Queen is delighted by her obedient subjects
DURING the longest reign in British history, the Queen has received countless posies. Few, though, will have been delivered in quite such style.
The monarch appeared delighted yesterday as she was offered a posy of flowers by a seven-year-old black labrador.
Yarna, one of 400 dogs at a charity that trains them to assist their disabled owners, performed a curtsey before offering the flowers to Her Majesty in front of a crowd. Perhaps a little too eager on the big occasion, it dropped the posy at the Queen’s feet.
Yarna is a sixth generation descendent of Sandringham Magpie, one of the Queen’s own breeding line of dogs. Her Majesty, whose love of dogs and horses is well known, spent a happy morning at Canine Partners in West Sussex, admiring their work and watching as a variety of dogs showed off their skills.
Stroking several, she praised their remarkable abilities to fetch telephones, take washing from a machine and undo zips, pronouncing one enthusiastic animal rather “licky”.
She appeared particularly taken with the charity’s smallest visitor, a 12-week-old black labrador named Flint, which is just beginning its training, stroking the dog and observing: “He’s very friendly, isn’t he? Not shy.”
Canine Partners, one of The Daily Telegraph’s Christmas charities, is dedicated to training special assistance dogs for adults who need physical help in their daily lives. They learn a variety of specialist skills, from picking up dropped glasses cases and keys to retrieving money from an ATM. The
‘The monarch appeared delighted as she was offered a posy of flowers by a seven-year-old black labrador’
royal visit saw the Queen observing the earliest stages of puppy training, and laughing as Wilko, a 14-week-old labrador, persisted in skipping the last hurdle he was supposed to jump in favour of the tunnel he preferred to run through.
“Is he supposed to do that?” she asked, beaming.