The puppies experienced new sounds, sights and smells on their journey
Next generation of guide dogs train at The Beatles Story
The Beatles Story Museum at Liverpool’s Royal Albert Dock welcomed its first classes of budding guide dogs at an adorable puppy training session yesterday.
Puppies Janie, Sirena, Milo, Jonas, Kian, Gia, Nya, Kenzie, Toby, Eddie, Smithy and Ibson came together with their volunteer raisers from 10am for a magical mystery tour through the immersive exhibition at the famous museum. Guide Dogs staff and volunteers didn’t need a ticket to ride as The Beatles Story temporarily closed for the morning to allow the dogs to ease into this unfamiliar public space.
The young pups – mostly Labrador/golden retriever crosses – had more than a little help from their human friends, with volunteers closely accompanying their foster puppies with treats for added incentives. Though excitable at first, after just a few minutes the puppies were already getting better at staying calm in a strange new environment.
The dogs were first taken to the Cavern Club set, giving them a chance to get used to the stone floor as volunteers gave the word for them to lie down, before using the “okay” command to encourage them to stand up again. The brave pups then walked through a gentler version of the museum’s noisy Beatlemania sound effects as they continued their tour.
After passing through the mock EMI studio space, the puppies had to wait before they learned how to accompany their future owners on public transport, sitting patiently with their volunteers between the seats on which the Beatles flew to New York.
The next stop saw many of the dogs climb a metal staircase for the first time as they navigated the inside of the Yellow Submarine. After a bit of skidding and sliding, the pups made their way to the white piano room for a photo with John Lennon’s orange glasses before gathering in the museum’s Discovery Zone for a well-earned drink of water.
This was just a day in the life for 20-week-old Smithy’s raiser, Karin Snape, who has previously raised 28 other puppies for Guide Dogs.
Karin said: “It is just so rewarding. Each one has a different personality. And they are all different, and some are easy and some are grindingly hard work. But, at the end of the day, it makes a difference to so many people and it makes a difference in their lives, and that’s why I do it.”
Many people might struggle to say goodbye and let it be when it comes to raising dogs that will ultimately go on to help a different owner. Does Karin keep in touch with any of her old puppies and their new owners?
She said: “Some of them I board their dogs, with one owner I went to her wedding and her children’s christenings and everything else, but it’s not everybody. Some people just say thank you and then that’s it, and they don’t want you to be a part of their life – and that’s fine.
“And some people don’t want to say thank you because they’re too emotional about it, or they’re too busy, and that’s fine too. Because, at the end of the day, I know that I’ve made a difference in somebody’s life and that, for me, is good enough. And, in the meantime, I’ve got another puppy.”
Sam Williams is a puppy development advisor for Guide Dogs, and works closely with the volunteer puppy raisers. She kept an experienced eye on the group as they made their way around the museum.
Sam said: “We’re here today because it’s important that we socialise our dogs in a range of environments. We want to give them confidence to be able to go on and guide somebody with sight loss in the future, so coming to a place like this is absolutely amazing. The Beatles Story has been brilliant letting us in. We’ve got a change of surfaces, we’ve got different types of steps, we’ve got lots of things going on that the dogs will probably come across in the future.”
It won’t be long until Guide Dogs get back to the museum, with the team from The Beatles Story already having invited a new cohort of trainee pups in for a tour in January.
Victoria Leyshon-Matthews, guest experience manager at The Beatles Story, said: “We are a team of dog lovers here, so we have been so excited to welcome the puppies to our attraction. Witnessing them exploring our museum to develop their skills navigating new sights, sounds and smells has been a very rewarding experience. We are so proud to be supporting guide dogs and people with sight loss in this way, and we look forward to building on our partnership with Guide Dogs in the future.”
For today’s four-legged students, the next step on the long and winding road to becoming fully-fledged guide dogs is a 6-month formal training programme, when they will leave their raisers and join dedicated members of staff to learn the ropes of guiding.
In the meantime, Guide Dogs are looking for new recruits to try their hand at puppy raising. All essential costs are paid for by Guide Dogs, and volunteers receive an allowance for anything else and the opportunity to take a break for holidays and other commitments.
Joanna Kinrade, regional communications manager for Guide Dogs, said: “We’re always looking for more volunteer puppy raisers in Liverpool and across Merseyside to get involved with Guide Dogs. They’ll get a puppy from when they’re about eight weeks old and they’ll have them for about 14 months, teaching them all the different things so, when they start their formal guide dogs training, they’re a well rounded puppy. So you can find out more by visiting guidedogs.org.uk and searching ‘puppy raiser’.”
Guide Dogs was started in Wallasey in 1931 by Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond, and is the largest breeder of working dogs in the world.
To find out more or apply to volunteer as a puppy raiser, visit Guide Dogs HERE. You can also visit The Beatles Story HERE.
