RAINESGIFT FLATCOAT IN TRAINING

At Crufts Dog Show in 2006 a young boy called Daniel and his assistance dog Yogi won the hearts and minds of the British Public. They had won Friends for Life a competition highlighting the many ways in which dogs can make a difference to people’s lives. It highlighted cases of bravery and also the supporting role in which individual dogs play in peoples lives
The part that Yogi plays within Daniels life was both heart braking and inspiring .
Daniel has Muscular Dystrophy a disease which limits mobility and decreases independence. This is a disease close to mine and my family’s hearts as my own nephew has it. Unfortunately for James he ended up with the only out of five children who doesn’t love animals!
The day after the Crufts programme went out I rang Dogs for the Disabled and pledged to gift them a dog from a litter of Flat coated Retrievers I had planned for that summer.
Inzie was born on July 30th to Otti and Renn and reared here at Rainesgift. Both his parents Otti and Renn have the most fabulous temperaments and are true ambassadors for the breed .…though Renn is the brains of the outfit !
Inzie was collected by trainer Zoe Tomlinson in early September and spent his first few days at the Dogs for the Disabled headquarters in Banbury .Inzie was then placed with his Puppy Socialiser Wendy , making him her 24th puppy walked for the Organisation .

I have been in regular contact with Wendy throughout Inzie’s first year and she cannot begin to say enough good things about him. He has been Wendy’s first Flat coat and I am glad to say he will not be her last.
Inzie is on target with his training something quite unique for a Flat coat as they tend to mature slower than most Retriever breeds. Inzie is heading off for his formal training on October 5th and to date all the signs are good for him eventually becoming a fully fledged assistance dog. Ideally I would love him to be placed with a child but if he can make a difference to someone’s life as Yogi has for Daniel then I will be over the moon. I am already one very proud breeder with the way he has progressed so far. Also that he has made Wendy’s family fall in love with the best breed of dog there is THE FLATCOATED RETRIEVER!

Inzie training at 9/10 months

Please come back for more updates on Inzie’s development and training
Hayley

Wendy's words here

Inzie at 14 months old	Inzie at 14 months old

11/12/2007

Dear Mrs Tomlinson

Thank you for donating Inzie to Dogs for the Disabled, so that he may be trained to become an assistance dog for a physically disabled adult or child.

I am now writing to update you on Inzie’s progress, here at the Banbury Centre.

You’ll be pleased to hear that he has successfully passed both his assessment phase and 12 week early training walk. This involves walking in numerous environments alongside a push manual wheelchair as well as various task-work including dumb-bell retrieve, push using a front paw on a target board and pull work i.e. socks.

Inzie is a lovely, confident chap with a great aptitude to task-work and as a natural performer has recently been used for an external demonstration.

Thanks again and best wishes for a very Merry Christmas and New Year.

Kind Regards - Cheryl Brading - Trainer - Dogs for the Disabled

If you haven’t already done so why not check out our ‘new look’ website www.dogsforthedisabled.org

January 8th 2008 Today I have been to visit Inzie at the Dogs For the Disabled training Centre in Banbury . Many thanks to Cheryl his trainer for inviting me and showing me around. It's a truly fantastic place !