Guide Dog puppies fly to Japan

International collaboration will be a major theme at a reception on Tuesday, September 27, to farewell two Guide Dog puppies bound for a new life in Japan.

Special guests will include the Consul General of Japan in Brisbane Junzo Fujita, the chair of the Australia-Japan Foundation Peter Corish and Mr Stuart McCosker representing the Governor of Queensland.

The stars of the show, however, will be two 10-week-old puppies from the ‘G’ Litter (yet to be named) which GDQ is preparing to send to the Japan Guide Dog Association (JGDA) in Yokohama.

The black, boy and girl Labrador Retrievers are following the footprints of pups ‘Deanne’, ‘Dell’, ‘Ruby’ and ‘Ritz’, as part of a ‘gift’ made possible through a $16,500 Australia–Japan Foundation grant.

The gift of Guide Dogs Queensland (GDQ) stock to the Japan Guide Dog Association is supported by the Commonwealth through the Australia-Japan Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It will enable GDQ to send a total of eight pups and one pregnant breeding dog to the school over a 12-month period.

GDQ CEO Chris Laine said the reception at the Guide Dog Breeding and Training Centre at Bald Hills was an opportunity to thank the Australia-Japan Foundation for making the exchange possible.

“The Japan Guide Dog Association is seeking to improve the quality of their dogs and asked GDQ to share some of our breeding lines, so this gift means we can provide that help at no cost,” Ms Laine said.

“GDQ has strong ties with Guide Dog schools around the world and this gift will help build on the relationship with our neighbours in Japan, the benefits of which will continue for many years for both associations.

JGDA Breeding Manager Kazuko Oka said the four pups already sent to Japan were being raised in the community and were progressing well, while the breeding dog had delivered a litter of five pups and would return to Queensland in November this year.

Ms Oka said it was important for her school to tap into new bloodlines outside the Asia Guide Dog Breeding Network (AGBN).

“We do not have enough broods to achieve our goal of producing 130 puppies this financial year, and even though we are able to receive some puppies from the AGBN, it’s more important to establish new suitable blood lines by getting support from Guide Dogs Queensland, as it has excellent breeding stock.”

Ms Oka said she was excited to be welcoming the ‘G’ Litter pups which would leave GDQ in early October for the Narita Airport.

“I am the first person to meet the pups and after checking them through quarantine I will take them by car to our training school. If their medical checks are okay they will go to a sitter’s house until they are collected by their new Puppy Raisers,” she said.

The pups will be raised in the community in Yokohama until they are 12 months old when they will be considered for breeding or for Guide Dog training.

The school was not in the area affected by the earthquake and tsunami which devastated Japan in April this year.

Guests at the reception on Tuesday, September 27, will meet the ‘G’ litter puppies and will witness a Guide Dog training demonstration before enjoying morning tea.

Media contact: GDQ Communications and Marketing Manager Donna Hurley on mobile: 0419 409 538 or email: d.hurley@guidedogsqld.com.au