Dementia dogs now looking for ‘special homes’

THEY can carry out an array of tasks for people living with dementia, from retrieving medication to even helping them get dressed.

And after completing specialist training, two smart canine siblings will transform the lives of people living with the condition in Tayside.

Labradors Webb and Willow are now ready to settle down with two families living with dementia. The brother and sister have finished two years of training through the Dementia Dog Project.

They have learned to carry out key tasks to assist people, from opening doors to helping them remove articles of clothing.

Their training has been completed with the help of inmates at HMP Castle Huntly in Longforgan, who have been preparing for life back in the outside world by helping equip the dogs for a life with dementia sufferers.

Dementia Dog Project manager Fiona Corner said Webb and Willow reaching this stage is a “really exciting milestone” for the charity, which began life in 2012.

She said: “These dogs have come through two years of training to help someone who is diagnosed with dementia. They are now at the point where they have completed all their tasks and we are looking for a special home for them in Dundee or the surrounding area.

“The kind of people we are looking to register interest for these dogs would ideally be a couple who are still living at home, where one person may have recently received a diagnosis of dementia or still be in the early stages of dementia and are living full-time with their carer, have a fenced garden and love dogs.”

For more information, contact the charity at bark@dementiadog.org, or call 07876 848022.

Fiona with Webb and Willow.