Friday, December 28, 2007

In print

Both girls were "published" this week. Timber had her picture with a 4th grade girl reading to her at school in the local weekly newspaper. The article was on READ. Wasn't a bad shot - Timber was lying down "listening"!! The article described what we do at school and the "Doggie Bag" program. Rissa was on the front page as the "reindog" with Santa in our work publication... The Christmas fair by employees, for employee assistance raised 5,700 dollars!! Between work, being sick and the holidays.... we haven't done any visits in the past two weeks.... I am scheduling our January dates for visits, library and school will start again 1/3! Dog scouts also will start mid January! I will be curious to add up our hours and number of visits for 2007 very soon! Rissa might have logged enough visits for her "50" pet therapy patch or she will very soon. Happy New Year...

Thursday, December 20, 2007

December 2007 - present!!


2 visits at school with Timber (we had to participate in a fire drill! Timber did very well filing out with the children and all the excitement - none the less the piercing bell and how her ears heard that pitch!) 1 hospital visit. 1 visit with each dog at the living center. I had to cancel our monthly reading at the village library PLUS school group reading to Rissa and a pet therapy visit at the living center due to me having the nasty GI flu! UGH!! Yes, the reason I got to write about the past year all on today, 12/20, has to do with recovering and not really feeling like doing much else. This really took the wind out of my sails and kaboshed my last minute holiday shopping.... Previous to this week - 3 special(this week was SPECIAL in it's own way) events occurred this month... #1 Timber got spayed... has recovered nicely, quickly and is quite pleased that I am throwing her hunting bumpers for her retrieve again... that 5-7 days of leash walking, no jumping etc.... drove her crazy (and me too!) #2 - Rissa and I went to a school book fair with another READ team (Pier and Grace) to represent Reader Dog Downeast. Prior to having the children read to the dogs, Pier and I ate at the 6th grade spaghetti dinner in the cafeteria. What a blast from the past for each of us - eating on hard plastic segmented lunch trays... we both agreed that the food was excellent... and better than the last meal we had in grade school on those trays! Post our delicious meal - we had several enthusiastic children read to us/dogs - all got paw print stamps and stickers! #3 - Rissa was a "reindog" at our annual employee holiday fair. She posed with Santa for pictures. We hoped that she would help if any child was afraid of the jolly man in the red coat.... Unfortunately - that day was our first blizzard of the season and the Santa pictures were quite slow.... Rissa had a wonderful time regardless. She hung out greeting any and all in the hospital lobby.... Her temperament amazes me... She is such an "easy" dog to have and take anywhere. She did have her picture in the local paper with Santa and his helpers! We had to miss a holiday parade and marching with the Dog Scouts - I have to work sometime!! Happy Holidays!

November 2007


4 hospital visits this month. 1 living center visit (I had to cancel one visit due to an emergency at work...) 3 Timber visits at school and 1 Rissa school day. 1 Timber READ at the village library. 1 Dog Scout meeting. Whew!! I enjoy all our activities and the dogs do too -or else I wouldn't have them participate.... I believe I see a difference in the 6 children that read to Timber. Most of them also have 1:1 time with a reading teacher etc... Timber is only 1 small part of their program. The sweetest event of this month was the group reading with Rissa at school. The librarian read to the kindergartners (Rissa surrounded by the 5 year olds) - the book was on (what else?) dogs.... heel, sit, come etc..... Rissa then demonstrated all the commands in the book to the class... squeals and applause for Rissa! To cute! We also launched the "Doggie Bag" program at school today. This is another way for more children to participate with the dogs. I brought the idea to the librarian - and she got it all ready in 1 week! Each class(k-4) has a tote bag with a journal, crayons/pencils and a small stuffed chocolate lab(Baby Rissa). The teacher picks 1 student each week to take the bag home (teacher has put books of the child's reading level in the tote) - at home, the student reads to "Baby Rissa", takes her on an adventure and writes in the journal (or draws) about it. I can't wait to read some of the journals. Another event of this month - we were asked to speak at a local Rotary Club meeting. I was treated to lunch and the girls hung out being their charming selves.... I spoke on Pet therapy and READ to the group. A local newspaper publisher was there as a participant and might give me some books to give the children! They are given books by a publishing company to give away! I hope I can get some.... My resources for finding free books is drying up and I will have to start purchasing them now. The dogs visited around while I spoke. I believe we were well received and we educated on READ. After I left, I was told by the woman who sponsored my speaking - the group felt she had set the bar high and they would have a hard time bringing in speakers to top us!

