Ft. Stewart is up and running

Terry, Kyria and I were at Ft. Stewart, GA for two weeks of boot camp this month. The opening of the Ft. Stewart program has been in the works for approximately five months, so this was a very exciting time for us. Terry and Kyria had already interviewed and selected a handful of soldiers to be our first trainers so we were ready to start getting the ball rolling as soon as we arrived. Boot Camp consists of a concentrated, jam-packed two weeks in which we teach commands, protocol, rules, program expectations, the first 2-3 sections of our academic course work, as well as care, feeding, and maintenance of the dogs. The soldiers were tested on their knowledge of commands and academics before the first two dogs were left in their capable hands. PUMPKIN and DEJA were the two lucky dogs moved to Ft. Stewart from Jesup (a men's prison camp 30 miles from Ft. Stewart). Both PUMPKIN and DEJA had undergone such wonderful transformations while at Jesup that they transfered into Ft. Stewart with only minimal amounts of stress.

There are so many events that happened in those two weeks it would be very hard to describe them all. I would be remiss if I didn't describe some of the more noteworthy highlights though. Some of my favorite parts of the trip:

1. The soldiers who showed an immediate dedication and investment to the program. These guys are so important....they have already formed the "core group" that will make our program successful. We can't thank them enough for being motivated to step out and help when it was needed!

2. The visit we scheduled at Jesup. All of our soldier trainers came on this visit as well as Buf and SALLY. It was a moving and emotional visit for everyone. The inmates were so thankful that the soldiers had taken the time to come see them and the soldiers were grateful to have a chance to meet and talk with PUMPKIN and DEJA's trainers. Everyone was touched by witnessing Buf and SALLY's bond, hearing Buf's story, and watching SALLY perform the "pay attention" command for him. It is always a powerful experience when we get our clients together with our inmate trainers. The connection made between the two groups of people is life changing.

3. We were honored to have a visit from General Phillips the second week we were there. The General come and toured our "mod" (our home base where the dogs are housed and classes are held). He talked extensively with Terry, asked lots of questions, showed lots of interest in the program and ended up asking Terry, Kyria and I out to dinner that night to learn more about the program. We had a wonderful dinner with him that evening filling him in on all the details of paws4people and paws4vets. We are very excited to continue working with the General to find new ways to train dogs and help as many soldiers as possible.

4. I can't leave out the wonderful shrimp at BJ's BBQ in Jesup and crab legs and key lime pie at Captain Joe's Seafood Restaurant! :)

Keep visiting back-lots of more exciting stuff happening with paws4people. Terry, Kyria and Allison are visiting Ft. Lejeune again this week, the p4p 5k is coming up soon, I'll be back down in GA on the 7th...the list keeps going on and on!

Visit paws4people for more information about our Assistance Dog programs, NPOFundingSolutionS for more information about our nonprofit fundraising programs, and CharityRaffles.org to purchase online raffle tickets, support our programs and Win $1Million!

A Call to Action

Hey Everyone,

Kyria, Terry and I have had a great two weeks in Ft. Stewart, GA. I will update you on those exciting events soon.

The primary purpose of this blog is to ask for your continued help and support of our wonderful organization. paws4people has been in the very exciting position of opening 4 additional prison programs and 1 program at our first military base. We have several more prisons and military bases requesting our program as well. This has put a huge financial strain on our organization. We have several fundraising programs underway that will bring in donations at the end of April and in May. However, we desperately need support to bridge the gap between now and then.

Please visit www.paws4people.org/p4p_donate/ to help paws4people continue to change people's lives in amazing ways.

To read first hand about the incredible work we're doing with our most recent veteran clients read Paul's article, visit Paul's blog, Buf's blog or Jeff's blog.

Thank you, thank you for your continued support!!

Visit paws4people for more information about our Assistance Dog programs, NPOFundingSolutionS for more information about our nonprofit fundraising programs, and CharityRaffles.org to purchase online raffle tickets, support our programs and Win $1Million!

Alderson Visit

Hi All,

I wanted to update you about a trip I had to Alderson this past Tuesday and Wednesday. Terry and I met with Jeff Mitchell and his parents, Carol and Doug. (You can visit Jeff's blog here.) Jeff is one of our newest veterans to be in the process of receiving a service dog. The purpose of Jeff's visit was to "bump" three of our dogs off of him. (A bump is when we have each dog interact individually with a person to see if there is a connection between the two for a potential placement.) Jeff is an incredible person. Like Buf, Jeff is so motivated and committed to getting a service dog, he's willing to push himself to do things he hasn't done in a very long time such as: drive, eat out at a restaurant (dinner and breakfast), stay at a hotel, and visit the prison and sit with 25 people he doesn't know. Jeff surprised us even more by telling his story in detail to the inmates so that they could understand his struggles. Terry, Allison and I were so impressed and thankful for the courage he showed throughout the entire trip.

