SSD Hank is only seven weeks old right now, but he’ll be
ready to walk in the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community. Are you?
Susquehanna Service Dogs is one of 41 organizations
participating in the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community. It’s one of our
biggest fundraisers! Because Highmark Blue Shield generously underwrites the
cost of the walk, all money raised for SSD goes directly to us!
Last year, we raised over $20,000 with your help. Do you know
what that means? It means that we have an awesome group of supporters! It also
means that the cost of raising and training a service dog was completely
covered.
Our goal for this year is to raise another $20,000. Will you
help us?
There are several ways you can help. You can join the
Highmark Walk as an individual or a team and raise money. Or if you can’t make
it to the Highmark Walk on May 18, you can be a virtual walker and make a
donation.
So far, we’ve raised $755. You can help us reach our goal!
We appreciate all of your support!
SSD Irwin is a six-month old puppy who is hopping right
along with his service dog training, both literally and figuratively. Not only
is he making nice progress in his training, but he sometimes adds little puppy
hops when he’s excited.
Irwin is part of the Down Under litter, born on September
10, 2012. He is his puppy raisers’ second SSD dog. They also raised SSD Judge,
who is currently in advanced training. “It seems easier for us the second time
around,” says Donna. “We are more confident in training and look forward to
taking him places with us, even if he’s having a challenging day.”
Irwin a very loving dog who enjoys being held and petted,
and he loves puppy massage and belly rubs! At night, he sleeps in his own
crate, but during the day, he loves to be snuggled up against another dog or
his puppy raisers.
At some puppy classes, we hand out homework for our raisers
and dogs to work on, and with the help of these homework sheets, Irwin has
developed some fantastic down-stays. One of his favorite cues is “visit,” where
he puts his head in his puppy raiser’s hand or lap. His puppy raiser Donna’s
favorite is the “go to bed” cue, where Irwin goes to a designated blanket and
lays down. He does a little hop onto the blanket!
To make sure Irwin is successful, Donna takes the blanket
with her to restaurants and has Irwin lay on that. He does a great job staying
on the blanket. Irwin also rides in elevators well and knows to wait to be told
to “go on through” before getting on and off. Waiting for the “go on through”
cue at elevators is so important. The person holding the leash must block the
elevator door to keep it from closing before letting the dog get on or off the
elevator. That way, the dog doesn’t end up on one side of the elevator while
the person is on the other.
Donna is working on stairs with Irwin. He likes to hop up
them, so Donna is working to get him to take the stairs one at a time.
Irwin goes on lots of outings, such as grocery shopping,
outlet shopping, and even to the beach in Cape May! At the beach, he got his
feet wet, but he much preferred digging in the sand! Being a handsome puppy,
Irwin gets lots of attention, but he’s very good about having people greet him,
although he will take a few steps back if people get into his space.
Loud noises don’t really bother him. His puppy raisers have
an orchard, and Irwin has been in the tractor and around loud machinery with no
problems. He can ride in the car for long distances, crated and uncrated, and
he has gone to the bank, post office, hardware store, and Christmas parties. He
even accompanied the family dog to the vet!
We’re looking forward to seeing the dog that Irwin becomes!
Our canine judges were put to the test this year in the
Great Biscuit Bite-Off. Each judge wanted to eat all of the biscuits!
SSD Rizzo, SSD Fire, SSD Rossi, and SSD Meade judged the
semi-finals at 11:30 on Sunday. Each dog got to pick their three favorite
treats (although Fire managed to sneak in a fourth) and the biscuits received a
score based on the dogs’ choices.
Here’s Meade making his selections:
The top six biscuits made it to the Biscuit Bite-Off Finals,
judged by SSD Rizzo, SSD Buster, and SSD Burke. Watch Buster choose his top
three favorite biscuits:
Congratulations to our winners!
Interested in making these biscuits for your dogs? Below are
the recipes.
Brutus’s Bacon
Cheddar Bites—2nd place
Submitted by Jill
& Colleen with Zoe’s House
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons garlic powder
½ cup bacon fat (melted)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 beaten egg
1 cup fat free milk
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and
roll into desired shapes. Roll on floured surface to ½ inch thickness. Line
biscuits on baking sheet and bake approximately 30 minutes, turning after 15-20
minutes. Let rest after oven is turned off until biscuits are crunchy. Makes 3
dozen with a 3 inch bone-shaped biscuit cutter.
Oatmeal Bones
Submitted by Deb
Brubaker
1 egg
½ cup vegetable oil
½ cup water
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 ½ cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked
In a large bowl, mix all ingredients. Knead dough on a
floured surface. Roll out dough to ½ inch thickness and cut out shapes with a
dog bone cookie cutter. Put cookies on a baking sheet, 1 inch apart. Bake at
350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. When done, the cookies should be firm to the
touch. Turn oven off and leave the cookies in for 1-2 hours to harden. Makes
approximately 60 2-inch cookies.
Bacon Biscuits—4th
place
Submitted by Keara
and Kaela Finnegan
6 bacon strips
1 ½ cup water
2 ½ cups wheat germ
1 ½ cups flour
1/8 cup oil
4 eggs
Brew Biscuits
2 cups spent grain
1 cup flour
1 cup peanut butter
1 egg
Roll and flatten to ¾ inch thickness. Bake at 375 degrees
for 30 minutes. Reduce temperature to 225 degrees and cook until dry, about 8
hours.
4-Pawed Pizza Balls
Submitted by canines
Winter and Wyatt
Step 1—prepare the meat filling
1.Fry
one pound seasoned ground meat until thoroughly cooked.
2.Drain
free of oil.
3.Set
aside.
