Most of the news this has focussed on the UK’s new Prime Minister or Pokémon Go, so we feel the doggy news balance needs restoring. Here are the top dog stories we’ve enjoyed hearing about this week.
1. The dog who knows how to save your life
Deril is a Belgian Sheepdog who knows how to save your life. He’s become a household name in Italy since competing in the semi-final Italia’s Got Talent last year. More recently he’s been busy training for the World Dog Show where he picked up 2nd prize for a freestyle military themed routine.
Watch the video clip above to see the inspiring and moving moment Deril performing CPR to ‘resuscitate’ his trainer, Lusy. It’ll give you all the feels.
2. Pokémon catchers Go dog walking
One dog rescue centre in the US has come up an innovative way to help their dogs get plenty of exercise.
The Muncie Animal Shelter in Indiana posted on Facebook asking for Pokémon Go enthusiasts to apply for dog walking duties. The request has been greeted with enthusiasm and the Facebook post has been shared over 25,000 times. That’s a lot of potential dog walkers!
Quick word of warning: if you’re planning to play Pokémon Go whilst dog walking, please take care and always be aware of your surroundings and be sure to give your doggy pal lots of love and attention, too.
3. Guide dog training superheroes
Norma and Derek are not your average OAPs. Not content to rest on their laurels in retirement, they’re planning to continue the hard work of the last 36 years helping train guide dogs.
They first adopted a guide dog pup back in 1980 and were completely smitten. It’s not all flowers and champagne, though. (Or should that be treats and licks?) Guide dog pups only get adopted parents for up to 14 months, and during this time the pups need to master basic training before being assessed by Guide Dogs UK.
Norma and Derek have trained a whopping 48 guide dogs during their married lives! Lots of hard work and lots of goodbyes later, they say it’s an incredibly rewarding job.
Norma and Derek, we salute you!