Eight Months of Ulani: Cuddles, Chaos, and Confidence

Hello everyone,

I hope you’re well.

Ulani, our Guide Dogs puppy, is fast approaching eight months old, and I thought it was time to provide a little update on her progress. If you’re new to this blog, welcome! My husband, Martin, and I are volunteer puppy raisers with the amazing sight-loss charity Guide Dogs UK. We’ve opened our home to Ulani, a black Labrador Retriever cross, and will be raising her for the first 14 months of her life. It has been a whirlwind journey so far, and I’m recording everything here on this blog.

The day after my last update, Ulani had a trip to the vet for her kennel cough vaccine. As usual, she was thrilled to visit the practice and breezed through the appointment. It’s wonderful to see how confident and trusting she is, and how full of excitement she becomes when visiting the vets. Her favourite thing to do while she’s there is steal the rubber doorstops in the treatment rooms!

Ulani also had a playdate with her brother, and it turned into another mad play session involving dashes through water, paddling in ponds, and rolling in mud. On this occasion, in the throes of their games of chase, the pups managed to barrel straight into me and knock me clean off my feet. It was quite a shock, but thankfully I didn’t sustain any injuries!

Our biggest event recently was a meet-up with our Puppy Development Adviser in Solihull for a training session. Our first challenge was taking the train for the very first time. I’ve spent a lot of time exposing Ulani to the busy environment at our local train station. We’ve sat in the waiting room while she became accustomed to the hustle and bustle of people moving around the platforms. She has watched noisy freight trains and fast, non-stopping services whizz by and taken it all in her stride. We’ve crossed the footbridge, used the lift, and practised moving around the station so she feels confident navigating the space. She has even hopped on and off a stationary train.

Despite all this preparation, I was still unsure how she would cope with stepping onto a moving train and completing a full journey. To my absolute joy, she was fantastic. She was eager to board and settled brilliantly once the train set off. She showed a great deal of interest in exploring the dirty floor (yuck!), enjoyed watching our fellow passengers, and hopped off beautifully when we reached our destination.

We then spent a few hours walking around Solihull, visiting a variety of shops, using lifts and stairs, and finishing with a well-earned coffee in the library café. Throughout the session, Ulani was calm, confident, and inquisitive, and she followed her cues perfectly. I felt incredibly proud of her, and it really demonstrated how much she has matured and learned over the past six months.

As I write this blog, I'm drying out after a thorough battering from a hailstorm. I had just been out for a walk with Ulani when we suddenly found ourselves caught in a windy, torrential downpour of hail. It was her first experience of hail, and for a few seconds she was very unsure and looked to me for reassurance, but she quickly adapted. I managed to capture the moment on camera — see below!

Over time, we've watched Ulani's personality develop and truly shine through. She is incredibly affectionate and is happiest when she is sitting with us and enjoying plenty of cuddles. She is playful and sweet, and loves bringing her toys to me before waiting expectantly for me to chase her around the kitchen. She loves sticks and insists on picking up at least one on every walk. That might have to change soon and I imagine it will be a tricky habit to break!

She frequently nudges my hand for a stroke and will always sit very close — preferably touching either Martin or me — when we settle down to watch the television or enjoy a cup of tea. She thrives on her routines and knows that, at night, when we come into the kitchen after watching our evening programmes, she will have a nice cuddle, make her final trip outdoors before bed, and then step into her pen and settle into her crate. Ulani makes us laugh every single night because she insists on one last cuddle at the entrance to her pen and stretches it out for as long as possible, wagging her tail, pawing at us, and flopping onto the floor with her belly in the air. Luckily, fussing her is one of our favourite things too, and it's a lovely way to end the day.

See you soon.

Nicola x