A Perthshire pup who will one day help a sight-impaired person enjoy independent living has graduated from stage one training.
Female golden retriever ‘Cosmos’ was named by the Enchanted Forest Community Trust which had provided funding for her training.
Guide Dogs received a donation of £5000 from funds raised by the Enchanted Forest’s 2019 show, Cosmos, and the pup was formally named after that year’s event.
She is the first puppy in the history of Guide Dogs to be called Cosmos.
Cosmos has reason to wag her tail - she just successfully graduated from puppy socialisation training.
She was born on January 21, 2020, alongside her four other canine siblings named Flossie, Wendy, Harley and Hazel.
Having been placed with a puppy raiser in Perthshire during the pandemic, Cosmos learned the socialisation skills she’d need to train as a future guide dog, before leaving her puppy raiser to begin early training at Forfar.
Pitlochry-based Lesley Williamson, chair of the Enchanted Forest Community Trust, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled that Cosmos has moved into early training.
“Last year I had the pleasure of a very well-behaved walk with her at Faskally Wood, home of The Enchanted Forest, before she went off to the ‘big school’.
“She has a lovely character, and we hope her training continues to go well so that she can make a difference to someone living with sight loss.
“It’s been extraordinary to support a puppy through puppy raising, and we’ve very much enjoyed the updates we’ve had from the charity throughout the process.
“It’s truly humbling to know that Cosmos will make such a difference.”
When someone loses their sight, the organisation Guide Dogs is there to make sure they don’t lose their freedom as well.
Their guide dog training programme is considered to be one of the best in the world, founded in 1931 by two amazing British pioneers, Muriel Crooke and Rosamund Bond.
