Our charity’s main mission is to train guide dogs for the blind but when we meet a dog whose personality is better suited to becoming a personal support dog, we will train her as well. As Alma, the black Labrador was born to become a personal support dog, we were very happy to see her pass her exam today with Csaba Prekker in Sopron. Csaba uses an electric wheelchair to move around and he is also visually impaired, so Alma has a lot of opportunities to help me with various jobs.

Today in the Sopron Shopping Mall, our Labrador had her chance to prove just how helpful she can be: she can hand Csaba his cane if he drops it on the floor. Csaba can move around short distances using his cane. Alma can basically hand him anything he needs: gloves, keys, coins, etc. If asked to stay, she can wait for long periods of time without being disturbed by loud noises such as a clattering shopping trolley. When Csaba wants to get out of his wheelchair, Alma can help him by standing in front of him, offering her body as support. 

As part of the exam, there were some other exercises that Alma and Csaba couldn’t demonstrate in the shopping mall. These were videoed in advance so members of the exam board could see how Alma can bring the special stool to help Csaba get up in case he falls out of his chair. Alma proved she can also help Csaba get dressed in the morning.

We would like to congratulate Csaba and Alma for passing the personal assistance dog exam successfully today and wish them a long and adventurous life together! We would also like to thank Miklos Marothy for being Alma’s foster parent and for raising such a wonderful dog.