October 2007


3 visits at the living center with both dogs. 1 visit at the hospital. We met with the school librarian (Crystal) on the 10th, about the girls coming to school for READ. I will go weekly on Thursday mornings from 9AM - 11AM. Timber will read with 6 students, 1:1 ( 20 minutes each) three times a month and Rissa will do group reading once a month with the other children so they will feel involved in the program. The real goal is to improve the self confidence and increase reading and comprehension in the 6 students ( two from 3rd grade, two from 4th grade and two from 5th grade). We went on the 18th for introductions to K through 4th grade. Timber had her first "assignment" on the 25th! She was a peach and the kids loved her. The 6 children all started their bookmarks with a goal to read 12 books/chapters to Timber. We have a little nook in the library, pillows on the floor... there happens to be a window from a corridor behind us.... all through our first session - teachers and workers at the school kept "peeking" in on us.... trying to whisper their delight and enthusiasm with the start of READ in their school. OK - if that isn't enough - we also started to do READ at a small village library once a month on a Wednesday, after school.

September 2007


3 hospital visits. 2 at the living center this month. Rissa turned 9. We have been enjoying the cooler weather and have been taking many hikes in Acadia National Park. The girls are so easy to take - even when I am at work - my "non-dog" friends come and get the girls for hikes and swims! We went to a informational meeting on the Dog Scouts. 2 women are starting a troop in our area. Sounds like a lot of fun - nice people and nice dogs. I sent in our application - soon the girls will be official Dog Scouts of America! Rissa and I attended a canine carnival - where she got her CGC (Canine Good Citizen) - another tag for her "clean" collar! I have been asked to come to a local school for a meeting about being a READ team in school. I'm not sure if there is another READ team in a school in Maine.... We'll see what they would like from us and if I have the time!!

August 2007


2 visits to the hospital - Rissa and Timber. I take them in separately and share the visiting time. Rissa has more experience and is an old pro with visits - Timber is still snooping out the smells and making sure she is doing it "right"... 3 visits to the assisted living center with both. We have been participating in the summer reading program at the local library. Each dog is qualified - I find Timber is a better READ dog - and Rissa is a better therapy dog... Each dog functions in each role just fine... Rissa likes to kiss the kids to much (?flaw?) when they read. Rissa does better with crowds of kids. Timber is more attentive when being read to and crosses her paws which is quite adorable and endearing.... We attended the Annual READ tea at the library with the other dogs and all the kids that participated in the summer reading program. I am continuously amazed watching these 2 dogs with kids... they never had been exposed to children in their kennel careers and you would think they had grown up with a pack of kids instead of dogs. This month closed a different chapter in my dog life - my faithful Jordan died peacefully in my arms on August 10th.

July 2007

Summer is in full swing here in Maine. Traffic, tourists.... 3 visits to the living center - both dogs! 3 visits to the hospital - both dogs! Timber got published in the hospital newsletter as a official volunteer! We participated in a fun Rally match ( $ to benefit a service dog in training)

June 2007

3 visits to the hospital. 2 visits to the living center. Timber is back home and got her 3rd and final observation/test for her TDI! Rissa and I competed in our first dog show ( my first, her?? ) We qualified for a leg in Rally O and placed 4th!

May 2007


3 visits to the hospital. 2 visits to assisted living and "Safe Harbor" (Alzheimer's unit) What I enjoy about visiting at the living centers is that you see the same folks each visit. We establish relationships and our visits are on the "events" list. "OH - I was happy to see you were coming today. I look forward to seeing Rissa!" One of my favorite people to visit is a woman in "Safe Harbor" - she frequently is asleep on the couch when we visit after lunch... Rissa nuzzles her hand as if saying "HI - I'm here" - the woman wakes with a HUGE smile on her face. She lights up. You just know somewhere in her past she loved dogs.... She has limited verbal capabilities now BUT if she could - I'm sure she would tell me some wonderful memories of dogs and animals she had in her life. When I tell her we are leaving and we will see her next time - she manages to say "Kiss" - I ask her if she wants a kiss from Rissa and she nods yes..... Rissa always obliges.... Other events this month - we participated in the "Business of Reading" week at a local elementary school. Rissa and I read to a 5th grade class on the importance of reading and how it related to pet therapy work and READ.... I quickly lost control of the class and Rissa gained their attention totally. She couldn't have been happier than a pig in mud - lying in the middle of a class with a bunch a kids petting her. We departed giving them all book marks from Rissa - with the knowledge that we would probably be their favorite reader that week! We were also one of the honorees at the a volunteer luncheon for our service at the hospital. Miss Rissa got a certificate and her picture with the "king"... Volunteers Rock was the theme and Bruce Nye the Elvis Guy was the entertainment. As usual - Rissa was a lady. I feel so fortunate to have adopted Rissa(and Timber) - I can't believe I said NO for 6 months that my friend/breeder asked me if I wanted her..... NO, NO, NO I said. I had just lost my other chocolate lab and still had my senior citizen, Jordan. Then, I agreed to adopt Rissa and Timber together..... I can't imagine my life without them now and the totally different direction it has taken doing the pet therapy work and other dog activities. We also did our first READ session at the local library!!

