14th June 2011 - We have received official notification from the charity Pets As Therapy that Freya has passed her temperement test and is now an approved Therapy dog. Since she was eleven weeks old she has been visiting the school after the children have left to become accustomed to all the equipment. At ten and a half months old she is our second youngest Therapy dog, Jodi was just six months when she was approved, since then the charity changed their rules. Freya will be starting her official visits to school this week, she is the first Therapy Dog bred by her breeders Mrs Sally Murphy and her son Andrew from the Kinelarty kennel in Northern Ireland. Her mother Star like Freya's father Geilo has an outstanding temperament and character.

1st January 2011:  Over the next few months we will continue with Freya's training, starting in early January we will take her to weekly ringcraft classes, she will also move on to another Obedience course in a few months. We start school on the 5th so Freya will be continuing her training there, she will come into contact with more equipment, noises and adults. It would be good if we could take her into the special sensory room  where there are lights, music, mirrors and other specialist items. 

September 2010: We have started training Freya for when she will be old enough to undergo her Therapy Dog Test. She has completed a six week course - 'Good Manners Puppy for Puppy Socialisation' and completed a six week course  'Well Mannered Dog, Undergraduate. We had also started to take Freya to Ringcraft classes where she has started to settle well, we do not take her every week as we do not want to overload her with lots of training classes.

We are very fortunate that the Special Needs School and Ecology Centre Ian visits allow him to take Freya in to the class rooms to become accustomed to all the specialist equipment and toys. At school Freya only goes into the class room after the children have left school. When she in in the school other members of staff will come in to see her, Freya loves going into the class room and playing with the toys. She is very good with the staff who play with her, they will make noises with loud toys, play music etc. There are many things in the room that Freya is attracted to, however she is learning that they are not all to be played with.

The staff are very confident that when Freya has her Therapy Test she will pass with no problems. Taking her into school has allowed the teacher's and staff to see her from a 12 week old puppy grow and develop over the months. When we go to the Ecology Centre she loves to explore the class room, this is different to the school we go to, there are lots of different things here to see, the short walk from the car park to the class room is good. There are nice flowers, trees, plenty of space all around, the class room is good to and Freya loves to explore, she is now finding it difficult to get under the bench seats, she is growing so fast.

We will be adding pictures of Freya and more news of her over the coming months so you can hear how her training is getting on, being allowed by the school and Ecology Centre to socialise Freya and get her used to all these different items and environments we believe that Freya will be an exceptional Therapy Dog.