The Dogs

Obedience was a good way to start getting to know each other next to getting some basics.

Together we explored the possibilities of tracking. We ended as a professional working team on an exeptional high level.

we travelled together getting all the possible education we could get in this field of expertise. We worked in the operational field with many great trainers and government agencies.

In the mean time I went to university to become a psychologist. Next to this I followed a comprehensive training and education programme to become a professional dogtrainer and after that an instructor and a certified behaviour counsellor. In a later stage I have finetuned every expertise and had the unique opportunity to work with a lot of great trainers and researchers.

Being, training and working with Cliff was a brilliant experience. Lovely opinionated and inventive made him suitable for all sorts of training and the first year of his training I let him be and enjoy himself.

When he was almost one year old opportunity knocked. We got the chance to work in a Proof of Principle research project in Medical Detection. I had already been involved in medical detection and for this job I thought I had by coincidence, just at that time, the right dog.

The Proof of Principle research was based in the Netherlands in an academic hospital in Amsterdam together with an extensive research team.

Cliff became the first dog in the world to detect a hospital bacteria, Clostridioides (Clostridium) Difficile on patients in wards at the moment the bacteria produced toxine and became a problem. Publication in the British Medical Journal combined with a documentary and many follow up publications as a result. World famous straight after the first groundbreaking publication with tv, radio and newspaper attention. Even appearances and mentions in a tv hospital series, Oprah and many talkshows etc.

Looking for a female was always in the back of my mind and when I found Geoff I knew I was on to something that suits my idea perfectly. I asked Geoffs breeder to keep me in mind, knowing what I was looking for combined with a different bloodline than Geoff I gave them an easy task.

A couple of years after having Geoff I got a message and a phonecall. An upcoming litter that might just be what I wanted. I was over the moon. The waiting was tough, did the mating work out and is the bitch pregnant, how many puppies and of course…are there any females.

yes! All went well, the pups are doing great and there are females. I watched the puppy movies and the process of growing up. And of course I didn’t want to choose before I would see them for real…but…I knew. Visiting the pups at about 6 weeks of age and seeing her it was a done deal. I knew, that’s my girl. But again we had to wait…law and travelling, she had to be at least 15 weeks.

Unfortunately I got very very sick and almost lost my life a few times. Being in hospital for quite some time made we had to postpone travelling to pick her up. By the time I was doing better, the movies and pictures I got sent by her breeders brightened up my day beyond belief and made me very determined to go and get her. Fortunately she could stay at her breeders longer, no problem. In the end, because I was not allowed to drive yet, my Eric drove me to Wales. And there she was, the Toffey girl. She’s amazing, the things she thinks of are brilliant. She can find solutions for problems I wasn’t even aware of. She is a joy and maybe…hopefully… she will have pups that are the loveliest combination of all before and more to come. G&T, Geoff & Toffey, my best therapy.