Morena tamariki ma - look what I've been doing! I've made a brand new friend, Isn't she gorgeous? Patch is 15 weeks old and is hoping to be a guide dog when she grows up. She is a labrador retriever just like me but as you can see she is a golden labrador. Can you tell why she was named Patch? Before she can become a guide dog she will have to spend approximately 18 months with her family learning to have impeccable manners (like me!) and learning some basic commands such as 'sit', 'stay' and 'lie down'. She has to learn to walk confidently in all sorts of places such as shopping malls even when she can smell tempting aromas ...it's not easy but I'm sure Patch will be successful. After she has mastered the basics she will have a trainer from Guide Dogs who will teach her the specific skills she needs before she can be matched to someone who needs her.
It was extremely exhausting playing with Patch - she is a bundle of energy and every time I picked up a toy to play with she wanted it and tried to take it away from me. Of course, being so much bigger I had no trouble keeping hold of the toys but sometimes I let her have one so that she wouldn't become discouraged.
After a while we were so tired we both lay down for a bit of a snooze,,,zzzzz
- Alan 🐾
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