Belle Blog picMeet Belle, our latest Guide Dog Puppy !

12 Week Pupdate

Belle has now settled into her new home with Puppy Walker, Kathleen, so we caught up with Kathleen to find out how they've been getting on. Belle has an older canine friend at home, 10-month-old Yolande, who was on the Guide Dogs' training scheme but had to be withdrawn due to ill health and was rehomed with Kathleen and her husband. She has been helping Belle find her paws with her puppy training, and the pair bonded straight away; Yolande always sleeps outside of Belle's puppy cage, even though she knows she's supposed to sleep in another room. They're inseparable at the moment.

Kathleen says that Belle is making good progress with her house training. There is still the occasional accident, but these are becoming fewer and further between. She knows where her spending area is in the garden, but she prefers to go on the grass at the moment. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before Belle has fully grasped this skill and goes where she's supposed to.

We hear that Belle sleeps peacefully right through the night, probably because she has Yolande for company. Her health is good, although she tested positive for giardia, a gut parasite, when she was still at our National Breeding Centre. She's been successfully treated for this and is now in tip-top health. Belle has had her second set of jabs, so she'll now be able to start exploring the world under her own steam, rather than being carried around or sticking to places where there are no other dogs. Kathleen has taken her on the bus, into town, to friend's houses and into some local shops. Apart from a slight accident involving a poo bag in a local shop, Belle has coped really well with all of this; so well, that Kathleen has even taken her to their local train station so that Belle can start to get used to the environment there. She was curious but not frightened by everything that was going on, which is brilliant for such a young puppy. Of course, wherever she goes, Belle attracts a lot of attention and everyone wants to say hello to her.

Kathleen has introduced Belle to car travel, and she's taken to this really well. She's never shown any signs of sickness, and is happy to take regular trips to see Kathleen's elderly mum.

Belle wasn't overly keen on her collar when it was first introduced and would try and pull it off, but she is used to it now and wears it without a fuss. She's not bothered by her lead, especially as she knows it means she gets to go out for a walk.

At home, Belle likes to spend time playing in the garden; finding and playing with stones is a particularly favourite game of hers, and she likes to pick up any windfall apples from the apple tree. Her favourite toy is anything Yolande has, but she also has a little teddy bear which she plays with a lot.

We hope you've enjoyed reading Belle's first pupdate. She's made a great start to her training with Kathleen, and we're looking forward to hearing more about her progress over the coming months, and letting you know how she's getting on.