12/27/10

Sun was in their eyes! Day after the blizzard.

HO HO HO

Took Rissa to visit folks in the hospital today - I'm sure it isn't fun for many to be there on Christmas Day. She jingled all the way... wagging and jingling and happy.

12/2010

Ginger had her puppies today. 10 chocolates (7males, 3 females) She will go live with a young couple once she has weaned the litter and spayed. She will be the only dog to get spoiled and she won't have to live with cats!

vet visit

Rissa received her rabies vaccine, she had a urine test to check her kidney function (her sister is in renal failure) and a tick was found on her - I guess she must have picked that up Sunday on her romp at camp. Timber had her rabies shot and a blood test to check her chemistry/kidneys. All 3 had their annual poop check for therapy dogs Inc- NO bugs! All girlz weights are great. Timber is 60 pounds and Rissa and Jillian weigh 64#s. SO, for aging canines - all is fine unless something comes back in the lab tests.

Here comes Santa Paws

Rissa had a great day sitting with Santa and visiting with the kid (young and old)... I put on her Santa suit for a short time for pics...

Friday

Today Rissa visited the folks at Birch Bay. We then delivered some dog food and all the girlz played with Ivy for a bit. Tonight the Iggies will come down for a romp and then a load going to the storage unit for the Dog Scout Yard Sale - we have been given so much stuff - we needed to get a storage unit to keep it in - it overflowed my garage.

Tremont School

Timber and I did Tremont School READer dog this morning. It's only our second time this year with these kids. All cute and love reading to Timber.

Somesville READer dog

Had 4 kids at the library today. All were so cute and did very well reading. Timber got lots of pats and love. One new girl - I think really liked the activity.

Special order tote going to NH

Jillian gets a little peck from our chicken trick or treater

Friday 11/5/10

Rissa is such a good girl. She played/visited with Ivy(yellow lab) and then we went to the retirement home for our rounds. Unfortunately the 2PM activity (sing a long) got moved to 3PM (our visit time) so many of our folks were "singing a long" in the dining room... We did find "Grace" in her room - who lights up when she sees Rissa - she mentioned something about the sing a long - I offered to take her - (Grace is a nervous type that spends a lot of time in her room - kinda anxious...) she agreed to go with Rissa! The sing a long was in another section of the building - not on her unit. She did fabulous walking there... (I had to let us out of the locked unit to take her) - she stayed for one song and saw I was leaving so she wanted to leave too... I got her to stay for 1 more song and they sang Happy Birthday to her - seems it is her 84th birthday today. She was overcome by the song but, still wanted to go back to her room - "didn't want to cause any trouble for anyone". Rissa is 84 in "dog years" so it was appropriate for her to walk Grace (Grace said) We got to make the rounds at the sing a long during our short time there - I thought Rissa might be bothered by the piano or singing - nada - she just wagged her way around the room saying Hi to anyone who wanted a little kiss from her. So, we didn't see all our folks but, we saw and spent time with the most important one today -the Birthday Girl.

Friday 10/29

I did a little work and then took Rissa in to visit some patients. Wag wag wag...

Tremont School

Timber and I returned to Tremont School today for READer dog. Two 4th graders and four 2nd graders. Timber fell right into the groove and enjoyed the kids. She loved listening to Charlotte's Web - I'm sure all she was thinking was BACON!

Jillian passed her CGC test. All 3 girlz are now therapy dogs, READer dogs, Dog Scouts and all have passed the CGC.

10-25-10

Jillian passed her CGC tonight - Canine Good Citizen. woo hoo. I'll take a photo later and post it with her scarf on!

Juvenile Diabetes walk a thon

Our team the"Heelers" raised over $300 for the cause. Timber walked the 4+ mile loop with me today. 6 of us on the team walked dogs.

Visiting

Rissa made 2 visits this week to the retirement village. On Wednesday we oriented a new dog team and on Saturday we made our scheduled visit. She is so gentle with the folks and they love her.

Ginger

Ginger left today - back to her kennel home to get pregnant and have puppies - ? around Christmas time? Back to 3 dogs and 2 cats.

9-29-10

Happy Birthday Rissa! 12 years old and going strong!

