We are delighted to announce that Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland has been gifted two female labrador puppies from Assistance Dogs International’s (ADI) North America breeding cooperative (ABC).
A result of a partnership between ADI's European and North American breeding cooperatives, these beautiful pups, named Dove (pictured top left) and Wren (top right), both come from generations of successful assistance dog breeding lines, and will go on to become mothers to a number of suPAWheroes in the near future.
Both puppies arrived on our shores at 17 weeks old, having come through 8 weeks of socialisation ‘in the nest’, aswell as completing 9 weeks of initial puppy training at Assistance Canine Training Services (ACTS) and Susquehanna Training Services in the USA.
These puppies will not only support Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland (AADI), a rapidly growing organisation that trains and places autism assistance dogs here in Ireland, but also that of other assistance dog schools who are part of the European Breeders Cooperative (EBC).
Travelling all the way from Duluth International Airport in Minnesota, Dove and Wren touched down at Dublin Airport on Monday 9th May at 6am Irish time, accompanied by AADI's CEO and founder Nuala Geraghty and AADI’S Breeding & Acquisition Coordinator Elaine Cannon.
The dogs underwent a health check at Dublin airport before making the final leg of their journey to their respective AADI volunteer foster families in the Dublin area.
We wish to offer our sincere thanks to ADI for supporting this collaboration between the US and European breeding cooperatives, and also to Aer Lingus, who have been hugely helpful in accommodating the safe transportation of these very special puppies, Dove and Wren, to Ireland.
And here's a little video of their journey - enjoy!
