Katie (racing name Spring View) went to live in Lincolnshire in 2002 when she was just over 2 years old. She was very bemused by living in a town but she got quite used to it as well as living in a house and was very quick to learn. She passed all three levels of the Kennel Club Good Citizen scheme in just 14 months and was the first Trailhound to receive the Gold award! She was just my best dog ever and it was a shock when she  became ill at only nine years old. In November 2004 Katie won the Kennel Club’s doggyoke (doggy form of karaoke!!) at Discover Dogs show at Earl’s Court, she then ‘sang’ on both BBC radio Lincolnshire and Humberside, and was also invited to be on the Des & Mel show but was unable to attend. A month later she was the last dog to be awarded the Silver Medal as ‘Pet of the Year’ by PRO Dogs (a national prize) at an award luncheon in Surrey. Sadly the charity folded the following year.

Katie was a wonderful laid back dog; she took just about everything in her stride including travelling on the underground and London buses! In 2005 she came 9th in Drontal’s National Coolest Canine competition. In 2006 Katie’s story appeared in the national part work magazine: The Dog Collection in a special ‘Friends in Need’ edition. She shared the page with a story about Renée Zellweger’s dog Dylan. Later in the year her photograph appeared in the ‘Beagle’ edition.

She was a wonderful girl and achieved so much in her lifetime: she took part in show classes at dog shows, did some heel work to music and competed in obedience classes at companion dog shows. But her main activities were with people.For three years she visited 2 wards in the local hospital where patients, staff and visitors enjoyed stroking her in her role a Pets As Therapy dog. In November 2005,  she qualified as a Blue Cross education dog and accompanied Margaret on visits to local schools & youth groups where she helped to educate the children on how to care for animals. Her last claim to national fame was to have met Matt Baker and Meg at Crufts and she appeared very briefly on BBC TV’s Blue Peter in a film sniffing noses with Meg.

In February 2008 Katie became the first education dog to work for The Irish Blue Cross when she visited 150 pupils and staff at an inner city school in the capital of the ROI, Dublin. Needless to say she was the star attraction!  In her lifetime she met over 11,500 children!  most of whom stroked   her.  If you are one of the many schoolchildren, Guides, Rainbows, Brownies or Beavers who  stroked or cuddled her I hope you remember what a special dog she was. In 2008 Katie became a READ dog,only the second dog ever to be registered for the scheme in the UK . she went into school and assisted children with their reading skills by sitting and listening intently as they read books to her. This was her last public photo.

Sadly in 2009, Katie passed away after a short illness. Run free, Katie, a very special hound.