Meet W'ZISer Chloe, and W'ZIS Woofer Ocho. Ocho is Chloe's assistance dog and recently took her on holiday (with a suitcase full of W'ZIS, obvs). We thought this was pretty cool, and wanted to find out some more about Ocho in this exclusive, tell-all interview.....
W'ZIS: Hi Chloe, tell us about Ocho!
Chloe: Ocho is a 3 ½ year old yellow labrador. His mum was a show-line black labrador, and his dad was a field-line Fox red labrador, so Ocho is an unusually dark yellow colour. He has an ear with an extra fold in it that always sticks out a little bit and makes me smile. Ocho has the kindest eyes, almost human, and appears to understand every word you say to him.
Ocho likes going to the beach, watching the ducks on the lake, EATING, playing fetch (but only for 8 minutes), but most of all he likes snuggles with me!
W: How does Ocho support you on a daily basis?
C: I have lots of disabilities. The main ones are Ehlers-Danlos (a connective tissue disorder – my joints dislocate) and Behcet's Disease (a vascular condition). But unfortunately, these come with other issues like Chronic Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Inflammatory Bowel, Chronic Migraines, Tinnitus and more. As a result, I am a wheelchair user. I would say I am ambulatory as I can still walk short distances (with aids including crutches and AFOs/Splints), but realistically, I am a full-time wheelchair user now as I walk very infrequently.
Ocho is a mobility assistance dog. This means he performs trained tasks for me that help mitigate my disability. These include picking things up, opening doors, loading/unloading the washing machine, tidying up, helping me undress, fetching items, etc. However, he is also trained in ‘medical alert’ to detect migraines before they take effect, and he can perform hearing tasks like telling me my phone is ringing or someone is at the front door.
W: Wow, so impressive! How did you teach him to do that?
C: I trained Ocho. He came home at eight weeks, and the basic puppy training started soon after that. I worked on teaching him to be a ‘good dog,’ so he learned the foundations for being an assistance dog, dog obedience, and some essential task work. When he was a year old, I started looking at ADUK-registered charities to help finish his training and validate my work. I had not trained an assistance dog before, and you don’t know what you don’t know until someone steps in. At 18 months, we were accepted by a volunteer trainer with the fantastic charity Dog AID. They helped us meet the very high standards of ADI (Assistance Dogs International) the following year so we could travel. We have to re-take this test every year, so although fully-trained now, the training never really stops.
W: What is Ocho's favourite W'ZIS?
C: Ocho has been eating W’ZIS for years now. We first discovered them at ‘DogFest’ in 2021 when we bought some of the refill packs of tiny W’ZIS as training treats and the stall holder gave him a giant Nutty Dubya to try. It was almost as big as his head! His favourites are the Green Fruity Dental Fangs.
W: Ah the Fresh 'n' Fruity Fangs - they're a favourite with our pooches too. We heard that you took Ocho (and W'ZIS!) on holiday with you... tell us about your trip!
C: I won a 2-week holiday in Europe. The first week was a cruise, and the second was a hotel stay in Majorca. We were struggling to find treats that he actually enjoyed and we could get through EU customs! W'ZIS stepped up to the mark, making sure we had a huge variety of healthy and delicious meat-free treats! We ordered soooo much (actually too much for the holiday, but it’s better to be prepared, and can you really have too many treats?).
From the information customs provided, we believed we could only take unopened boxes on and off the ship, so we had a small box for every shore day so we didn’t waste any treats if we couldn’t bring them back onboard, and spares for on the ship and for the hotel stay that followed! He loved chomping down on a large Dubya while we ate our dinner in the evening or a dental fang by the pool! He was well and truly spoilt, but everyone should be on holiday! We had the best holiday! Everyone loved Ocho, and I think he had a fantastic time, too! He helped me be me; feel free and enjoy a holiday!
Without Ocho, I can’t be me! We’re a team. And because of that, I have to make sure he is healthy and happy, and your treats assist me in doing that! Thank you.
