“Woof”
Howie | Therapy Dog (In Training)
About Howie:
Howie is a 5 year old Great Swiss Mountain Dog. He is in clinic most days as he progresses with his training to become a registered Therapy Dog.
I understand that not everyone likes dogs, but please don’t let this put you off coming to clinic. Howie has his own little enclosure and is exceptionally well behaved - he never interrupts anyone’s session (unless you count snoring as an interruption).
Howie’s training:
The first step of Howie’s training was for him to learn to be calm around patients.
He is very good at this although he is a real lazy bones so it is difficult to work out whether he is being calm or just tired!
Great Swiss Mountain Dogs:
Great Swiss Mountain Dogs, or Swissies as they are affectionately known as are quite a rare breed in the UK. They are a big dog, Howie weighs around 60kg!
They have a multi role working background, Swissies were traditionally used as herding dogs, but they would also guard the herd and pull carts to and from the herd’s location.
