22nd New Zealand Companion Animal Conference

On Monday October 31st and Tuesday November 1st 2011 we attended the 22nd New Zealand Companion Animal Conference held at the Stamford Plaza Hotel in Auckland.

For those of you who have never heard of the New Zealand Companion Animal Council or NZCAC, it is a collection of organisations and individuals who meet four times a year to discuss events and issues that affect companion animals and some working animals. It also acts as a driving force for positive changes through submissions to the government, and has been instrumental in driving the writing of draft codes of welfare for a range of species. Each year the NZCAC holds the New Zealand Companion Animal Conference which focuses on a specific topics and brings keynote speakers from around the world to speak on a wide range of topics, along with local and regional speakers to provide depth and breadth.

This years keynote speaker was Jonathan Balcombe from the Humane Society University (HSU) and he gave two very interesting and engrossing talks over the two days - one about his new book the Exultant Ark, and the other on the inner lives of animals. These were interesting talks for so many reasons, and we are all planning on reading his books to see more about what he was talking about. Ideas included animals doing things for pleasure, and about animals showing memory and emotions. For some people these would seem anthropomorphic ideas, but they are really just common sense. Jonathan was an engaging and energetic speaker who had a passion for his topic and really encouraged people to connect with what he was saying. If his books are anywhere as engaging as his presentations then they will be well worthwhile reading.

Another interesting speaker was New Zealander Annie Potts, an Associate Professor and Co-Director of the New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies. Most people think of chickens as stupid (bird brained) brains that don't deserve the same protections as other animals because they are just a food source. Annie had an amazing presentation that was really too short as she obviously had to shorten parts of her presentation to fit into the time frame. While there was an element of trying to educate people about the cruelty of the food production around chickens and eggs, it was more about opening our eyes about chickens as a species that has a lot to give, a companion animal species with all the quirks and affection of cats and dogs. Some of the chickens that Annie mentioned by name were real characters that brought a smile to your face, and the history of the chicken and the development of farming practices way back in Ancient Egypt and China was a real eye opener. She has a book coming out shortly about the chicken and again if the book has the same charisma as he talk it will be a fascinating read.

Another speaker, Russell McMurray from Victoria in Australia talked about the campaign to stop tail docking in Victoria. This was an amazing talk as it showed some of the mind blowing advertising they used, and showed the alarming fact that most people thought that docked breeds were born that way, and once people understood Boxers and other breeds were born with tails, there was a change of public opinion. The presentation also showed the sad fact that people will try and come up with any loophole they can to do what they want, including sending bitches to New Zealand to have their pups so the puppies can be legally docked here before being sent back to Australia. It really is time for a change, if you are docking tails merely because it is the breed standard that is not good enough.

This year also saw the return of Steve Glassey from Massey University. Steve spoke at the conference in Christchurch last year and had some fascinating, and scary, facts for people following the September 2010 earthquake. Steve was joined by representatives of the SPCA and VERT who had worked through the aftermath of the February 2011 earthquake that caused so much devastation in Christchurch. Their presentation left everyone very moved (there were more than a few tears around the room) and Steve and the panel again raised the fact that people need to be prepared for their animals as well as themselves. There are some simple things you can do to help with an evacuation situation:

• Make sure you animal is microchipped (not just your dogs) - something like 85% of microchipped animals were reunited with owners within 2 hours
• Have a carry cage for every cat you own - not just one cat cage for all your cats
• If you have dogs look at getting a muzzle - muzzled dogs are safer for everybody to transport Keep an emergency kit for your pets as well - food, water, and basic first aid supplies

Overall this was a great conference and the chance to network was amazing, and there are so many people there who were interested in talking to us about who the dogs were and the jobs they do. We are all looking forward to the 2012 conference in Wellington.

Isn't it cruel?

One of the surprising questions we get every now and then is people asking us (or pointing out to us) that training dogs to work with people with disabilities is inhumane or downright cruel. For all of these people we have a simple answer that we then expand on - the dogs love the work, and if they didn't we wouldn't have them working or training. The welfare of our dogs is very important to all of us, and all of our dogs enjoy their work and the time they spend with their puppy raisers, trainers, and handlers.