Her favorite pose "Rub my belly"

School

Timber, Rissa and I just went to school to talk about what we could offer this year. I can not go every Thursday as I have the last 3 years. They will take any days I can give them. She seems to think it will be beneficial any days the kids can read with the dogs. Testing etc... going on now so they wouldn't want me to start for a month anyway. I will try 2 days a month and see how it goes.

9-12-10

Today was a dog scout meeting a walk. Jillian and Rissa attended and then we strolled Jordan Stream trail. Saw 2 horse drawn carts and 1 mule drawn cart - all dogs stayed on the side of the path - no barking - respectful of the horses. Had Jillian or Rissa ever seen a horse? Then 4 of us ate at Jordan Pond house on the lawn. Yummy popovers! The girlz were great at the outside restaurant. Behind Jillian's close up is Jordan Pond. Cirra (white dog) and you can't see Bruno on the other side of the table.

9-10-10

The quest for the carriage road certificate continues - another hike this eve on Hadley Brook trail. Me (Timber),Pier (iggies) and Nancy (goldies) made the entire loop. Robyn, Denise and Cirra did half the loop. The "brooks" would have been so nice had there been any water in them. We also went by the largest waterfall in ANP - behind the girlz in the picture - a little water coming off it.

9-9-10

Jillian and Ginger each passed their Dog Scouts of America test today!

Labor Day 2010

Timber and I hiked with some dog pals today. Crossed one of the longest Rockfeller stone bridges. Nice 5+ mile hike. Nancy (Raya and Rebel), Tracy (Simon) and Pier (Bri and Grace)

Friday 9/3

Rissa wagged and kissed the residents of Birch Bay on our visit today.

8/26/10

Today Rissa did double duty on visiting. I took Rissa to work with me so I wouldn't have to drive back to home to get her to go to Birch Bay this afternoon - it was overcast - then turned sunny - thus she couldn't stay in the car... no problem for her - she just hangs out with me at work while I did paper/projects. We visited patients at MDIH after lunch and then on to the retirement village pre dinner. She still loves going and I hope she will for a long time so I don't have to "retire" her from one of her favorite activities.

Mini vacation

I went away for the weekend and the girlz went back to their original kennel home - "Camp" They are safe and happy there and I relax knowing they are being cared for by their original mom. Everyone is home now and back in the groove.

August 5th

Thanks Caroline, Holly and Jim for reading - fun older posts and pictures if you didn't get to look.

Rissa went to Birch Bay Village today - so glad it didn't thunder while we were there. I risked taking her, crossing fingers NO STORM - so she wouldn't be scared while visiting the folks. I'll have to reassess the 330PM time - many were sleeping and I didn't wake them for the visit. Might try 10AM next month - they should be awake then :)

July 27

Beautiful summer day - the girlz got to go swimming tonight - happy woofers.

Rally

Took Rissa and Ginger to a rally class/practice. Took turns with each. Rissa had a good time trotting around. I took Ginger so she would look to me as her alpha person - she did very well - a bit uneasy in the new atmosphere - that's why I took Rissa so she would feel more comfortable. HUMID tho - I sweat buckets. Picture from a few years ago when Rissa and I competed in rally.

another donation

Sending another tote to a lab rescue for fund raising. Like this fabric - "bones and balls"

donation

Made and sent a tote to raffle for a lab rescue fund raiser in Massachusetts. Jillian helps with packing and inspection.

July

The girlz have had a quiet summer as far as volunteering. Rissa attended the Dog Scout meeting yesterday with me - horse flies, rain and humidity - not so pleasant. Swimming has been a big activity this summer. Ginger remains here at "Camp Pam" for the summer - I 'spect she is loving it.

June 19th

6/18 Rissa went to visit folks at the retirement village. Today the girlz got to go for a SWIM. Very difficult keeping all the bumpers in play, getting Jillian and Ginger to bring them all the way back to me, keeping them in one area on the deck to dry (not everyone wants a wet dog on them) and Jillian and Ginger are like toddlers - if you don't watch them every second - they are back in swimming... They were happy tho - even tho Timber and Rissa don't look it in this picture.

Thursday 6/17

Last day of school for Timber. We just attended the awards assembly. Gave certificates, book marks, books and pencils to our 7 kids. Mrs. Dow got a certificate too. We had cake and ice cream with the kids in the library afterwards. I received a lovely planter of annual flowers.

Thursday 6/10

Last day of school for Timber. All the kids read to her one last time this school year. I tried to get photos of all the kids with her. This is my favorite - he has read to Timber for 3 years.

