July Volunteer of the Month

Congratulations to Beth Bartoli, the July Volunteer of the Month! Thank you for helping #DogsChangeLives! Read her story below about her volunteer experience.

Guest post by Beth Bartoli, volunteer with Susquehanna Service Dogs

I have been an SSD volunteer since December 2017, when I started raising SSD Felix. She is the first dog I have raised, but I plan on continuing to raise dogs for SSD. 

When she was almost two years old, Susquehanna Service Dogs selected Felix as a breeding dog, which also gave us the opportunity to train her as a demonstration dog for SSD. She started classes to become a demonstration (or demo) dog. Felix has been a demo dog for almost a year now, and we have done various “meet and greets” in the community to demonstrate what service dogs can do to make a difference in people’s lives. So far, Felix’s favorite job has been to visit patients at Harrisburg Hospital. She seems to really enjoy visiting with people there, getting and giving love and making people smile. 

Felix just had her first litter of puppies (4 males and 3 females) on June 17, and she is a great mom. They are currently being cared for at Warrior Canine Connection, and we have been able to visit Felix and the puppies once a week since we are her breeder caretakers. It has been wonderful to be able to visit with Felix and to watch her puppies grow. It will be exciting to see these puppies grow hopefully into service dogs, too. We are hoping to raise one of them when they are 8 weeks old. 

I got involved with SSD after reading about how service dogs can make such a big difference in people’s lives, and help them become more independent. My family loves dogs, and we felt like raising a service dog would be a great volunteer experience that we could do together. All members of my family have participated in training Felix, going out in public with her, practicing good behavior at home. 

It is so rewarding to see the dogs being paired with a partner who has specific needs. Hearing the stories from partners about how much a dog has changed their lives is amazing, and I know that the work put into raising a service dog is worth every minute. 

June Volunteer of the Month

Congratulations to Maria and Rob Hersey on being our June Volunteers of the Month! Read their story below about how they became puppy sitters. Thank you, Rob and Maria, for helping dogs change lives! 

Guest post by Maria Hersey, volunteer with Susquehanna Service Dogs

Rob and I began volunteering as puppy sitters in May 2016. Fortunately, I keep notes on all the dogs we sit for and realized that within that time, we have had the honor and pleasure of sitting for forty-three dogs. Ten of those dogs have stayed with us multiple times: Andie Joy, Wes, Dustin, Chickadee, Jackie, Cassiopeia, Prague, Cha Cha , Nellie, and Sergeant. 

Initially, we began sitting on weekends for dogs in Advanced Training. As the years progressed, we began to care for dogs requiring a longer sitting period due to unique situations or breeding schedules. When you spend many weeks caring for a dog, you have the satisfaction of developing a relationship with them and that arrangement is beneficial, not only for the dog but also for both us. Some of the circumstances which resulted in long-term sitting involved discharged dogs awaiting a final disposition, dogs with upcoming adoptions, a dog needing to lose weight, and breeding dogs who need a home situation prior to mating.

Time and again, we are asked “How can you give up these dogs?” Our answer: “There is always another wonderful dog needing us to sit so we rarely feel sad.” There is such variety to our assignments. We have sat for one or two days or up to six weeks. It just depends on SSD’s needs and what is going on with our schedule.

Admittedly, we hold a special place in our hearts for dogs who spend an extended period of time with us:  Bailey (a sweetheart), Andie Joy (happy girl), Jackie (what a scamp), Cha Cha (full of energy), Mikey (a teddy bear), and Sergeant (incredible athlete). We were sad when they left but as we said, there is always another special puppy ready to join us for a new adventure.

Five years ago, we lost our beloved Annabelle, a rescued black lab/golden mix.  Since we are retired and in our 70s, we did not want to take on the responsibility of rescuing another dog. Nor did we want to burden our children should we not be able to care for a dog. However, throughout 51 years of marriage we have always had a rescue and now we felt lost without a canine companion. We also enjoy an active lifestyle of walking and hiking and both activities are so much more much fun when we can share them with a dog.

Sitting for SSD was the perfect situation for our current lifestyle. We have our freedom but also have ample opportunities to get our “doggie fix.” Also what is not to like about SSD dogs! They are well-bred, beautifully behaved, and can accompany us to all the places we like to visit. Our dogs join us in daily exercise classes, join us while we volunteer at the public library and go on daily visits to the Mohler Senior Center. It is such a pleasure to walk into these places, especially with a SSD dog, because we are greeted with such delight and joy by all.  At the senior center, Rob and I discovered that our “supposed” popularity is in direction proportion to the dogs we share with the members.

We have truly enjoyed working with the staff and other volunteers at SSD. This is a community of devoted dog lovers who are so dedicated to the mission of sharing these beautiful animals with those in need. No matter what your age or who you are, if you are involved with caring for SSD dogs you are completely accepted as part of this greater service dog family.