April 2007


2 visits to the hospital. 2 visits to assisted living and our last READ observation done! OK - so with work and visits... I also started Rally O classes.... Both Rissa and Timber came to me trained.... They have excellent obedience skills... Both have titles in hunting, conformation and obedience.... I am so lucky - I can take these dogs anywhere, they are perfectly behaved... (well Timber likes to jump on me... we are working on stopping that)... I had wanted to do pet therapy work with my first dog (Jordan, 13+ and still lives with me, the girls and 2 cats - Lucy and Kirby) He just wasn't cut out to do therapy dog work as hard as I tried. He is sweet and special( in more ways than one!) but his pica habits prohibited us from pursuing that line of work any further!! Kleenex tissues - a favorite of his.... Look Ma - I eat one and another pops up for me.... So, my old food addict, tissue eating, mud gobbling mutt, Jordan, goes along for the ride on all our visits. He has taught the girls one thing - they give you cookies at the bank if you act cute and drool out the window! The other big event of this month is that Timber had her last litter of pups! She went back to her kennel home and had 10 pups on Patriot's Day!

March 2007

We made 4 visits to the hospital this month. Continued our READ training - 2 more observations with Kelvin and MJ. Rissa and I started visits at a assisted living and Alzheimer's unit. Jezzzz - too bad I have to work... we could do visits everyday. I am thoroughly enjoying all we are doing and Rissa does too. She KNOWS when we are going on a visit - I put her "clean" collar with her tags ( TDI and READ). Wag Wag Wag..... Timber goes along for the ride since she can't visit yet as she still needs one TDI observation. We started the preparations for our READ "stuff" - I decided Rissa would be lime green ( goes nice with her brown fur) and Timber would be pink ( nice with her jet black coat).... Bookmarks, vests, paw print stamp, ink pads, stickers, dictionary, signs, collecting books for our library and new books to give children..... I had fun making and collecting our READ bag tools! We practiced our "pawtographs" - when a child reads 12 books - they get a new book to take home and it gets "pawtographed" by the dog.... this will take some practice - maybe trimming the fur around the dogs pads?? I am no stranger to ink/footprints as I do this at work frequently.... newborn babes do not have fur!! I gave up trying after having green and pink ink on me, the dogs and the floor....

February 2007

This month we made 7 visits to the hospital. We passed our READ test and started mentoring with Kelvin and MJ of Reader Dog Downeast. Rissa was published in the hospital newsletter, A New Breed of Therapist at MDIH!

January 2007

We started out the New Year by visiting folks in the hospital on New Year's Day. I realized that not only did the patients look forward to our visits, that the staff did too! We quickly learned the employees that wanted visits from Rissa and looked for them each time. We made 4 visits this month and got Timber's second TD Inc evaluation done. I had met a local librarian on a fall hike in Acadia National Park and she suggested that I look into becoming a READ team with Rissa. I had never heard of a Reading Education Assistance Dog. Our local library had a team - I contacted them and started the testing to become READ certified.

November 2006

Rissa and I completed our Therapy Dog Inc certification and made our first 2 visits to a local hospital. This was my first glimpse and validation of my hunches - that Rissa had a truly natural ability for therapy dog work. We entered the patient care unit and immediately encountered a upset, crying 2 year old little girl. She came up to us, Rissa sat down, she stroked Rissa's ear like a security blanket, sucked on her pacifier, Rissa kissed away her tears and within 2 minutes she had forgotten why she was upset.... (she had bitten her tongue)... "Doggie" she repeated and smiled! We made many other visits that day - but, I will always remember our "first"...