tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84992609852470229262024-03-20T22:24:35.243-04:00Susquehanna Service DogsSSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.comBlogger596125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-51394625536787456902021-02-16T13:57:00.001-05:002021-02-16T13:57:51.163-05:00January Volunteer of the Month<p> <i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Congratulations to
Rosemary Kitzinger and family on being the January Volunteers of the Month! </span></i></p><p><i></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWiqwo8v8PGKk1xoNG9E0zXDM1TL0BSu8mvqf_XmRXF4vIKEq7oR8KBp7sWc-hDEtcznRgOJX6ypdbsE_vHmQr0T8MbOY0J-BVzgsV2VslGyHMKm3KisXhxfxB26kOXjv9OSq7a2-CNar8/s640/rosemary+and+Dave+and+Augusta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="524" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWiqwo8v8PGKk1xoNG9E0zXDM1TL0BSu8mvqf_XmRXF4vIKEq7oR8KBp7sWc-hDEtcznRgOJX6ypdbsE_vHmQr0T8MbOY0J-BVzgsV2VslGyHMKm3KisXhxfxB26kOXjv9OSq7a2-CNar8/s320/rosemary+and+Dave+and+Augusta.jpg" /></a></i></div><i><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></i><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
have been volunteering since May 2020, along with my husband, David, and our
four children, Marissa, Cody, Alyssa, and Collin.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Currently
we are puppy raising SSD Augusta from the Golf Course Litter. I hope to
continue to evolve as a volunteer with SSD. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YJQ1B77RgjGkDPUpKME7cuVLtA-jDGvk9PhHvuhVA_5NLj1FyCsuHaNbUFJdh13xSV5rl1D3DFytM8HakGmdka_EqShn6vsimQVrft6ayIm6cwfVpBi1HaGPTCCvPLArDw05ohAYrBrZ/s640/Augusta+8+weeks+old.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="An 8-week-old yellow Lab puppy sits and stares at the camera" border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0YJQ1B77RgjGkDPUpKME7cuVLtA-jDGvk9PhHvuhVA_5NLj1FyCsuHaNbUFJdh13xSV5rl1D3DFytM8HakGmdka_EqShn6vsimQVrft6ayIm6cwfVpBi1HaGPTCCvPLArDw05ohAYrBrZ/w240-h320/Augusta+8+weeks+old.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
became involved with SSD through the process of looking for service dog options
for Marissa when she was 17 years old. About six and a half years ago, I
learned of Susquehanna Service Dogs through a chance encounter (or divine
intervention) at the American Girl store in Tysons Corner, Virginia with the
cutest puppy wearing a purple vest with SSD insignia on it. The gentleman who
was handling the dog—and a few very excited girls—was kind enough to take the
time to tell me about the organization and their mission, and he praised the
staff immensely. After that encounter, I applied for a service dog for Marissa,
and four and a half years later she was blessed when she was matched with SSD
Nugget.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Throughout
the process, I was amazed every time I saw Marissa handle the dogs, including
in public, and what a difference it made in her attention, reduction of
anxiety, and her whole demeanor. I knew we were on the right path. During the
second week of team training, I told Amanda [SSD’s Director of Breeding and
Canine Development] I thought I might want to raise a puppy one day, but let
her know I have never ever had a dog in my life (until SSD Nugget came home).
She assured me I could handle the task and SSD would teach me everything I
needed to know.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
was told we needed to have SSD Nugget for a year before we could raise a puppy.
