Mia's 12 Week Pupdate

Mia has settled in really well with her Puppy Walker, Michael, and his family where she'll be living for the next year or so, learning the basics which will form the foundation of her guide dog training. We recently caught up with Michael to find out how young Mia is getting on.

Michael tells us that Mia has been relatively fit and healthy since her arrival, although she did experience a slight tummy upset, but this is pretty normal for a puppy when changing living environments. Mia recently had her second vaccination which she didn't mind at all and the vet was very happy with her and how healthy she is. Mia absolutely loves her food and Michael told us that he's never seen a dog eat as quickly as her. Despite her strong appetite, Mia is learning to wait for a whistle to be blown before tucking into her meals, and she's doing well with this.

When she first arrived, Michael was expecting some disturbed nights but he didn't get any, Mia slept through the night immediately. She's been doing well with her toilet training and is clean overnight and only has the occasional accident in the day now, which is good to hear. Michael told us that Mia is quickly getting to grips with some of the basic obedience commands, she already knows 'sit ', 'wait ' and 'down' and will always perform them with the help of a tasty treat when she gets it right.

Mia loves getting out and about and has enjoyed trips to supermarkets and to a large sports shop so far. She's also been on short pavement walks in the local area. Michael mentioned that he's taken Mia out at night a couple of times recently and she's been a little bit wary of car headlights and Christmas lights on some of the local houses so this is something that she'll need to get used to over the coming weeks. Mia doesn't mind her collar and lead at all and walks quite nicely but does like to sit down quite often to take everything in which is pretty normal at her age.

Confidently using public transport and travelling in cars is important for all guide dog pups to master so work starts on this from a young age.

So far, Mia has been introduced to car travel and she's happy to travel in the boot of the car, she’s only travelled about six miles at the most but Michael thinks she'll be fine when they start going on longer journeys. Over the coming months, Mia will also be introduced to bus and train travel which we're sure she'll take in her stride too.

Michael and Belinda look after their two-year-old grandson twice a week and Mia loves him. He also loves her and they enjoy playing tug together. Mia is quite gentle with the young child and when she's had enough of playing with him, she' II happily take herself off to her indoor crate for a snooze. Mia loves her toys; her favourites are a soft butterfly toy that makes a noise and a teddy that she's had from the beginning. She's also a little bit cheeky and likes to steal the young boy's building blocks and Michael and Belinda have to follow Mia to retrieve them!

Mia has been making really good progress with her training at this early stage and we hope you have enjoyed catching up with her training and adventures. We will be in touch again soon with Mia's first report card from her Puppy Training Supervisor.