A GUIDE dog mum from Japan has given birth to her first litter of puppies in Balsall Common.
Black Labrador Yuko was one of four pups who made the journey from Japan, leaving the Japan Guide Dog Association, to join Guide Dogs UK in 2022, as part of the charity’s international collaboration programme.
Following health and temperament assessments, the two-year-old became the first female dog from Japan to be selected for the charity’s breeding programme, becoming a guide dog mum to future generations of guide dogs here in the UK.
She now lives permanently with Guide Dogs’ Breeding Dog Volunteers Eric and Hanlie Martens, who have had her first litter of puppies of five boys and four girls living with them for the last eight weeks.
For most of the time, guide dog mums are like any other pet dog, but during their time on the charity’s breeding programme, they will have litters of pups who are born in volunteers’ homes.
Volunteers then care for these adorable pups, before they move out to start the first stages of their guide dog training.
Eric said: “Friends of ours had a guide dog mum living with them, and we liked the idea, so signed up as Breeding Dog Volunteers.
“Yuko is the second guide dog mum we’ve cared for, but her litter are the first we’ve had born in our home.
“The birth went really smoothly – Yuko has been an excellent mother right from the start.
“Having her puppies at home with us has been absolutely lovely – as you can imagine, we’re getting lots of visitor requests.
“It’s great that Yuko is the first guide dog mum from Japan to join the charity’s breeding programme, and that we’ve helped by caring for her, and her first litter.”
The charity covers the essential costs involved with having a guide dog mum living with you, such as food and vet costs, and when the dog retires from the breeding programme, they can continue to live with them as a pet.
Tom Lewis, breeding and genetics operation lead at Guide Dogs, said: “Exchanging dogs with partner guide dog schools in other countries is an important way to help preserve genetic diversity in our breeding programme and, when we do exchange dogs, their health and wellbeing is paramount.
“It’s fantastic that Yuko has had her first litter, having been selected for our breeding programme, and we look forward to seeing how her puppies develop as they start their guide dog journey.”
The charity has around 250 guide dog mums, who all live in volunteers’ homes, within an hour’s drive of its National Centre, just outside Leamington Spa, so it can run its breeding programme effectively.
Guide Dogs is appealing for more volunteers across the Midlands, to give permanent homes to guide dog mums.
For more about becoming a Breeding Dog Volunteer for Guide Dogs, email [email protected] or visit guidedogs.org.uk/volunteer.