Once we passed that milestone the world shut down due to COVID-19. I talked it
over with my husband and our children and we agreed puppy raising would be a
great experience anyway, and why not during a pandemic? We could still do
something good for someone else and pay it forward. So far raising SSD Augusta
has been a truly amazing opportunity and experience for our family.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipuj0vXZFXKOCKMhzLEp9Y6qR5x8MQuUI6lDWj7KVKp5HHrjrH-DQR1atcjkh0kNbdF5_EjzQakBGQUYA-1AYSW32UmNaPGFUjsOPAkioXajzjPInkqZr9-dWycLplpKS11GwfXmfu04_l/s640/SSD+Augusta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A woman in a mask sits on a fish-shaped bench in Bass Pro Shops. A yellow lab in a purple service dog harness lies under the bench and looks at the woman." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipuj0vXZFXKOCKMhzLEp9Y6qR5x8MQuUI6lDWj7KVKp5HHrjrH-DQR1atcjkh0kNbdF5_EjzQakBGQUYA-1AYSW32UmNaPGFUjsOPAkioXajzjPInkqZr9-dWycLplpKS11GwfXmfu04_l/w240-h320/SSD+Augusta.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPGvH1uBaFAt7MqVQJ3v3ZhuWAGTIOLCQ9xNy-mTLEzBue8iM5xtVNUp7pZDOdzn1jCqz_V9T2A0dDLEKHoj9gexeoh9tU74ELiTUMwXJpQmXHFJgqGk2hcrlrNQDt2_JDPVwNlPpvd_1/s640/Dave+and+Augusta.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A man in a mask and a gray sweatshirt and a yellow Labrador retriever in a purple service dog harness walk through the grass at a tree farm." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="499" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjPGvH1uBaFAt7MqVQJ3v3ZhuWAGTIOLCQ9xNy-mTLEzBue8iM5xtVNUp7pZDOdzn1jCqz_V9T2A0dDLEKHoj9gexeoh9tU74ELiTUMwXJpQmXHFJgqGk2hcrlrNQDt2_JDPVwNlPpvd_1/w250-h320/Dave+and+Augusta.jpg" width="250" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACzU88i_TV6fWhmQl2bxB0rt9O3ZT1wtk9-iyUkflv0yZ6brRoY0Qxww4P_G_rfMQLoOQ_1oypSmPi-Aa_4IPqu8CfvY3xxa7PeBu1CWs-YS74NdBT8mbP1z_F2h_KYcV6La8NxXRr-t2/s640/Tree+farm+pic+with+kids+and+dogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Four people in coats and masks and two Labrador retrievers in service dog harnesses pose in front of pine trees." border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjACzU88i_TV6fWhmQl2bxB0rt9O3ZT1wtk9-iyUkflv0yZ6brRoY0Qxww4P_G_rfMQLoOQ_1oypSmPi-Aa_4IPqu8CfvY3xxa7PeBu1CWs-YS74NdBT8mbP1z_F2h_KYcV6La8NxXRr-t2/w320-h240/Tree+farm+pic+with+kids+and+dogs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">I
am new to volunteering with SSD, but I hope to be a long term volunteer. I see
the difference a service dog has made in Marissa’s life and I can’t say enough
good things about the staff at SSD. #DogsChangeLives!</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br />If you would like to join
our volunteers and make a difference by raising a puppy, <a href="https://www.khs.org/what-we-do/assistance-dogs/">apply online</a> today!</span></i></p>SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-23295674624946271392020-10-27T07:38:00.004-04:002020-10-27T07:38:43.757-04:00October Volunteer of the Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUeGaha_LMw_OjRdeqpPQwPouF81QlabBmPX2ygjB-NI_O6s6QtIlaSxdPCT0STt8CT28wTRMVahaQa0_gVDn_rbqVnUPppBoiymTLUgcbMWJe09_jFT6eK0f3PIBHJ9objsAQIUiqA3x/s2048/IMG-5281.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpUeGaha_LMw_OjRdeqpPQwPouF81QlabBmPX2ygjB-NI_O6s6QtIlaSxdPCT0STt8CT28wTRMVahaQa0_gVDn_rbqVnUPppBoiymTLUgcbMWJe09_jFT6eK0f3PIBHJ9objsAQIUiqA3x/s320/IMG-5281.JPG" /></a></div><br /><p>Congratulations to Becka Yerger, the October Volunteer of
the Month! Becka began volunteering with Susquehanna Service Dogs in December
2017 when she started raising SSD Amadeus. Amadeus is now one of our studs and
a demonstration dog.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“It’s awesome to think that there are little Amadeus puppies
out there becoming service dogs,” says Becka. “He’s the sweetest dog, and I’m