Thank you Jeff for putting yourself on the line, pushing yourself, stretching your boundaries, and being willing to feel vulnerable. We are all better for knowing you and being with you for those couple days. We are honored to have the opportunity to find a great service dog partner for you and look forward to doing everything we can to help you move on and enjoy life.

Visit paws4people for more information about our Assistance Dog programs, NPOFundingSolutionS for more information about our nonprofit fundraising programs, and CharityRaffles.org to purchase online raffle tickets, support our programs and Win $1Million!

Update in my world!

So I am writing this entry for two main purposes!! One is so the blog police won't take me away :) and the other is because there is a lot to update you on! So first and foremost I know that some of the most recent graduating class is wondering about the dogs' birthdays. CAYLIE and CAMDEN was born on March 23, 2008! LIA and SOLOMON was born on April 1, 2008! I know there will be many parties going on in about a month!! LILLY was born on July 24, 2008!

The next biggest news is that Morgantown camp is now active and got it's first two dogs on February 23! The men in the program are very fast learners and are over-joyed to have dogs back in their life! They are like sponges and just soak up every little piece of information I give them! I'm very proud of them as well as the program participants at the Hazelton camp and SFF! I'm very honored to be involved with the paws4people program! I don't think there could be anything more fulfilling than the work I do for the program! So thank you Kyria and Terry!

Also, the best thing in my life right now is my family's new puppy, Macie!! She is the most beautiful Golden Retriever ever (call me biased) and is learning lots of commands very quick! She is definitely a bright ray of sunshine even though we have tons of snow!

Until next time,
Heidi



Visit paws4people for more information about our Assistance Dog programs, NPOFundingSolutionS for more information about our nonprofit fundraising programs, and CharityRaffles.org to purchase online raffle tickets, support our programs and Win $1Million!

My New Puppy!!

This gorgeous, handsome boy is my new puppy, VIC. I am ecstatic about him!!! I haven't had a puppy in a l-o-n-g time (JUNO turned 7 this month) so this is really special. VIC arrives by plane this week, most likely on Thursday night. His breeder, who is a good friend, is in Arkansas. VIC will be traveling with me on our trip to Ft. Stewart so he'll gets lots of great socialization with people, dogs and lots of great one-on-one time with me :) CAN'T WAIT for my new pup to arrive!!!

Visit paws4people for more information about our Assistance Dog programs, NPOFundingSolutionS for more information about our nonprofit fundraising programs, and CharityRaffles.org to purchase online raffle tickets, support our programs and Win $1Million!

SANDIE

SANDIE enjoying her bone.

These pictures are of SANDIE, a dog from our program at Alderson that I'm currently fostering. SANDIE is about 6 months and a real sweetie. She's scheduled to go to Jesup (a men's camp in GA) on March 8th. This will be a BIG change for her because SANDIE is timid around men. Her move to Jesup is an important step in her overcoming her shyness around men. To help in that transition, Jason has done several training sessions with her. She started out hiding behind the couch, then she decided that it was ok to take yummy treats from him, then she decided he was ok enough to sleep next to on the couch :) Jason did a nice blog and video about her transition from "Jason is scary" to "Jason's not half bad" (I could have told her that!) Check out Jason's blog about SANDIE here.

Visit paws4people for more information about our Assistance Dog programs, NPOFundingSolutionS for more information about our nonprofit fundraising programs, and CharityRaffles.org to purchase online raffle tickets, support our programs and Win $1Million!

Congratulations to Lisa Swiger and Matt Crisp

Congratulations to Lisa for finishing umbilical cording with CAYLIE (yahoo! I know you're excited to have the leash off!) and to Matt for passing his public access test with CAMDEN.

Way to go you two! (Doesn't it feel good to be nearly through the transfer process?!)

Visit paws4people for more information about our Assistance Dog programs, NPOFundingSolutionS for more information about our nonprofit fundraising programs, and CharityRaffles.org to purchase online raffle tickets, support our programs and Win $1Million!