Milton Keynes and District Fundraising Group
Mary Wiles
Mary - Puppy Socialiser and Volunteer Trainer
My latest puppy (number 16) is Bishop, one of 3 puppies born Christmas Eve 2018. His Mum is Nova lives in Milton Keynes.
Bishop and his siblings are named from a Christmas Cheeseboard, Blue, Brie and Bishop.
He is an adorable Cocker Spaniel who is now a fully accredited Hearing Dog and will leaving soon to help a deaf person reconnect with life.
Mary already has puppy number 17, Kiwi, one of Bishop's half siblings, learning some of Bishop's habits and has taken over his bed.
Mary M
Mary, our Branch Secretary, tells us how she became involved with Hearing Dogs for Deaf People and the puppies she has socialised over the years.
I had had my own dog and when, at 9 years old, he died of bone cancer felt I couldn't replace him with another.
Attending the Bucks County Show I approached the Hearing Dog gazebo and found out all about socialising. The rest as they say is history! Within a couple of weeks I had a home visit to be vetted and a couple of weeks after that presented with my first dog.
I have had a variety of dogs including a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, Labrador, Shih Tzu, Cavalier, and Cocker-Poos but the last few have been Show Cocker Spaniels.
I am now a volunteer dog trainer doing the sound-work training from home. This enables the dog to progress from socialising into sound-work without moving home.
From me they will, hopefully, go to their recipient. Sidney was my first experience of this and I have been asked to continue to do this with Libby.
As you can see from the number of dogs I have had over many years I very much enjoy being a socialiser and now a vdt for Hearing Dogs for Deaf People. Having a little bundle of fluff placed in your arms at 8 weeks, watching them grow, experience the big wide world and mature into a lovely dog is very satisfying. Saying goodbye is the heart- breaking time but knowing that they are going to change people's lives for the better makes it all worth while.