Isle of Wight-based Ability Dogs 4 Young People has helped to ‘save the life’ of a 16-year-old girl in Jersey by flying out Willow, an 8-week-old puppy.
Ability Dogs 4 Young People IoW is a charity dedicated to training assistance dogs for young people and children. Normally the charity trains and places dogs solely on the Isle of Wight. However, last month was a 1st for the charity, as a puppy was flown to Jersey in order to save the life of a 16-year-old girl.
Earlier this year in March, Pippa Lumbard reached out to Carol Court, CEO of Ability Dogs 4 Young People, to ask for her help. Pippa’s daughter, Ruby, has autism and has been in and out of hospital due to her declining mental health, with life-threatening consequences. Ruby’s family was extremely concerned about her welfare and felt out of options because there is no assistance dog organisation on Jersey.
Carol knew how much of a difference a dog could make, and knew she had to help Ruby and her family.
The charity was about to start training Charlie and Barney, 2 Goldendoodle puppies who were born in Freshwater. Carol reached out to Helen, their breeder, who agreed to let the family buy the 3rd Goldendoodle in the litter – a girl who they have named Willow.
On Monday 27th March, Pippa and Poppy (Ruby’s younger daughter) travelled from Jersey to the Isle of Wight in a helicopter. They met Carol and Helen with 8-week-old puppy Willow and her mother ‘Tarka’ at the Ability Dogs Training Centre. Due to the generosity of the helicopter pilot and Dan Subhani at Sandown Airport, they were able to fly Willow back to Jersey that afternoon.
Within the 1st week Willow has already had an enormous positive impact on Ruby. Having Willow present has given Ruby a newfound focus, and motivation to progress through rehabilitation. She is out of hospital and looking at going back into education after several years out.
Pippa, Ruby and Willow will be helped by the charity as part of the ‘Own Trained’ programme, which aims to help train Willow to be a jacketed assistance dog for Ruby. The family will be guided by Training Supervisor Alyson Dunford, as well as Carol Court.
Dan Subhani has generously offered to fly Carol and Alyson to Jersey to support the training. The 1st trip was arranged during Easter week, when they will be able to see how Willow has settled in and advise the family on how she can progress through the programme. There are plans for trainer Alyson to periodically fly to Jersey to support the family in Willow’s training. Pippa hopes that they will also be able to travel to the Island periodically to gain training support from here.
Carol has said:
“There are some times in life when you get a call for help and you just know that you have to act now. This was one of those calls. Although it is, and has to be a one-off (because we do not have the resources or the funding to support people off the Isle of Wight), I am so glad everything has slotted into place so perfectly. A wonderful baby puppy was available and the generous travel offers meant that she has been able to make an immediate and very positive effect. There is a long way to go, but I am delighted to be part of this particular journey.”
What a wonderful story,hope everything works out for all
It is a lovely story, good to read something positive.
Well done to all who made this happen.
Wishing them all the best.
Keep up the training !