We ask all of our clients to ensure their dogs have a minimum time each day where they can relax, chill out, and just be dogs. Where possible we ask for some of this time to be spent off leash playing with other (suitable) dogs - this helps the dog experience a different kind of exercise, introduces them to new environments, and allows them to really burn off some energy. This isn't always possible for all of our handlers or clients, so for them we ask instead that a minimum time is spent each day where the dog can play, relax, or just generally be a dog. Dogs learn a great deal through play, and play can be a wonderful bonding tool, particularly for new handler and dog teams.

We also strive to educate all our potential clients about the needs of the dog, ensuring that they understand their disability assist dog is a living, breathing animal who has needs and feelings. We have only had one person sd far who has not gotten this concept, and needless to say they are not one of our clients. So far the dogs coming into the programme that are privately owned already have strong bonds with their owners, and the owners have all shown an intense interest in maintaining the psychological as well as physical welfare of their dogs.

On our Facebook page we maintain a photo album called "dogs just wanna have fun" where we post some of the photos we have taken of the dogs out and about individually or as a group where they have been able to relax and have some fun.

Here is a photo taken yesterday of Angus at one of his favourite off leash parks, you can easily see that he is happy, healthy, and enjoying life. At times it may seem difficult to balance the needs of clients with disabilities and disability assist dogs - but if you make good matches then the bond that develops between the handler and their dog, and the dog and their handler makes almost anything possible.

Welcome to the family

Perfect Partners has a new member of the family, a black Labrador puppy which has been named Angus (Gus for short). The past few weeks have seen Gus settling into city life after, a big change for a young puppy who grew up in the country near the scenic Lake Taupo.

He has been a wonderful addition to the Perfect Partners family, settling in well with his puppy raising family and his new friends Odin and Dini. Gus has started going on outings in the past two weeks, starting with small short trips, building up to a trip to Sylvia Park which is possibly the busiest mall in New Zealand. His first trip to Sylvia Park he travelled in style in the shopping trolley on a towel (for hygiene), but on his most recent trip he spent most of the time walking on his own four feet meeting people and learning to follow his puppy raisers lead.

We look forward to updating you all with further progress about Angus and his training, and about the other dogs in the programme. New adult dogs have recently entered the programme and we now have clients from all over the Auckland region, as well as clients in the South Island. We have been receiving a lot of email queries, and we are working through these as quickly as we can.

Taking a deep breath

The last few months have been an amazing (and at times frantic) experience. Since the PPADT gained the ability to certify dogs for public access in December we have been meeting with a wide variety of people to assess their dogs for work as Disability Assist Dogs, taken people through our public access test, and talked to people who are interested in either a Disability Assist Dog or a Skilled Companion Dog. In January we even ventured as far as Timaru and Christchurch to meet with potential clients and clients in the area.

We have met some lovely people, and some amazing dogs over the past few months, and judging by the number of emails we are receiving at the moment we are likely to meet many more people over the coming months. If you have emailed us and the response is taking more than a week then please email us again as occasionally some of our emails vanish into the blackhole of the internet.

We have recently been in contact with a person who may be donating a puppy to the Trust from a litter of Labrador puppies. This is exciting for us as it means that we can reduce the amount of fundraising that we need to do as the purchase price of a puppy is usually $1,000 - $1,500. If one of the puppies is a suitable candidate then we will soon have a new puppy in training, so watch the website, and watch this space.

If you are interested in donating a puppy, or if you are interested in being a puppy raiser for the Trust then please email us with your details. At the moment we are only looking for puppy raisers in the Auckland region, but that will change in time as more support becomes available throughout the country.

If you have visited our page on Facebook you may have seen the photographs that were recently taken of Odin, who belongs to one of the Trustees. The photographs were taken by the PixieFoto team at Sylvia Park, and the high quality images are perfect for promotional work for the Trust.

If you have any comments or questions then please do not hesitate to contact the Trust. You can find out more about us by visiting our website or you can become a fan on Facebook. Or you can email us via contact_ppadt@yahoo.com

Press release - 20 December 2010

Mans best friend has new role

On Thursday 23 December 2010 the Dog Control (Certifying Organisations for Disability Assist Dogs) Order 2010 comes into effect. This Order in Council provides the Perfect Partners Assistance Dogs Trust and Assistance Dogs New Zealand with the ability to certify dogs as Disability Assist Dogs. This allows the dogs and their handlers the same public access rights as dogs trained and certified by Hearing Dogs for Deaf People New Zealand, the Mobility Assistance Dogs Trust, the New Zealand Epilepsy Assist Dogs Trust, the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, and the Top Dog Companion Trust.

