Sporting Life: six months puppy-walking a future autism assistance dog

We have recently become guardians of a young cavapoo dog – a deliberate cross between a toy or miniature poodle and a cavalier King Charles spaniel. No, wait, hear me out. I know it’s not much of a sporting type, but let me explain.

Unlike a large part of the British pet-owning population, we’ve not succumbed to the phenomenal popularity of such a type. We are in fact puppy-walking him and from us he will – we hope – eventually go on to be trained as an assistance dog for someone (child or adult) affected by autism.

The idea is that Waffle – apparently so named after a dog on children’s television which, after a little online research, I’ve discovered he does closely resemble – will, after six months with us, go into intensive training with the charity Dogs for Autism. From there he will, we hope, then find his forever home with a suitable recipient.

Why assistance dogs matter to children with autism

While many of us are familiar with working dogs such as Labradors and spaniels being used as guide dogs for the blind, hearing dogs for the deaf and even sniffer dogs for the services, fewer realise their importance to anyone – particularly children – when it comes to providing emotional grounding, physical safety and increased independence. Fully trained, they can be invaluable in helping their handlers navigate public spaces, manage sensory overload and cope with anxiety or meltdowns.

Seemingly, the likes of us are nowadays known as puppy-raisers but, having been around hunt kennels for much of my life and walked puppies for various beagle packs on several occasions, I will always think of myself as being a puppy-walker. That aside, it is the first time I’ve been involved with anything similar on behalf of assistance dogs.

It being something of a joint venture, Melinda and I had to attend a couple of training sessions – designed mainly for the potential puppy walker’s education rather than that of the dog – prior to actually taking charge of Waffle.

It is just as well we did. It would seem that assistance dogs are educated very differently from how I have trained gundogs during the course of my keepering career. I am not sure what the likes of past gundog gurus and Shooting Times contributors such as Peter Moxon and Keith Erlandson would have made of it all.

Nevertheless the newly learned training methods appear to be working, and Waffle’s progress is – especially considering his age – very encouraging. No doubt there will be – as there would be with any dog’s training – a few blips, but at the moment the fact that he seems naturally biddable and quick to learn is making his (and our) education that much easier.

What puppy-walking an assistance dog is really like

There are, however, certainly a couple of things I had not considered before becoming involved in this project. The first is that extra time is needed on any excursion into public places because Waffle’s “in training” vest elicits much conversation and interested questioning.

The second is that, being an extremely cute-looking dog, he attracts a great deal of female attention. If I were a single man, he would, no doubt, be the perfect icebreaker in a quest for an introduction to any eligible ladies.

Out and about, Waffle has so far been on a trip to the Monmouthshire Show, a training session in Sainsbury’s, an early-morning meet of the bloodhounds, a charity cricket match, an overnight stay in a hotel and several trips to our local pub – all of which he has taken in his stride.

Jeremy Hobson was a gamekeeper for over 30 years. He regularly hunts and occasionally fishes – and is the author of over 30 fieldsports and country-based books.