Canine event enjoys royal visitor
Her Royal Highness, Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh recently participated in an interactive Buddy Dogs family Event.
The occasion featured many different dogs and saw the canine-loving royal help children bake treats at a centre for Guide Dogs UK based in Reading.
The 59-year-old duchess is well-known as patron for the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association. Informally known as “Guide Dogs”, the British association is a charitable organisation founded in 1934. Sophie became the charity’s registered royal patron in 2021 after she took over from Princess Alexandra of Kent.
The autumn event saw Sophie getting involved with expertly measuring out the ingredients needed to create tasty dog treats. She then had a chance to meet several Buddy dogs and Guide dogs.
The dogs present included an adorable Golden Retriever named Storm and a friendly black Labrador, who the duchess was photographed giving cuddles and tummy scratches.
Buddy dogs are not the same as guide dogs, whose role is to offer sighted assistance or mobility aid. Instead, Buddy dogs supply friendship to children whose lives are impacted by sight loss. They help children build up their confidence and improve their sense of wellbeing. They are typically pups that don’t manage to make it all the way through their guide dog training as they have a behavioural or health issue ranging from anxiety to skin and joint conditions.
The Buddy dog programme was piloted in 2011 to great success, and became a permanent service a year later.
A dog owner since the early 80s, after convincing his parents to buy a Yorkshire terrier named Sadie, Darren created Dream Dogs so dog owners could find the best dog related information on the Internet.
