Hattie, the school's first ever sponsored guide dog, came in to visit pupils involved in driving forward a Harrodian charity initiative with Guide Dogs for the Blind.
Back in 2018, four Harrodian pupils chose Guide Dogs for the Blind as the beneficiary of their Youth Philanthropy Initiative (YPI), the assignment which asks our 13s year group to raise funds for a nominated charity. Not content with the impressive sum of £1500 that they raised in 2018 through activities such as mufti days and the Bobstacle challenge, Agnes, Ines, Belle and Jackson (now all in the Lower Sixth), pledged to earn the extra £1000 required to allow the school to name and sponsor its own Guide Dog puppy.
Three years on and thanks to the team's effort, Harrodian now has its very own sponsored guide dog puppy. Hattie, pictured above and below, now aged 8 months, lives with her carer, Caroline and has already embarked on basic training and is making good progress.
Hattie caused great joy and excitement this week when she was brought in by her carers to visit us. Not only did our Lower Sixth students get a chance to meet her but also a group of our current 13s (Year 9) pupils - Lakshmie, Sophia, Massimo, Stavros and Matt - who have decided to continue the good work of their peers by raising enough funds to sponsor a second Harrodian dog! They were delighted to pet Hattie and find out all about her and the training process, below.
Hattie is a cross between a Labrador and Retriever - a mix that works really well for training purposes. Labradors are easy to train through food/treats and Retrievers are highly intelligent and obedient. Training is still very much work in progress though, as seen on her second report card below and despite being very well behaved, she still made a cheeky lunge for the sandwiches on the cafe tables!
Lots of passing staff and pupils enjoyed cuddles with Hattie and everyone is looking forward to seeing her again soon. 