Meet Dee's Second Litter!

The names are official! SSD Dee's puppies are SSD Kindle, SSD Nook and SSD Odyssey! The fourth puppy was named SSD iPad.

Although they're only a few days old, Kindle, Nook and Odyssey are already ready for the holidays!

Welcoming SSD Dee's Puppies

There are three new puppies in the SSD program! SSD Dee gave birth to her puppies on Dec. 13.

Dee delivered her first puppy in the wee hours of the morning while she was still relaxing on the couch. After a nice nap, she gave birth to her second puppy at 5:30 a.m., and our whelping team was right there to assist her. When she was having trouble with the third puppy because it was so big, we decided to take her to the vet. Dr. Hann was wonderful and was able to assist the third puppy out. However, the puppy could not be revived. The fourth puppy was born by c-section.

The third puppy who did not survive was buried in a special place at the home of one of our volunteers.

Although Dee is a wonderful mother once her puppies are born, we decided that it would be best for her well-being to have her spayed. We're always excited to have more puppies, but we always consider the health and well-being of our dogs first.

Dee and her three little puppies are doing great. Dee is such an attentive mother! We will be announcing the names of these three female puppies soon.

Thank you to our whelping team and to Dr. Hann at the Palmyra Animal Clinic for taking such good care of Dee and her puppies!

Name that Duo

SSD Dee is going to have her puppies in the middle of December. That means it's puppy naming time!

Since the vet says that Dee is going to have two puppies, Dee's whelpers decided that the theme for this litter will be Duos! Now we need your help coming up with names. We encourage you to think broadly when you're coming up with names. They could be people (Sonny and Cher), cartoons (Tom and Jerry), objects (salt and pepper), etc. Be creative!

We don't know whether Dee's pups will be male or female, so please come up with duos that work for a female-female litter, female-male litter and a male-male litter.

Also, there's a chance that there is a third puppy hiding behind its siblings. If you know of any good trios, feel free to include them as well!

We can't wait to see what you come up with!

Watch the American Heroes Pups on the Puppy Cam

The American Heroes puppies are live on our puppy cam! Ripley, Judge, Parks, Keller and Hale are growing quickly, and now you can see for yourself how they're learning to play and explore their surroundings.

Watch the puppy cam.

In a few weeks, these pups will need puppy raisers. Would you like to give them a home for 15-18 months? You'll get to teach the puppies basic obedience, good house manners and various other skills - and of course, give them lots of love. If you live in central or northeastern PA, just complete our online puppy raiser application to become a puppy raiser and change a life.

We hope you enjoy the puppy cam!

Meet the American Heroes Puppies!

Guest post by Diane and her family, who are taking care of SSD Dee and her new puppies.

Thank you to everyone who submitted names for SSD GEB Dee's American Heroes litter! We received many wonderful suggestions that were carefully considered as we made our final selections. We believe the names we selected attests to the variety of significant contributions American heroes have made in establishing the rich heritage that is our great country, America.

After a difficult selection process, we have chosen to honor the following men and women for the substantial and enduring impact they have made in setting examples for our children in today's America. Each person has a unique story; however, they all consistently demonstrated exceptional courage and commitment in the face of extraordinary challenges that will forever distinguish them as heroes.

We hope you enjoy the names!

Colonel John Ripley ("Ripley") - blue collar
John Walter Ripley (1939-2008) was a United States Marine Corps officer who received the Navy Cross for his extraordinary heroism during the Vietnam War. On Easter 1972, Captain Ripley repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire while he attached explosives beneath the bridge at Dong Ha, successfully destroying it to hamper the North Vietnamese Army's advance into South Vietnam. His action is considered one of the greatest examples of concentration under fire in US military history, and he is legendary among the Marine Corps.

Father Mychal Judge ("Judge") - red collar
Mychal Judge (1933 - Sept. 11, 2001) was a Roman Catholic priest of the Franciscan Order and the chaplain of the New York City Fire Department, and he became the first official casualty on September 11. During the September 11, 2001 attacks, Judge rushed to the World Trade Center when he heard it had been hit. He immediately began praying and administering aid to the rescuers, the injured and the dead in the lobby of the North Tower. He was killed when debris from the collapsing South Tower flew through the lobby and struck him in the head while he was praying.

