Two black Labradors being trained to support autistic children visited Dudley Zoo in preparation for life as assistance dogs
Louis and Garry, two-year-old black Labradors in training with national charity Support Dogs, recently swapped their usual surroundings for Dudley Zoo and Castle to help prepare them for their future roles.
The pair are being trained as part of the charity’s autism assistance programme, which aims to provide dogs that can offer safety, comfort and greater independence to autistic children and their families.
Such dogs can help reduce stress, ease behavioural outbursts and encourage more socially inclusive lives.
Getting used to the wild side
Because the children Louis and Garry will eventually assist enjoy visiting places like zoos and theme parks, trainers Jemima McLanaghan and Emily High wanted to expose the dogs to exactly those environments.
Jemima said: “The children these dogs are going to assist both like to visit the zoo, so it was a brilliant opportunity for us to practise with the dogs to get them used to the sights, sounds and smells of a zoo environment.
“Louis and Garry have been to farms and stables before but hadn’t had the opportunity to see animals much larger than a cow. Both us trainers and the dogs really enjoyed our visit.”
Dudley Zoo Director Matt Lewis said: “We were pleased to welcome Louis and Garry as part of their training and hope to welcome them back as fully-fledged working support dogs with their new families in the future,” he said.
For more information visit www.supportdogs.org.uk or call 0114 2617800.
