FUN-TIME FREDDIE!

We said goodbye to Freddie and his lovely mum and dad this month. They will soon be exploring new walks and a new home and we wish them all the best with the next step in their lives together.

Freddie has been with us since he was a small puppy on our Thinking-Puppy Programme. He then joined puppy classes and proved to be such a star with other dogs that he started training as one of our Buddy-Dogs. We will really miss him, he is lovely around other dogs and helped several of our sensitive/reactive dogs become more confident.

He worked closely with one of our PAL School Dogs who travels up from London and has had some valuable sessions with Freddie. He has a special, gentle way of looking at other dogs when he’s working and his mum and dad have been really good at handling him in ways that help him stay calm and focused when working as a Buddy-Dog.

He also joined our first group of Advanced Social Interaction Skills classes which taught him a lot – he could be a bit nervous around other dogs when they got close to him because of a couple of tricky experiences when he was very young. Joining ASIS classes meant that he learned that other dogs don’t need to be worrying and he showed us all how Thinking-Dog methods work to build the ability to self-calm: whenever things get a bit too much for Freddie, he has become really good at taking himself away for a good calming sniff.

Watching Freddie turn from a funny little clown into a more settled teen has been a real pleasure. He’s been a favourite with the team and I’ve missed having my weekly cuddles from him – he’s a little gem. Wishing Freddie and his mum and dad all the very best for a happy life together in their new home!