Pet therapy visit at BBV

Took Jillian to BBV today for our scheduled visit. Glad I decided to take her vs. Rissa since there was a thunder storm while we were there and Rissa would not been "good" therapy during it. Jillian was waiting for me to get the car since it was pouring rain - her new friends at BBV walked her to the door and "dog sat" while I got drenched.

DEDS Yard Sale

A long couple of days - sale over now! Successful! $$ amount not know yet but over $1000.00 I'd say. The best part was an ATV club that raises money for Christmas for Kids took all the left overs for their sale next weekend! WOO HOO! They brought a big trailer and help - we had the sale all picked up by 1PM. That was great not to have to deal with all the leftovers! I brought home 2 stuffed dolls for the girlz. Ginger took this one over - it giggles when you squeeze the middle - Very funny. She is hard to get a good picture of - like Rissa - and like my last choc Foxy... What is it with those chocolates and my camera?

May 27th - volunteer luncheon

Timber and Rissa accompanied me to the MDIH 2010 volunteer luncheon. We had a nice lunch at the Bar Harbor Club, were serenaded by a barber shop quartet and then I gave the closing remarks with a few of my experiences visiting with the dogs. The girls got certificates. There were 5 dogs there - all visit folks at MDIH or BBV - I tried to get Boomer to "sing" along with the quartet - almost had him howling along.

Sunday May 23

It's warm out and time to swim! The girlz went swimming - hard to get them out of the water when it's time to go home. Ginger and Jillian keep running back and jumping in as we head to the car. Still haven't gotten a good shot of all 4 together. Ginger quickly learned "Go for a ride"

5/20 - school

Timber saw her regular line up of kids (minus Aurora who was absent) One more reading day for these kids and then our celebration.

Lucy winning over Timber

Lucy is slowly winning over snuggle time with Timber..... she is so pleased with herself! She is determined that ONE of these dogs will love the cat she is!

Friday 5/14

Rissa saw her folks at BBV today. How she loves to visit and she gets so many smiles/pats from the folks there.

School 3/13

Timber saw her regular line up of kids today. Plans are being made for the final sessions and the end of school wrap up.

Somesville Library READer dog 5/12

Rissa did the honors at the library today - usually Timber attends but since Timber has school in the morning - I brought Rissa today. We had 8 kids read to the dogs - Faith got her book pawtographed. Pictured is Alex with Rissa.

Thursday May 6th

The celebration for Island Dog creative writing contest, sponsored by the Dog Scouts, was tonight. A very nice time for the kids and adults. All 94 entries displayed on the wall (picture). Pizza, a yummy cake, games and certificates for all the kids. The 2 boys from Tremont won for the "buddy" category - they wanted their picture with Rissa(to bad she had her eyes closed!). Jack with his certificate. A very successful community service project!!

Version 2 of Pink Glove video - Timber cameo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-MddkBsKzU&feature

Girlz in a Pink Glove video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngFq0IoZdGU

House guest

Ginger (2nd from left) is visiting for awhile in SWH. She will eventually retire here after she is done in her breeding program. We were holding a stuffed animal to get every one's attention. You can tell Ginger and Timber are the stuffed toy girlz.

4 generations

Trip to Bradford and the girlz original home. 4 generation picture Lily (black and Rissa's grand dau), Lily's six puppies in the basket, Casey (Rissa's dau in the back) Rory (Rissa's sister) and the Rissa on the right. Was hard to get a half decent shot of all the subjects and this one was the best of all of them. The wind kept most of the black flies away during this photo shoot!!

School dayz

Timber resumed her school READ today. 6 regular kids plus one. Librarian not there today so we fetched the kids ourselves.

Friday 4/23

Pet therapy day. Took all 3 girlz and shared the visits. Rissa went to MDIH and saw many folks. We were there almost 2 hours. Took Jillian in to Safe Harbor (memory unit) saw a couple new folks that had moved in... One new resident, the activities woman brought to see, - smiled... "she hasn't smiled since she has been here" Loved Jill "but I don't think they will let me keep her here" she says to me. Jill just laid against her leg and she petted her soft ears. I switched dogs and took Timber to Pleasant Cove(assisted living) - we only got to visit one woman but, it was a timely visit - she had just been told her younger brother had died... "Oh, you are just what I need today" as she hugged and snuggled Timber. Since Timber only got to visit one woman - I took her to Safe harbor on the way out - I went back to the new woman that loved Jill - she says to me "I liked the one you had here yesterday" - she must have had a yellow or light colored dog in her life... she had no reaction to Timber at all. So, sometimes we make visits and it seems not to make much difference but, today all 3 dogs made a difference... Rissa snuggled in bed with a lonely woman in the hospital, Jillian brought joy to a woman adjusting to her new living space and Timber provided a small bit of comfort to a grieving woman.