Step 2—prepare dough
1.Preheat
oven to 350 degrees.
2.Add
the following ingredients to a bowl and use a mixer to combine:
a.2
cups rice flour
b.1/3
cup milk
c.1
egg
d.5
Tbsp butter
e.6
oz. can of tomato paste
f.½
cup shredded cheese
3.Add
meat and roll into 1 inch balls and place on non-greased cookie sheet
4.Bake
for 12 minutes.
5.After
cooling, seal and store in refrigerator.
Frosted Honey Apple
Dog Cakes
1 large apple
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup whole grain oatmeal
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ cup plain yogurt
½ cup water
¼ cup corn oil
2 Tbsp honey
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins. In one
bowl, core, slice and mince apple (use a food processor if you have one). In
another large bowl, mix together flour, oatmeal, baking powder, and baking
soda. In a medium bowl, blend together yogurt, water, oil, honey, and eggs,
then stir in apple and cheese. Add to flour mixture until combined. Spoon into
muffin tins, filling each cup about ¾ full. Bake for 20 minutes or until a
toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Let rest in the
muffin tins for 10 minutes, remove, and set aside to cool.
Frosting:
8 oz. low fat cream cheese (room temperature)
2 Tbsp plain yogurt
2 Tbsp honey
2-3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
Combine cream cheese, honey, and yogurt until smooth. Add
enough flour to thicken the frosting to a good spreading consistency.
Honey Barbeque
Biscuits
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
½ cup corn meal
½ cup wheat germ
½ Sweet Baby Ray’s barbeque sauce
3 Tbsp light brown sugar
2 Tbsp corn oil
1 egg beaten
½ cup water
¼ cup honey
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, cornmeal, wheat
germ, and brown sugar. In another bowl, combine all other ingredients, then
slowly add to first bowl, mixing well. Roll dough to ½ inch thickness and cut
with cookie cutters. Place on non-stick cookie sheet and bake 20-25 minutes.
Frosted Honey-Nut
Lover’s Biscuits
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 Tbsp corn oil
½ cup peanut butter
1 cup water
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients but the
flour, mixing well. Slowly add flour, then knead. Depending on your peanut
butter, you may need to add additional flour or water. Roll dough to ¼ inch
thickness and cut with a cookie cutter. Place on non-stick cookie sheet and
back 20-25 minutes.
Frosting:
8 oz low fat cream cheese (at room temperature)
2 Tbsp plain yogurt
2 Tbsp honey
2-3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
2-3 drops food coloring (optional)
Combine cream cheese, honey, and yogurt until smooth. Add
enough flour to thicken the frosting to a good spreading consistency. Add food
coloring if desired.
Rocko’s Favorite
Biscuits
Submitted by Rebecca
Stahl
2 apples
4 strips turkey bacon
½ cup cheddar cheese
5 cups wheat flour
3 eggs
1 cup milk
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 pinch wheat germ
1 pinch cinnamon
Roll out dough and cut with your favorite cookie cutters. Back
at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.
Julia’s Favorite
Biscuits
Submitted by Susan
Tyson
1 pound liver
1 cup powdered mashed potatoes
1 tsp garlic powder
Put all ingredients in a food processor and process until
smooth. If too thick, add water. Spread mixture onto a cookie sheet covered
with parchment paper, spreading to an even thickness. Bake at 200 degrees for
at least 2 hours or until dry. Let sit in the oven until completely cool.
Divide or cut into desired sizes.
This weekend, the Farm Show Complex was full of laughter,
barking, music, and splashing! That’s because it was PawsAbilities weekend! Did
you bring your dog to join the fun?
Dog’s tested their mettle in the Dog Olympic Games. The
Clean Plate Club seemed to be a favorite, especially since the object of the
game was to eat everything on the plate! In one heat, we had three dogs who ate everything on their plate, including the celery and lemon slice. We had to do a tie-breaker with a piece of garlic. Watch this dog devour the garlic!
Dogs also competed on Dog Olympics like the Doggy Limbo,
Musical Hoops, and Par for the Course.
Dogs and their owners went all out this year for costumes
for the costume contest. Check out this peacock, Big Bird, and Raphael, the
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.
For dogs and handlers who wanted to try the sport of
Rally-Obedience, we had a practice Rally-O course. Dogs and handlers move
through the course and perform the behaviors and movements at designated
stations.
If you wanted to see fast dogs, you came to the right place!
Flyball Dogs Anonymous gave several demonstrations throughout the weekend.
These dogs sprint over a series of jumps, release a tennis ball and catch it
midair, then race back over the jumps to the finish line. Check out how fast
they are!
This year, WestWind Air Dogs, sponsored by Ultimate Air Dogs,
joined us for PawsAbilities! They held a Splash competition, where dogs run and
jump off a dock, trying to leap as far over the water as they can. Many of the
competitors leaped over 15 feet!
People and dogs new to dock jumping could try it. In between
Splashes, attendees introduced their dogs to the dock. Many of the dogs stopped
when they got to the edge of the dock, but a number of them jumped in, after a
little coaxing. The toy that handlers threw in the water certainly provided
some incentive to make the leap!
Besides games and activities, attendees could visit over 60
vendors. Our vendors had everything from dog treats to collars and leashes to
jewelry to hot sauce! Big thank you to all our vendors for joining us this
year!
Some of our vendors and attendees tried their hands at
baking dog treats and competed in the Great Biscuit Bite-Off! Check the blog
tomorrow for a post about the Biscuit Bite-Off, including the recipes for these
yummy treats.
Susquehanna Service Dogs raises, trains, and places service dogs to assist individuals with disabilities. We train service, hearing, balance and companion dogs to support men, women, and children to be more independent.
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