Puppy love at the Furlong

Santa, his elves and the Furlong shopkeepers in Ringwood raised one thousand and forty seven pounds for the Woofability charity at Christmas.

Visitors to Santa in his Gingerbread House in the Furlong were invited to donate to Woofability, a charity dedicated to training assistance dogs to help the disabled.

Jennie Clarke, accepting the cheque, is herself disabled.  She and her husband Andy set up the charity a year ago, and now have ten dogs going through a two and a half year training programme.

Each dog costs about £5,000 to buy and to train, and they have already raised £20,000. Jennie said,  “We are so delighted with our time in the Furlong this Christmas and we would like to thank all the Furlong shop keepers and their customers for making this possible by supporting our charity.

“As a thank you to them we would like the Furlong to have their own dog. We already have a creamy white 9 week old Golden Retriever who could be labeled as the Furlong sponsored puppy. We could bring her regularly to the Furlong to show how she is progressing.

" At the moment the puppy does not have a name, so any suggestions for a good name would be apprieciated. The puppy has already got a host family at Ashley Heath, but in four weeks time she must move on. We would like her to remain in Ringwood area."

Anyone wanting to host a puppy or would like to suggest a name for the Furlong puppy, please call Jenny Clarke on 01202 872671.