You Are Here : Local man becomes Welwyn’s first Canine Partners puppy parent
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Local man becomes Welwyn’s first Canine Partners puppy parent
Alan Dawson (62) from Welwyn Garden City has become the first local to volunteer as a puppy parent for Canine Partners, a charity that provides highly trained assistance dogs to people with disabilities.
Alan lives in Welwyn with his wife Linda and has two daughters. He was previously in the RAF, and following redundancy as an IT professional in local government he took retirement. After their pet dog died, Alan decided to become a puppy parent after seeing Canine Partners in action at Crufts, Discover Dogs and various other local shows.
As part of his role as a puppy parent, Alan must offer Crumble a supportive family home and socialise him into the local community. He also attends weekly puppy training classes at Writtle College, Chelmsford with other volunteer puppy parents from the local area, where he is learning how to teach Crumble some core tasks such as retrieving, touching and tugging. Alan will have Crumble until he is around 14 months old when he will then return to the training centre in West Sussex to embark on his advanced taskwork training and be matched to a person with disabilities.
“When Crumble arrived he was a seven week old puppy, very cute and in need of lots of cuddles.” Says Alan. “He is very quick to pick things up and we visit the paper shop every morning as well as garden centres, M&S, John Lewis, the library and Galleria in Hatfield. We have been on the bus and enjoy the weekly puppy training classes as it is an opportunity to meet with other puppy parents and learn training techniques. I get a great of satisfaction from training Crumble and it is wonderful having a dog around. It is very rewarding to know that he will go on to offer a person with disabilities support, happiness and independence.”
Canine Partners is keen to hear from anyone who feels they can offer a full-time or foster home to a puppy training in the Essex & Herts region. Canine Partners will cover all vets fees and equipment costs, as well as expenses. For further information please contact Emily Lawrence on 07956 178543.
Canine Partners for Independence. Registered in England No. 2516146. Charity Commission Registered No. 803680. Scottish Registered Charity No. SCO39050
