Designed & created by
Gavin Wright
Terms & Conditions 30 Smilie Road, Peterlee, Co.Durham, England. SR8 4AN e-mail
If you have ever been to Naidex you will know that there is just too much to report for one little page like this so I decided to pick out just one company who impressed me above the rest. That company is Canine Partners.
Canine Partners were doing their presentation before Carole Johnson and myself did the one for the National back Exchange on the second day of the conference so I was able to sit and watch their performance.
Canine partners
My sister had a dog once who would pick up sticks. The problem was, the sticks it would pick up were about 5 times longer than its own body. It would obviously pick it up in the middle to make it easier to carry and then run as fast as it could towards an open door. The fact that it had just dislocated its jaw after swinging around the wedged tree trunk didn’t deter it from trying again. The dog trained by Canine Partners on the other hand, had the sense to pick a crutch up which had been dropped by its owner at one end so as to not break
everything within the reach of the object. Not only this, but it did so by holding the end that the owner needed to grab it with. Never before have I been so amazed by an animal. I watched with eagerness as the dog not only opened doors and picked up credit cards dropped by its owner, but it also took her coat off by pulling down the zip and tugging on the sleeves. Not content with removing the coat, it decided to then go and hang it up. I have seen dogs get slippers before, but this one would also remove shoes and socks before helping its owner put the slippers on their feet. It could open washer doors and take the washing out of the machine and place into a basket.
On the canine partners web site there is a 10 minute video showing how remarkable these dogs are.
On a slightly different note, I saw a woman pulling a guide dog behind her at Naidex. It was a strange site. I think they must be training “guide people for blind dogs” now.