honored that he is now a breeder and demo dog.”</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfiNci2rXpjf_D0-MDu_FHsGJ__FDu1A0cDVaoAsP6oTpcWrChtpyygaSecgq0Q-toU2JrP_8cDiXb3yZPM1gQ0QpXjvpJxdVvQEVpGdz1Ni6_p1CUYL294M0Kx7SEE8MlQPrGa2PvS7I/s2048/IMG-5279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJfiNci2rXpjf_D0-MDu_FHsGJ__FDu1A0cDVaoAsP6oTpcWrChtpyygaSecgq0Q-toU2JrP_8cDiXb3yZPM1gQ0QpXjvpJxdVvQEVpGdz1Ni6_p1CUYL294M0Kx7SEE8MlQPrGa2PvS7I/s320/IMG-5279.JPG" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Becka decided to get involved with SSD after one of her
colleagues at Millersville University started raising a puppy for us. “Of
course, I was interested right away. I’m originally from the Harrisburg, PA
area, so I had always heard of SSD. When I applied to raise a puppy, I felt
like I was at the right stage in my life to start this new journey and
adventure.”</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOgLjFonIgKlKVr3oip6MjxTbIKzxVgY-0WSyX1N-YnJvdglQwCyq_eVwLJrZ-LbU0HIjsEi4qio_pKuxxWpWF1bFP0cyaSiuPdFpbfaHg90xMxkkU9dP_8Nmk88fD9612Gm565P0-90i/s2048/IMG-5280.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpOgLjFonIgKlKVr3oip6MjxTbIKzxVgY-0WSyX1N-YnJvdglQwCyq_eVwLJrZ-LbU0HIjsEi4qio_pKuxxWpWF1bFP0cyaSiuPdFpbfaHg90xMxkkU9dP_8Nmk88fD9612Gm565P0-90i/s320/IMG-5280.JPG" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal">Since she raised SSD Amadeus, Becka has been a puppy sitter
for some our youngest puppies through our 2x2 program, watching two puppies at
a time overnight. She served as a starter raiser for SSD Toast, and she’s now
the volunteer staff advisor for Paws on Deck, our puppy raising program at
Millersville University. In addition to raising puppies, Paws on Deck helps
raise money for SSD and educates the public about service dogs and service dog
etiquette.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">“The work these dogs do is nothing less than amazing,” she
says. “Seeing the dogs with their partners makes the whole process worth it! The
staff at SSD also make this journey so much easier because the SSD family is
always there for help or support whenever needed.” </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-73238077444845393872020-09-30T15:02:00.000-04:002020-09-30T15:02:05.188-04:00September Volunteer of the Month<p><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">Congratulations to the Smith family, the September Volunteers
of the Month! Thank you for helping #DogsChangeLives! Read their story below
about their volunteer experience.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Guest
post by Julie Smith, puppy raiser for Susquehanna Service Dogs<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sometimes small decisions have a significant, lasting impact.
When our American Heritage Girl’s unit decided to complete the Pet Care Badge
in 2015, I had no idea how it would affect my daughter’s life and the rest of
my family, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">As part of the Pet Care Badge, a demonstration dog came to our
troop meeting and showed us some of the ways a service dog helps people in
their daily lives. Since my daughter Hannah loves animals and loves helping
people, she immediately started asking if we could become puppy raisers. At 10
years old, we thought she was too young to take on the huge responsibility. However,
she never gave up asking and finally we relented when she was 13 years old and
was ready to take on the challenge.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiDKSNqp4lVZBnRdUhkt8rcacvswYzSTo_As0qRd23THvV6z-mGRF62LGKqtC5Kzeo1RJPGU-0yJdIDF5H_DckTXxUd-w5Ov_EuQWmCsjBCr_KXU1J5NcWhw9sRUW_Dwstf8MjGISgoCu/s2048/IMG_5034.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibiDKSNqp4lVZBnRdUhkt8rcacvswYzSTo_As0qRd23THvV6z-mGRF62LGKqtC5Kzeo1RJPGU-0yJdIDF5H_DckTXxUd-w5Ov_EuQWmCsjBCr_KXU1J5NcWhw9sRUW_Dwstf8MjGISgoCu/s320/IMG_5034.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;">In March 2019, SSD Paisley entered our lives as a bundle of
joy and energy. Hannah was true to her word and managed to balance the
responsibility of puppy raising and school work. We learned a lot from our
training classes and were amazed at the amount of work that goes into training
a service dog, but the community of volunteers and staff totally supported us
along the way.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While working with SSD Paisley, Hannah discovered her passion.
