Where it all began
It's been quite a journey for me, coming all the way from Croatia to become a SuPAW Hero Dog in Ireland.
Not every dog becomes a fully qualified and accredited assistance dog like me. It's taken 2 years of training, love and care.
Arriving in Ireland I was fostered for over 18 months with a fantastic family. I would attend Dog school regularly with the Autism Assistance Dog Team and several other dogs where I learnt how important it will be to keep my future friend safe. Especially when several of these boys and girls have no awareness to danger and maybe limited communication.
Here is a photo of me as a young puppy. Im learning how to avoid other animals when Im working and have my special coat on.
My training involves:
- Ignoring other dogs and animals when Im working.
- Listening to my adult owner for commands including left, right, stop and ignore
- I must only eat my own dog food. I'm trained to avoid human food as some of these food types would make me overweight and make me sick.
- Im trained to only toilet on command and on grass.
- I'm not allowed play ball games as this would distract me from my work.
- I'm allowed play rope games like tug when Im not working.
My training takes up to 2 years before Im fully certified and accredited with Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland and Assistance Dogs International.
It is very important that when I'm wearing my red coat Im working and other humans should not try and pet me or offer me food or treats.
I stayed in a foster home with Bronagh and her family while I was a puppy before I did my advance training in Cork.
You will find several photos of me as a puppy in training in the photo gallery menu.
My training was with Ciara and Aileen from AADI who I always have to impress to pass my exams.
In January 2025 I finally met my forever family, Jen, Justin, Ciarán and Róisín.
In the first 6 months of being a member of the Dawson family I've been on several magical adventures including a trip to Liverpool with my new Mammy Jen. Several car rides to amazing playgrounds and even on a 4 hour flight in the cabin to Lanzarote at Easter! I'm a well travelled SuPAW hero dog from Croatia to Ireland, to England and to Lanzarote!
Where to next? You can read about all my adventures in the journal area of this site.
