Health problems and a change of family plan mean Dunedin's two guide dog puppies in training no longer live in the city.
The two black Labrador siblings, Lloyd and Lexie, arrived in Dunedin in August and training had been going to plan.
However, Lexie moved to Wanaka with her puppy walker Lorraine Knowles and her family, and Lloyd was whisked away from Richard Hodson and his family to Auckland with suspected polyarthritis.
Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind Guide Dog Services puppy development co-ordinator Paula Gemmell said Lloyd was being monitored for three months.
It was hoped he had only a viral version of the disease which would clear up, rather than an immune disorder which would result in bouts of lameness for the rest of his life, and the end of his guide dog career.
"He won't be coming back down to Dunedin [but] he is still on the puppy programme," she said. A new home had been found for him in Auckland.
Meanwhile, Lexie was healthy and will travel to Auckland in eight weeks to undergo a breeding stock assessment "because of her lovely temperament", she said.
The puppies were in the consolidation phase of their training, during which social skills, such as going on public transport, and walking at night, were being strengthened.