Wednesday 4/14

Had to cancel pet therapy with Rissa as she had a vet appointment for a lump in her "arm pit" - aspirated cells - just fat!! Not lymphoma or cancer! She will more than likely have it removed sometime because of the placement - as it grows it can impede her mobility or press on nerves or lymph nodes. Timber had READer dog in Somesville Library this afternoon - 2 children got books - the 2 Magic Tree House books I got for Jack - he has :( so "Timber" will have to do some more shopping for Jack's book. Elizabeth got a book today too (pictured) and it was black and white day at school - how appropriate with the black and white READer dogs!

Dog Scout meeting 4/11

Pier and I did a letter boxing chat... history of, how to, safety, etiquette, compass reading and a little compass course to test newly acquired skills ( dog cookies as the prize at the end) - small crowd. I brought each girl in one at a time - since I had to speak - to much with all 3 at once.

Dog Scouts visit 5th graders

The Dog Scouts were asked to visit the Bar Harbor schools 5th grade class. They participated in the Island Dog creative writing contest and wanted to meet the dog scouts. 5 owners and 7 dogs were able to make the informal chat with the 5th graders. Rissa got her share of love as all the dogs did. A very polite and well mannered class of 10/11 year olds I must say.

April 3rd

The girls had a fun hike this morning with some friends. We walked in to the reservoir and back. The girls got in their first swim of 2010. Rissa was the first in and spotted a pair of ducks and was almost to them when they flew. Deb/Pilot and Pier/Bri and Grace. Photo blurry but... you get the idea. Can you tell Deb had cookies?? :)

April 2nd

Rissa visited Birch Bay Village today. She loves going there. We met and have some new people to see there!

April 1st!

Timber to Tremont for school reading. Had 2 substitutes today. Timber won't see her kids now for 1 month. I am working next Thursday so, no school. The next week Rissa will do group reading and then school vacation. Tomorrow Rissa visits BBV - I've had to cancel there a few times due to work so it will be nice to see those folks altho... a few have passed on... about 4-5 of our regulars died over the past 6 weeks.

Back blog March 29th

Rissa visited several patients at staff at MDIH. She's so cute wagging down the halls greeting anyone who wants to see her... She hung out after visiting with me for a few hours while I did some paperwork. Easy dog to take and hang.

Back blog March 25

Timber REAder dog at Tremont. Andrew earned his book today :)!

Back blog March 24

Timber READer dog at Somesville library. Lydia earned her pawtographed book!

Muddy girlz

The girlz went on their first spring hike without snow. They were in every mud puddle, pond, pool and stream. Picture does not show how filthy and smelly they were.

Happy Birthday Timber! 10 years old today!

Timber spent her day so far with her kids at school - one of her favorite places to go. Will post a few pics of the kids today. Alana got her first book from Timber for reading 10 chapters! Timber hangs with Alana while she reads a book about CATS to Timber! Colby was thrilled with his autographed Circus Ship book.

March 17th

2 of my girlz were in a video taping today at MDIH. Dunno if they will end up on the cutting room floor or not but... since they are therapy dogs at work - they were visiting a "patient" for the filming of a pink glove video. You can't see Rissa's paws to well but she was wearing the pink gloves. Timber had a solo shot/visit and when it was Rissa's turn - Timber jumped into the taping again - camera hog. I took a couple of pictures - 1 posted here. Tomorrow is school in the morning and Timber turns 10 tomorrow. Hard to believe. 3 kiddos will get their books tomorrow.

School today

Timber saw her usual line up of kids. Miss Crystal wasn't there again today so we are getting better at fetching the kids and learning where their classrooms are. 3 kids earned their books and Timber "pawtographed" each book - she is getting the hang of it after 3 years! This lad was just so cute and excited about getting his book so I will post the pic... It was a dog book - Tupelo.