The Oxford Residential

A group of students from the FdSc Animal Behaviour & Psychology and the FdSc Animal Husbandry & Welfare courses have just returned from an exciting annual field trip to Oxford. The three day residential trip involved tours and hands-on experience at the Hearing Dogs for Deaf People Centre, Red Wings Horse Sanctuary, the Guide Dogs for the Blind Centre and the UK Wolf Conservation Centre. Check in to NEWQUAY NEWS over the course of this week for student Emily Hall's write up of the trip.

The Oxford Residential- a student experience  

By Emily Hall- FdSc Animal Husbandry and Welfare

Hearing Dogs Centre for Deaf People
Arriving in reception to sign up, we were instantly overwhelmed by the sheer size of the facility, and that’s before the tour had started. Our tour guide Alison braved the blustering cold to show us around the site, looking at the training facilities, the kennels, the exercise yards, recipient B&B’s and training flats.
In the main hall, students were treated to a demonstration by three of the young hearing dogs. The eldest, Zorro, at 15 months old, is a credit to the centre. He scored a five on sound training, with most dogs at his age averaging on three, he has also already been matched with a young deaf and autistic boy, and is due to leave at the end of February. He will only be 16 months, whereas the average age for a dog to leave and find a match is 20 months old.

This is Zorro.  A lab retriever x, and is a fine example of the calm nature of the Golden Retriever, yet has the energy of a Labrador and is always eager to learn.

He has been with his trainers since the age of six weeks old, commands are in the form of hand signals and whistles since some deaf people may have a problem with their speech. For the last 10 weeks, Zorro and his trainers have been joined by Charlie, another Lab x Retriever. Charlie is only four months and is already well tuned to his trainer’s commands, with his attention mainly focused solely on his trainer. The trainers working with these young dogs, are predominantly volunteer based, the dogs live with the trainers until they are suitable to be matched with a recipient, and then the trainer will be allocated a new puppy.

While the puppies go through vigorous training for the most of their life, volunteers are also expected to take part in courses and training classes at the centre, they even learn basic sign and are always there to hand over the puppy to their new owner, working alongside them until they are confident enough to handle the dog of their own accord and continue the puppy’s training.
The organisation works with Labradors, Golden Retrievers, Cocker Spaniels and Poodles, often mixing the breeds to create calm and focused breeds.

After a quick look in the training flats, students gathered back in the main hall for a final demonstration. This time the students were shown how a dog which has completed training, (been a working dog and now retired) would handle a situation if an alarm was sounding. First the door bell, secondly a timer for medicine or perhaps if somebody had something on the hob in the kitchen, and thirdly a fire alarm. The dogs are trained to touch their owners and take them to the source of an alarm, unless it is a fire alarm or emergency, which the dog would respond to by touching the owner and then laying on the floor (sign of danger).

After her demonstration, this volunteer gave a very inspirational talk to the students on just how important drive and passion can be when it comes to building experience and finding jobs.

Facts
• Trainers are known as B&B carers
• 10 volunteers for every one member of paid staff
• 160 members across two sites
• 1,600 volunteers
• 150 matches made a year

One student said she felt so inspired, she instantly felt more confident in herself and her own drive, that she knew what she had to do and where she wanted to go.