Picture of Harry

Hi. My name is Harry, I'm a Guide Dog Puppy in Training and this is my Blog.

Atherton Appeal

Harry supported Guide Dogs' appeal to equip the brand new training school for the North of England at Atherton. He was keen to help as he was to be one of the first puppies to train at the new school.

Harry was at the launch of the appeal on 7th October 2008 where he got to meet the Press. One of the newspaper articles can be seen here.

June 30, 2008

The Return of Fred

There was a time when Harry wouldn’t even consider taking a nap without Fred, but quite a while ago he was dumped unceremoniously beside the armchair, and there he stayed. Apart from being lifted up now again when we hoovered, he has remained in the same place, totally ignored by Harry. We could have put him in a cupboard somewhere, but we have got so used to him being around that we now consider him to be part of the furniture.

Now Fred is back in favour. Suddenly Harry loves him again, and when Harry has a snooze Fred is right there beside him. Or under him.

Using Fred as a pillow

June 27, 2008

Day and Night

Harry has a favourite piece of Vetbed™ which he loves to lie on in the garden. It always has to be in the same place and if we put it somewhere else he just moves it. It’s where he takes all his toys to play with and his bones to munch. Occasionally he’ll just lie there like the Lord of the Manor surveying his estate.

Lord of the Manor

Last night however, Harry took his passion for his Vetbed™ to new heights. Unfortunately, we’d left it out in the garden and as we took him outside for a last toilet break before bed, he spotted it and immediately installed himself.

It didn’t matter to Harry that it was a filthy night, pouring with rain and quite windy – it was his bed and he was going to lie on it.

In the dark

June 26, 2008

Not impressed

At the weekend we took Harry to the carnival in a nearby town. It was one of those grey Yorkshire days when it rained and rained, and then rained some more, but everyone was in excellent spirits.

We waited for the parade to pass and then joined the back of the following crowd to the field where the main event was to take place. The only thing going slower than the pedestrians was a mammoth steam engine which followed us all the way. Harry certainly wasn’t impressed by this noisy lump of metal and snorted at it, in reply the engine gave the loudest hoot ever. Not to be outdone, Harry stuck his nose in the air and strode purposefully away. If he couldn’t get the better of it, then he was just going to ignore it.

Being chased by a steam engine

June 25, 2008

Weekly update – 23 weeks

Harry is now 23 weeks old, and this week for the first time, we don’t know how much he weighs.  We know he’s more than 25kg and that he’s fit and healthy, so we’re going to take a break from the weekly weighing routine and move to a monthly check. We also know that 25kg is HEAVY, especially when he stands on your bare foot.

Sometime over the last week Harry finally finished teething and he is now the proud owner of a full set of bright, shiny, pearly white teeth.

Showing off his new teeth

We’ve checked and they all seem to be be there, no gaps. This is great news for Harry but it’s also great news for us, as it means an end to the endless washing of blood covered toys.

Harry has had a busy week- going to the carnival in a nearby town, and shopping for longer periods of time. His behaviour in shops is excellent, although if we stand in one place too long he gets a bit bored, lies down and starts to snooze. Harry’s also had lots of social interaction with other Guide Dog pups, although he is still a little wary of any strange dogs he meets

Earlier in the week Harry had to act as a big brother to Summer who doesn’t really like travelling in the car, and went for a trip with her to show her how it was done, just like Goldie did with him. It’s hard to believe he’s grown up so quickly and now it’s his turn to show the younger pups how to do things!

As he is now so grown up we decided it was time that his kennel door was left open overnight. This is the start towards moving Harry from the kennel to his new dog bed. The first night we lay awake nervously, wondering if he would discover an otherwise hidden destructive streak, but the next morning there he was at the door to greet us, tail wagging furiously, with all the table and chair legs still intact.  Phew.

Asleep in his kennel

June 24, 2008

Goodbye again

Harry had a real bonus this morning. Goldie wasn’t expected to leave on her journey until lunchtime, so there was just time to squeeze in one last free run together.

