Bailey is the gorgeous guide dog sponsored by Vantage IT. Training is taking place to make him a working dog and family pet.
Bailey has settled very easily into life with his trainers. He has a very laid-back and cuddly personality and often attempts to give his love to Edmund, the family cat. He adores Edmund but the feeling is not quite mutual! Bailey also shares his home with an older puppy in training, Charlie. Being a typical toddler, Bailey always follows him around and tries to get him to play!
Bailey’s signature move is to empty the whole toy box to dig out his favourite soft toys, which are the ones with big, floppy ears – perfect for chewing! Rope toys are also cherished and he will spend hours undoing the knots.
Bailey has been attending regular puppy classes, where he is making great progress learning basic obedience skills. He has mastered the ‘sit’ and ‘down’ commands and is learning the ‘touch’ command, which he will use later in his training to identify objects such as the button on a pedestrian crossing.
He needs to work on his traffic awareness as he can get a little nervous when he sees a large vehicle approaching. His trainers are spending time building his confidence by sitting and watching cars and lorries go past.
Exposing Bailey to many different environments is important. This includes restaurants, cafés and hospitals. He settles quickly in any environment, laying down under the trainer’s feet and is as good as gold. He’s a brilliant travel companion, comfortably travelling in a car as well as on the bus. He has also been on a few trains and although he gets a little nervous of the gap between the train and platform, he settles nicely once on board.
Over the coming months, training will continue to build Bailey’s confidence and practice his basic obedience. This will prepare him for his future as a life-changing guide dog.
We hope this has provided an insight into the superb work of The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association and the training required. We will keep you posted with more Pupdates.
If you require any more details about Vantage IT and our sponsorship, please contact us.
