Guest Blog - Giles

How a little Frenchie Revolution help win back one person's life.

Hey!

I'm Giles, a good friend to the big dog himself. I'm a purebred French Bulldog who only just turn a year old (October 2022). I am an Assistance Dog in training, but my newly learn role has already made a huge impact on my owner's life.

I'm here today to give you a brief walk through our journey so far and why it doesn't matter about the size of the dog in the work, it's the size of the work in the dog, and boy do I have drive. I was born in a small litter of three, I and my two sisters were raised in a home with many household noises, other animals and loads of different types of people visiting. We all grew in confidence and since the breeder was a trained groomer also got used to being handled, groomed and not nipping. We all got accustomed to puppy pads and started to toilet outside. Then one day my two sisters when off to their new homes and I was left just with the company of the other dogs in the household. That's when I met my now-handler.

They visited and spent a long time doing weird tests, checks and play. At first, I didn't really understand why and honestly didn't care I was being played with what more could a puppy want? Now I understand, it was my handler who was seeing if I would make a good prospect for a trainee assistance dog. I ticked all the temperament boxes and my health was great. My handler used the Volhard puppy temperament testing checklist. This isn't a must for assistance dogs but can help those going owner trained to check for things they might not think of. Then after my handler got the house ready I came home to meet my new family. (Wasn't I cute)

I was allowed to settle in and get used to my new home life then on to stage one! This was introducing me to everything a puppy should know, where to toilet, meeting dogs and people, what a clicker is and treats are given when I do things. Building a solid foundation, and starting to mould my nature to become a helpful task for my handler. Learning games of fetch to learn to pick items up and bring them, sit and down, going to a mat (mark). I was shown my manners around my food and others and started venturing into pet-friendly public areas to expand the different types of areas I might work in the future. Once I started getting used to these new environments and doing my basic manners my handler started on Stage Two.

Stage two is using the moulded behaviours to be more for purpose. So I could fetch items, but my handler gave a certain word pick I know I need to grab their medicine bag, and I learn if they start coughing or breathing with a wheeze I need to let them know and go get the bag (you can set me retrieving the medicine bag from a backpack). I started noticing things that might make them breathe funny so started jumping up and barking at them to let them know that their asthma was going to need treatment. Then as I started learning my tasks like helping my handler in a panic attack with pressure therapy (laying on their lap to help ground them).

I now go everywhere and still learning new things every day as there is always something new I will always come across something new. I have hit a little teenage rebellion and sometimes need correcting or resetting but this is normal for a lot of dogs regardless of gender. I will continue to help my handler and complete more training as I go. For now, I wear my Vest with pride knowing that I'm helping them get out and do things otherwise unbelievably difficult. We will feature in future blogs showing trips out and showing how a small breed assistance dog does business.