It meant we all had to have an extra early start, so that Harry could have his breakfast ahead of normal time and wait for it to settle before heading out, but that seemed like a small price to pay for one last free run with his hero.

Goldie and Harry free running

And this time it really was goodbye Goldie, and good luck!

June 23, 2008

Heartbroken

Harry is heartbroken.

His hero is going away and leaving him behind. Goldie is now 13 months old and is off to one of the Guide Dog training centres tomorrow, along with another one of his pals Hadley, to start the next part their training. This morning she came to say goodbye and to have one last play session with Harry.

Goldie and Harry side by side

Harry absolutely adores Goldie and will miss her enormously, especially their free runs together. Goldie has taught Harry an awful lot over the last three months or so. She travelled in the car with him to show him how it was done and cuddled up to him when he got upset and howled. She showed him how to get on and off trains, and on the odd occasion when he overstepped the mark, Goldie put him in his place and kept him in line, as only another pup can do.

Goldie admonishes Harry

Good luck Goldie. We’ll all miss you terribly.

June 20, 2008

Australia or bust

This morning Summer came to stay at Number 58 for a few hours. Harry was delighted and couldn’t wait to show off his garden. They had a great time, especially when Summer decided to try out her digging skills in the gravel under the seat.

That was always one of Harry’s favourite pastimes, but recently he’s grown too big to be able to get underneath the seat comfortably. But today he wasn’t going to miss out, Harry was determined to squeeze himself under and show her how to dig – all the way to Australia.

Summer and Harry digging for gold

June 19, 2008

Just an ordinary walk

Yesterday as we went for one of Harry’s regular walks around the village we came across some workmen planting a new lamppost in the pavement. Our way was completely blocked by the new lamp lying horizontally on the pavement so we prepared to cross the road.

The workmen smiled and indicated that we should wait – they would use the crane on the back of the truck to clear the way for us. The machine whirred and clanked as it hoisted the lamppost into a vertical position and Harry stood transfixed watching it all the way, until his head was tilted back as far as it would go.

Then as a good Guide Dog puppy should, he walked on as if he saw this kind of thing happen every day.

Walking on the street

June 18, 2008

Weekly update – 22 weeks

Harry is now 22 weeks old and is starting to look much more grown up. His face has lost all of the wrinkles but he still has far too much skin for his body and when he lies down on his side there’s a roll of it running right down the length of his back. There’s no doubt he’ll be able to fill it soon as his weight increase continues. Harry is now 25.9 kg – that’s exactly 20 kg heavier than when he first arrived.

Harry at 22 weeks

Harry has had quite a different week this week with lots of new experiences. At the weekend, as well as going to his first outdoor music event on Saturday, he also attended the village “Teas on the Green” on Sunday.

This was a real test of his self control as apart from the crowd, there were lots of other dogs there and children shrieking as they played organised games. Harry has always been a very laid back pup but sudden noises always bothered him. Now it seems even loud noises don’t bother him that much, he was very relaxed about the whole event and adored all the fuss and attention that he got.

Lying patiently

Harry is doing really well on his lead walks, he doesn’t pull on the lead even when he sees another dog and if there’s any food lying around on the pavement he very deliberately struts past. When we stop to chat with someone he always waits very patiently. Occasionally though, he does sometimes lose concentration. If a piece of litter blows in front of him he can have a sudden urge to investigate, especially if it’s bright and shiny – like a chocolate bar wrapper.

June 17, 2008

Maybe later

On Sunday afternoon while we were at the village ‘Teas on the Green’ event Harry was very, very curious about the fountain in the middle of the village green. He kept looking at it longingly and we knew if he hadn’t been on the lead he would have charged straight over, so desperate was he to investigate.

So earlier today, while it was quiet and there were no children playing in the fountain, we took him down to have a look. His investigation took all of three seconds because suddenly a breeze blew and his face got splashed with water. Harry wasn’t impressed at all – maybe a full inspection could wait till later.

Harry at the fountain