The nine-year-old pooch is top stud for charity Guide Dogs and is dad to 39 litters, including a record-breaking one in 2021 which saw an incredible 16 puppies born

Trigger the golden retriever is finally taking a well-earned break - after fathering over 300 puppies.

The nine-year-old pooch is top stud for charity Guide Dogs at their breeding centre in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. Trigger is dad to 39 litters, including a record-breaking one in 2021 which saw an incredible 16 puppies born.

His offspring work across the UK assisting blind and partially-sighted people going about their daily lives. In total Trigger has fathered 323 dogs - nicknamed ‘Triglets’ - but it is now finally time for him to put his feet up.

Janine Dixon, from Guide Dogs, said: “His gentle nature and excellent health have made him the perfect asset to our breeding program. We can’t overstate the impact Trigger has had in helping us to provide so many guide dogs for people with sight loss.”

Trigger’s final litter was made up of five daughters - Jenny, Rita, Hermione, Sandy and Indy - and a son, Billy. The eight-week-old pups are about to start with guide dog journeys - but Trigger has reached the end of the road. He will live with volunteer Sarah Bryne, who has looked after him for the past seven years.

Janine added: “We hope that in a few years his son Billy may join the breeding program to continue Trigger’s legacy. In the meantime, nine of his daughters, as well as his half-French son, are helping us to bring forward a new generation of guide dogs with Trigger’s fantastic genes.”

Guide Dogs’ breeding centre has room to breed up to 1,500 puppies a year and has bred over 11,000 since opening in 2011.

Source:
courtesy of MIRROR

by Martin Fricker

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