Mia's 6 Month Pupdate
Mia's 6 Month Pupdate
Mia is now six months old and around halfway through her puppy training with her Puppy Walker, Michael. We recently caught up with him to find out how Mia has been getting on.
Michael told us that Mia has grown into a vibrant young dog, who loves people. She will soon be fitted with a puppy jacket, which most of our guide dog pups are fitted with at around this age. The jacket should help to discourage the public from distracting Mia, as it will make it obvious that she is a trainee guide dog. Wearing the jacket will also help to prepare Mia for when she is fitted with a harness at a later stage in her training.
Since our last pupdate, Mia's training has been going well and she has had lots of new experiences. She has been introduced to bus travel, which Michael tells us she loves. She settles quickly when taken on a bus, and will lie down quietly until they have arrived at their destination. Michael has also taken Mia to a train station, where she was a little apprehensive of the platform edge, so this is something that he will be working on with her. Once she is completely confident at the station, Michael will introduce Mia to train travel and also plans to take her on a steam train at some point.
It took Mia a little bit of time to get used to walking up and down stairs, but she now has this area of her training mastered. She is a little more cautious when walking up and down open tread stairs, but this is to be expected and we're sure with a bit more practice, she'll be confident when walking on these types of stairs too. Michael has been walking Mia in busier places including indoor markets and town centres. She is very confident when surrounded by lots of people, and always interested in all of the things going on around her. Mia can sometimes be a little nervous when she is walked near busy roads, so this is something that Michael is working on with her.
Mia is now old enough to go on regular free runs, which she thoroughly enjoys. Her recall is a bit hit and miss at the moment, so this is something that Michael plans to focus on with her in the coming months.
Mia is generally a very obedient dog, but she can be mischievous at times. She's now tall enough to reach up onto the kitchen counters and look for tasty treats, which she knows she isn't allowed to do. She also stole a goal keeper's glove whilst on a free run, and had a whole football team trying to persuade her to give it back!
Mia sounds like a lovely young dog, who is making good progress with her training. We hope you've enjoyed her latest pupdate and we look forward to sending you her next report card from her Puppy Training Supervisor soon.