Established as a charitable trust in 2007, the Perfect Partners Assistance Dogs Trust was founded to train and certify Disability Assist Dogs for individuals who were not covered by the existing Disability Assist Dog organisations with an emphasis on neurological disorders. Perfect Partners is already working with clients with neurological disorders including autism, Alzheimer’s, seizures, cerebral palsy, and neurotoxicity. Perfect Partners will also be working with individuals with psychiatric conditions including anxiety and panic disorders.

Disability Assist Dogs form a dual function for their handlers by providing practical assistance in the form of tasks specifically aimed at mitigating the clients particular disability, while also performing a valuable social function providing a social bridge to the clients community. For children with autism this dual function is particularly important as neurological disorders are often invisible disabilities that leave clients and their families socially isolated by misconceptions and quick judgements about behaviour including meltdowns and stimming.

Fully trained dogs have a teal coat, while dogs in training wear a teal coat and an “L” plate to show they are still learning. As our dogs can be rescue dogs, they come in a variety of shapes and sizes; however, all of our dogs are on the register on our website. All handlers carry identification that includes their name and photograph, if you have doubts then please ask to see their ID.

You can view a copy of the Dog Control (Certifying Organisations for Disability Assist Dogs) Order 2010 online here

If you would like to learn more about Perfect Partners then please visit our website

Become a fan on Facebook to learn about upcoming fundraising events and other news

Waiting in the wings

It has been a while since we have posted to the blog, but the simple reason for that is not a lot has been happening over the past few months.

We have all been waiting for Public Access to come through so that we can start the serious work of training Disability Assist Dogs - especially their Public Access training so that they will be comfortable working in a variety of environments when they are ready to step into the role of being a DAD with a partner who needs their help.

We are receiving a steady trickle of emails from people interested in receiving a dog through the Trust and we have been building up our waiting list so that we can move forward as soon as we receive confirmation that we have Public Access.

Thank you to everyone who has shown their support over the past 3 years, it means a lot to all of us that there are people out their supporting us by standing in the wings ready to help us move forward as soon as we are ready.

Hope to update you about Public Access soon.

Moving at warp speed (in slow motion)

So far 2010 has been a blur of moving at warp speed, although at times it has felt like warp speed moving in slow motion.

This year we have had people make some amazing offers to us, offers that we have gratefully accepted. A talented young designer completing her degree has created a new website for us that is fresh and vibrant, and most importantly easy to navigate. She has also updated our logo to something that is new, unique, and exciting - and she has offered to do some more work for us as well.

This year has also provided us with the chance to raise the profile of Perfect Partners in a variety of media - and provided a bit of a chance to do some general promotion of the benefits of Disability Assistance Dogs. So far we can tick off a radio interview with RadioLive, an interview with a New Zealand based magazine (don't want to spoil the surprise about which magazine), and we have been filmed for a documentary that will show at some stage in 2011.

We have a growing following on Facebook which allows us to reach lots of different kinds of people - and Facebook compliments the material that we post here - although at the moment our blog is a little quiet because there are no puppies being trained at the moment and there is not a lot of detail to share - although a few weeks ago Toby spent just over a week with his puppy raising family, which meant a special surprise trip to the local school where a lot of the children remembered him from when he was with his puppy raisers (although a few can't believe how much he has grown!).

While Toby was with his puppy raising family we also took the opportunity to introduce Toby and Tana - our two T boys. Toby is about a month older than Tana, so they are at a similar stage in their development - and both of them show the sweet nature of a Golden retriever - although one of them barks with an American accent. The boys had loads of fun running around on the beach together, and with other dogs that they met. It was nice for us that they have finally had a chance to meet, and there are photos on our Facebook photo albums showing them playing together.

We hope to have more information up soon - especially about a new puppy in training. We have quite a fe people interested in dogs at the moment, so there will be a new puppy or two as soon as the Public Access comes through. Hope to be able to update you all soon.

If you are interested in becoming a fan on Facebook then follow the link at the bottom of the page - we would love to have 100 fans by the end of 2010 so if you would like to become a fan (even a passive one) we would love to see you join up so you can catch up with the latest breaking news.