Deaf and blind dogs at Dogs Trust receive specialist training

THE specialist training staff at Dogs Trust Merseyside have been busy in the last few weeks, helping to teach a deaf dog to 'sit' and a blind dog to 'stay'. And mimicking last week's GCSE results, it is the girl who is topping the Dogs Trust class!  Cindy, a deaf one year old English Bull Terrier Cross, and Bruno, a blind eight year old Cocker Spaniel, have been learning to cope with their conditions, helped by the training and behavioural team at the Huyton-based rehoming centre.  Michelle Roughley, Training & Behaviour Advisor at Dogs Trust Merseyside, said:- "We have numerous ways to work with our dogs with more specialist needs. Cindy, for example, is completely deaf but she has been responding really well to flicker light training and to sign language! Bruno on the other hand came to us with bad cataracts. Unfortunately we were unable to save his sight, but we have been introducing him to clicker training. However, while Cindy has proved herself to be a bit of a girly swat and is a very able student, Bruno has been a little slower to pick things up. Like the stereotypical class clown Bruno isn't the most focused of students and despite his blindness his nose is always to the ground and he is into everything apart from his homework!"

Staff are confident that in the quieter environment of a home, Bruno will catch on much quicker, and they are keen to find both him and Cindy understanding and patient homes with owners who are willing to continue with their training. Full support will continue to be given by specialist staff once the dogs have gone to their new homes.

Cindy is a English Bull Terrier Cross, aged approximately 1 year.  She came into Dogs rust Merseyside as a stray from another charitable organisation. Although totally deaf Cindy is a fun, bouncy dog. However although she loves other dogs she can be too playful and, because of her condition, doesn't respond to their yelps if she hurts them! Cindy will need an active owner and can be rehomed with children over the age of 10. She can't be rehomed with cats.

Bruno is a Cocker Spaniel, 8 years old. He is a handsome and friendly 8 year old Black and Grey Cocker Spaniel at Dogs Trust Merseyside. He came to the rehoming centre from the dog warden who brought him in as his family didn't want him anymore. Despite his eyesight problems Bruno is bouncy and full of energy! However he does need a lot of human company and gets very distressed when left alone. He therefore needs to be rehomed with someone who is at home a lot of the time. Bruno can be rehomed with children aged over 8, but not with cats.   If you would like to offer a home to any of the wonderful dogs cared for at Dogs Trust Merseyside, please call the Rehoming Centre directly on:- 0151 480 0660 or visit:- dogstrust.org.uk. Dogs Trust is the UK's largest dog welfare charity, caring for over 16,000 stray or abandoned dogs every year through its network of 18 Rehoming Centres across the UK and 1 in Ireland.

Soap stars back Mayor's care campaign

2 soap stars are backing a new campaign by the Mayor of Liverpool to build a better future for the City's looked-after children. Actors Andrew Lancel, who plays Frank Foster in Coronation Street; and James Sutton, of Hollyoaks and Emmerdale fame, joined the youngsters at a special event, Next Steps; Your Voices, Your Future, Your Changes, on Wednesday, 29 August 2012, at the Conference Centre at LACE, Croxteth Drive. The event bought together children in care, aged 11 and over, from across Liverpool to share ideas about how care services can be improved.  Mayor Anderson made it a priority to improve care services for young people in the City; but he wants to make sure that young people themselves are at the heart of the decisions. The event is amined at helping to ensure he is taking on-board their views. Young people attending the event had been placed into small 'focus groups' to talk about their experiences and explore the key issues affecting children in care today, from education and employment to leisure and housing.  The young people's session then immediately followed by a 2nd session at the Centre, this time aimed at foster carers and adoptive parents. It is hoped that 'The Mayor of Liverpool's fostering and adoption event' has given local carers the chance to share their experiences. Following a similar format to the morning session, the afternoon session focused on bring foster carers and adopters together, via focus groups, inorder to discuss the issues and challenges facing them today, what additional support they need and what needs to be done to improve the service.  Everything raised within the 2 sessions have been fed back to the Mayor. It is now hoped that this information will help him form his pledges over how he will improve life for looked-after young people over the next 4 years.  The events was hosted by Wavertree Councillor Jake Morrison, who is the City's youngest councillor at just 19 years of age. Jake has just been appointed the Mayoral Lead for looked-after children. Just before the event Councillor Morrison told the media that:- "We are committed to improving life for looked-after children, but if we want to get it right, it's absolutely essential that we listen to the people that matter; young people themselves and the people who care for them. I'm delighted Andrew Lancel and James Sutton are joining us for this special event. It's an important part of our work to make sure our young people in care, as well as local foster carers and adoptive parents, have a direct role to play in shaping services. If we want to deliver a service which better meets people's needs we need to listen, first-hand, to what's working, what needs to change and how we can improve. That's why we're urging as many people as possible to come along to these special events and have their say."  The discussions at both events were chaired by Liverpool's Children in Care Council, a group of 50 young people in care who work closely with the City Council.