The idea for a greyhound assistance dog was hatched in 2012 when Melanie Donne from the Kotuku Foundation was researching dog breeds for the Foundation's work with disability assistance dogs. Melanie says, "I found that greyhounds have these wonderful qualities that match nearly perfectly the things we're looking for in an assistance dog. We contacted GAP and asked is there a way we could help?"
Our kennel managers and Greyhound Racing NZ got together with Melanie and, while it took a while to find both the right dog and foster carers who could commit to her training, Snowflake has now started her journey. If all goes well she will be New Zealand's first greyhound to become a disability assistance dog!
Her foster carers sent in her first update:
Snowflake My Blog December 2013
Hi! My name is Snowflake. I am a 2 year old female Greyhound. I came from GAP and they said I have raindrops on my coat!
I like to play with tennis balls and my friend Ada. She is a Siberian Husky. We play tag and chase each other through my foster parent's garden. Hazel the cat lives with us too.
Snowflake & Ada - Wynyard Quarter (photo above)
My friend Ada and I love going for a walk along Auckland's Wynyard Quarter. It is always busy. A lot of people like to come and pat us when we are sitting quietly. The people ask if their little kids can pat us too. I like getting pats from people. If I am lucky, they'll scratch behind my ears! It is nice to stop and take a look at the beautiful view.
At the resthome
Every week, Ada and I go to the resthome. We make sure we are very quiet and careful around the residents. Going to the resthome makes me happy; we bring a lot of joy to the people that live there. They like our company and tell us stories. Sometimes I dream about their stories when I have a nap.
Cuddles
This is my favourite photo of me with my friend, Ada.
Kids with energy
Ada and I went to see Santa! Lots of people went to see Santa too! We all lined the streets waiting to catch a glimpse of him before he started on his travels with the reindeer, delivering presents. A lot of the kids were really excited, and they rode scooters and bikes and had shoes with wheels that they played with while they waited. They had too much energy for me! Watching the kids made me tired. I asked my foster parents to wake me up when Santa's parade started.
Santa parade
This is Santa's parade! There were floats, police cars and fire engines with sirens, horses, marching bands, bagpipes and lolly scrambles!
A hard day's night!
Here I am with my friend Ada at the end of a busy day learning lots of new things!