Rosa Parks ("Parks") - yellow collar
Rosa Parks (1913-2005) was an African American civil rights activist. In 1955 during the Civil Rights Movement, she refused to give up her seat on the bus to make room for a white passenger. Her action sparked the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott, and she became an icon of resistance to racial segregation. She collaborated with civil rights leaders, including Martin Luther King, Jr. Congress has called Rosa Parks the "first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement."

Helen Keller ("Keller") - purple collar
Helen Keller (1880-1968) was an American author, political activist and lecturer, and she was the first person who was deaf and blind to earn a bachelor's degree. The story of how Anne Sullivan, Keller's teacher, taught her to communicate has become well known. For forty years, Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan traveled around the world, helping the public overcome their misconceptions of people with disabilities.

Clara Hale ("Hale") - green collar
Clara Hale (1905 - 1992) was an African American humanitarian who raised over forty children in her small home in Harlem. At the age of sixty-three, she founded the Hale House Center, a home for unwanted children and children who were born addicted to drugs or who had HIV/AIDS. Throughout her life, Hale helped over one thousand children of every race and ethnicity.

Dorothy Harrison Eustis ("Eustis")
For Dee's stillborn puppy, our son Joe suggested naming her after someone who had a continuing legacy. After reviewing your suggestions, we selected Dorothy Harrison Eustis, whose legacy involves service dogs. Eustis (1886 - 1946) was an American philanthropist and dog breeder who worked with German Shepherds. She established and endowed The Seeing Eye, Inc., and other groups for training guide dogs.

Honor Your Mother's Love This Mother's Day

Your mother fed you when you were hungry, made all your cuts and bruises feel better with a kiss and a bandaid, and rocked you to sleep at night. She was a guiding hand as you took your first steps out in the world. As you started to make your own way, she offered you wisdom, support, a shoulder to lean on, and always, her unconditional love.

Just like mothers do, service dogs change lives, whether they're assisting their partners or caring for a future generation of service dogs, like new mother SSD Dee and her American Heroes puppies. Their loving dedication gives their partners the confidence to go out on their own and fulfill their goals and dreams.

This Mother's Day, show your mom how much she means to you by giving a donation in her name to Susquehanna Service Dogs. Celebrate your mother's love and dedication by giving the gift of independence to someone just like you.

Give a gift in honor of your mother.

Happy Mother's Day to all of the mothers whose love and dedication makes all things possible!

Welcoming Dee's New Puppies

SSD Dee gave birth to her puppies yesterday! We're very happy to welcome these new pups into our program!

We knew that Dee was due to give birth in the beginning of May, so when we found that she had gone into labor in the morning on May 2, our whelping team was ready. At 2:13 p.m., Dee gave birth to her first puppy, a large, black male that weighed 19 ounces. Because this puppy was so big, she had some difficulty delivering him, but our whelping team was right there to help her. Her second puppy was born easily at 2:32 p.m. - a slightly smaller black female.

Anytime one of our dogs give birth, we always have the vets at Palmyra Animal Clinic on call, just in case. Our first priority is to make sure that the mother and puppies are safe and healthy. Dee was having a difficult time delivering her third puppy, and we stayed in close contact with the vet. We had Dee walk around a little bit and gave her massages and nutrients to keep her energy up. One puppy may sometimes take several hours to be born, but after a few hours, we decided that it would be best to take Dee to the vet. We carefully loaded her and her two puppies into the car and drove them to the Palmyra Animal Clinic.

The vets took wonderful care of Dee and her puppies. Dr. Clements and Dr. Hahn performed an emergency c-section and delivered four more puppies - two yellow females, one black male and one black female.

Sadly, one of the yellow females was stillborn. She will be named and buried in a special area at the home of one of our volunteers. We were thankful to leave the vet with five large, healthy puppies and a healthy Dee. Dee went home on IV fluids to make sure she stays hydrated after her surgery, but she and her puppies are doing fine.

Thank you so much to our whelping team, Dee's breeder caretakers and the wonderful vets at Palmyra Animal Clinic!

