf person might not be so steady on their feet, so they'll need a nice, calm dog that they can trust to be relaxed. 

But it's not all work, work, work. Winnie can be calm and relaxed, and she can also enjoy a good old splash around (with Jay looking after her again, naturally!)

And what do you get as a result of all this?

A beautiful, health, happy dog, content with her life and growing up to be a superb hearing dog.

We hope you enjoyed watching this Pupdate. We really enjoyed putting it together. We think Jay might have enjoyed appearing in it too, and that Liza enjoyed recording it all, and we're sure Winnie just, well, enjoyed everything, every day! Thank you for sponsoring Winnie!