Kurtis

Kurtis has completed his inital socialisation and has now left Annie and Stuart to go to Dogs for Good HQ for the next stage of his training. His recent assessment went very well – the assessor reported that Kurtis could become any of the many roles that an Assistance Dog can provide.

He paid us a farewell visit to our February craft fair. Here he is pictured with the new sponsored puppy Cookie.

Annie says: “Kurtis has been an absolute joy to socialise, the time we have had him has just whizzed by.

He is very sociable; he loves all people and dogs. He is especially amazing with our 18 month old grandson and I know that they will both really miss one another.

Kurtis is heading into training a good solid dog, he is not phased by anything at all. The only thing which still needs work is his barking at the front door. He is fine once it is opened, but he is too eager to see who is on the other side!

Kurtis loves his free runs and his recall is amazing (his Puppy Co-ordinator said that it was demo standard!).

Good luck Kurtis with your training. You will be greatly missed!”

Kurtis is now 9-months old and has grown into a very handsome young man. He is
always very well behaved at home and wherever we take him when out and about. At
the moment he does like to always be occupied with something when we are out, so
we are currently working hard on his settling in cafes and at fundraising events.
He has coped very well with all of the different challenges he has met. He has
mastered the bus, train, lifts and shops. He has also accompanied us on hospital
visits and walks beautifully next to our friend’s wheelchair when we are out with her.

His recall is brilliant, and he especially loves his walks out in the woods with our
friends’ dogs or his mates from Dogs for Good.

Kurtis is now 9-months old, and so it’s time to see what your sponsored pup has
been up to with an update from his socialiser, Annie!:

“Kurtis is now 9-months old and has grown into a very handsome young man. He is
always very well behaved at home and wherever we take him when out and about. At
the moment he does like to always be occupied with something when we are out, so
we are currently working hard on his settling in cafes and at fundraising events.

He has coped very well with all of the different challenges he has met. He has
mastered the bus, train, lifts and shops. He has also accompanied us on hospital
visits and walks beautifully next to our friend’s wheelchair when we are out with her.

His recall is brilliant, and he especially loves his walks out in the woods with our
friends’ dogs or his mates from Dogs for Good.

We have made several trips to the beach with him and he loves running on the sand,
but is definitely not a water baby! On a trip out locally he followed his friends into a
river and as soon as he realised he was swimming he turned and raced back to the
bank to watch the others from the safety of dry ground!

The rapidly growing Kurtis is very settled with his socialisers, Annie and Stuart, and has already made some fantastic progress with his socialisation.

Annie and Stuart have been introducing Kurtis to a range of environments, including their local supermarket, cafes and he has accompanied Annie to a hospital appointment – this little pup is taking it all in his stride!

His obedience training is progressing fantastically, especially his loose lead walking and recall when out on his free runs. “The main thing which we are working on now is his ability to settle without anything to chew, as after he finishes a filled bone he does tend to quickly get bored and bark!” – Annie.

Over the next few weeks, he will be introduced to slightly busier environments, as well as some public transport.

Kurtis has even been on his first sleepover with his Dogs for Good puppy pal, Caddie, and settled very well. (Caddie is with Linda – who looked after our first puppy Milton). He has also formed quite the bond with Annie and Stuart’s 9-month old grandson, and is incredibly well-behaved around him.

This is Kurtis at 8 weeks old and he has been placed with Annie and Stuart. Annie comments:
“We have been socialising for 11 years and Kurtis is our 11th Pup. It all started as a ploy by the kids to get a dog in the house, but they have long since left home and we are still doing it! Stuart has now retired so this will be the first pup he will be able to attend puppy class with!”