We will be announcing the names of these American Heroes puppies soon. There's still time if you'd like to suggest a few more names!

We're looking forward to watching these big puppies grow and learn to be service dogs.

Help us name Dee's puppies!

Who are your heroes? A president, teacher or an activist? Perhaps your hero is a musician, a scientist or an artist.

We'd like to know who your heroes are! SSD Dee is going to give birth to her puppies in early May, and the theme of her litter is American Heroes. We need your help to create a list of names for these puppies!

We're looking for names of real people, not fictional characters. When you suggest a name in the comments, tell us a little bit about that person and why you think they're a hero.

You may suggest more than one name. Don't forget to suggest both male and female names. We don't know exactly how many puppies Dee will have! We'll announce the puppies' names when they're born in early May.

This will be Dee's first litter and so far, she's doing great! When you look at her, you can definitely tell she's going to have puppies. She recently visited the Milton Hershey School, and her breeder caretakers had to adjust her service dog harness.

She still gets plenty of exercise, although her breeder caretakers have cut back her exercise to three short walks during the day instead of one long 40 minute walk. Dee tires easily and needs frequent naps and potty breaks. Now that the weather is warming up, her breeder caretakers are being very careful to make sure she doesn't become overheated.

To help her get ready for motherhood, they set up the whelping box. Several times a day, Diane, one of Dee's breeder caretakers, puts some treats in the whelping box to encourage her to feel comfortable there. Dee will give birth in the whelping box, and her puppies will spend several weeks there. It's very important that she feel as if the whelping box is her space.

One week before her due date, Diane will start taking Dee's temperature several times a day. Temperature is one way that we determine when a dog is going to give birth. A dog's normal temperature is between 101 and 103 degrees. When it drops to 98 degrees, we know that labor will start soon, and we keep an even closer eye on her.

We will keep you updated on Dee and her puppies. Don't forget to suggest names in the comments!

SSD Dee is having puppies!

Late in February, SSD Dee was bred to GEB Venture from Guiding Eyes for the Blind. Yesterday, she went to the Palmyra Animal Clinic to find out if she was pregnant.

The ultrasound revealed about six puppies!

GEB Venture

More Puppies?

With the Civil War and Game litters on the puppy cams, it's hard to believe that we might be having even more puppies. But that just might be the case!

Today, SSD Dee traveled to Guiding Eyes for the Blind to be bred with GEB Venture, a solid, handsome yellow lab. Dee originally came from Guiding Eyes for the Blind, and we're very excited that she is returning to her home program to be bred. We're hoping for more puppies in about two months!

We're very lucky to have such wonderful relationships with other guide dog and assistance dog organizations like Guiding Eyes for the Blind.

SSD GEB Dee. She's a small, very sweet dog.


GEB Venture. We hope this handsome guy becomes the father of Dee's puppies!

Welcome to our newest SSD dogs!

Meet SSD Samee Mae and SSD Dee!

Samee Mae comes to us from Guide Dogs of Texas, Inc. Her mother, Poppy, flew all the way to Harrisburg to be bred with SSD Fire, and it's usually the custom that one puppy goes to the stud dog's organization, as long as the litter of puppies was large enough. Poppy had eight puppies! Samee Mae is part of Guide Dogs of Texas' "A" litter. (Her original name was Aggie.) We're very happy that Samee Mae is joining SSD!

When we learned that we would be getting one of Poppy's puppies, our puppy coordinator and one of our trainers flew down to Texas to pick one out. To help us choose a puppy that would have a high chance of being successful in our program, we used puppy temperament testing, which looks at the puppy's reactions to distractions and loud noises. We also look at their attention and focus, among other things. After all that, we chose Samee Mae!

Thank you to everyone at Guide Dogs of Texas! We enjoyed our time with you. Good luck to all of Samee Mae's brothers and sisters as they learn to become guide dogs!

The other new member of SSD is Dee. She is a one and a half year old black lab from Guiding Eyes for the Blind. She is a sweetheart! Right now, she is in advanced training, and we're evaluating her for our breeding program.


We are very lucky to have such wonderful relationships with other guide and service dog programs such as Guiding Eyes for the Blind and Guide Dogs of Texas!