She loves training dogs and loves how much people’s lives can be changed by a
service dog. She seeks out additional ways to volunteer whether it is
representing SSD at fundraising events or helping out with a Puppy Hugging
event. She helped her brother complete his Eagle Scout project by building
playground equipment for the dogs in SSD’s fields. She is even exploring the
possibility of a college degree related to companion animal science.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlQdiOivCj2b4QntZHapI0uUyrZ0HbChgDJeFOUng74mY7FvE0BdPaON7Duexg5kkYW2kxht2i2hwEd3YZMqmbdz5egBq6qoCP978nr3bKDg2K5L95iCjycxUzek1IBfa5bWSa5JwaRw2/s2048/IMG_8498_edited-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUlQdiOivCj2b4QntZHapI0uUyrZ0HbChgDJeFOUng74mY7FvE0BdPaON7Duexg5kkYW2kxht2i2hwEd3YZMqmbdz5egBq6qoCP978nr3bKDg2K5L95iCjycxUzek1IBfa5bWSa5JwaRw2/s320/IMG_8498_edited-1.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Like many of the volunteers, we couldn’t stop with just one. In
February 2020, SSD Zuzu came to live with us. Having two service dogs along
with our pet dog during the COVID-19 quarantine was definitely a mixed
blessing, but we wouldn’t have it any other way. For us, the hardest part is
saying goodbye. We were excited for SSD Paisley and sad for us when she left us
to begin training as an explosive detection K9. We know she will love it and
will help keep our country safe.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSdvmJknTFhH6eRokpO5ySQchQkQS3TkomFN5UZX7Rs1fL1InkAKG-kuEfMkJnKSXpxSpnEU1RcRgMHAgSm3GNEKjVKd0lbHLi-eQlSSLRRE6Eea5_VylJ6Vqq2FCIXZfXCEQLXXbrB5wz/s2048/IMG_8029.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1365" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSdvmJknTFhH6eRokpO5ySQchQkQS3TkomFN5UZX7Rs1fL1InkAKG-kuEfMkJnKSXpxSpnEU1RcRgMHAgSm3GNEKjVKd0lbHLi-eQlSSLRRE6Eea5_VylJ6Vqq2FCIXZfXCEQLXXbrB5wz/s320/IMG_8029.jpg" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></p>Will we be raising more service dogs? Absolutely! As with many
service opportunities, you gain so much more than you give. While significantly
helping others, our lives are filled with joyful bundles of fur and slobbering
puppy kisses. What could be better?</span><p></p>SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-15802970118557869512020-08-25T09:40:00.001-04:002020-08-25T09:40:52.184-04:00August Volunteer of the Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdK351m9smzLh387BWC0-1py7S4TnqDIplBSD_rB0mbJcaqs5GX1b3BdAI9ALpIOxWJCxKwrG1doQ6l3E-S2_-4NVCqU0gh-mlNSfwmesbuCWWbvPxto90EOVUMZ0-rVw3gNvrZ7JwLZ6S/s960/Sharon+and+brian+Stalker+and+Sage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A woman and a man sit on a bench outside. The man has his arm around the woman. A yellow Labrador retriever sits and rests her front paws on the man's knee." border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="960" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdK351m9smzLh387BWC0-1py7S4TnqDIplBSD_rB0mbJcaqs5GX1b3BdAI9ALpIOxWJCxKwrG1doQ6l3E-S2_-4NVCqU0gh-mlNSfwmesbuCWWbvPxto90EOVUMZ0-rVw3gNvrZ7JwLZ6S/w320-h213/Sharon+and+brian+Stalker+and+Sage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Congratulations to Sharon and Brian Stalker, the August
Volunteers of the Month! Sharon and Brian raised their first puppy for
Susquehanna Service Dogs in 1995. Although SSD Sophie didn’t become a service
dog, she had a happy life and a successful career as a drug detection dog
working with a state trooper.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">They decided to get involved with SSD after their family dog
passed away. A co-worker recommended SSD as a way to bring a dog back into
their lives.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmN2ym7TL1Xp6eYwb3LzwH-dDVdzE7OCzKpFFLq7VVcE9RwXk7y5K4aNOjaIwtYwzYdXb-CCdnD33OC4zgnly7mE71BBpsT5ilLDPLqEyJ5x_iMa-dXn0DoZKxxCduK8TNw-Y4X1mkdcw2/s2048/sharon+stalker3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A yellow Labrador retriever puppy does a play bow in the grass in front of a woman on her hands and knees." border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmN2ym7TL1Xp6eYwb3LzwH-dDVdzE7OCzKpFFLq7VVcE9RwXk7y5K4aNOjaIwtYwzYdXb-CCdnD33OC4zgnly7mE71BBpsT5ilLDPLqEyJ5x_iMa-dXn0DoZKxxCduK8TNw-Y4X1mkdcw2/w320-h213/sharon+stalker3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">Sharon says, “My favorite part of how we became raisers is
this: We were invited to a puppy class to see what it would mean to be a
raiser, and were told there was a puppy there looking for raisers. Brian said I
couldn’t go because I would just come back with the puppy. He wanted to take
more time with the decision. So Brian went to class…and came home with the
puppy! We found out right away that he is more of a softie with a puppy than I
am!”</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since then, they have raised a total of 19 dogs for us!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkenp60EjgWXft2jucbp6AxD4P5TToFf8LZivec4AJpKAxliC1cwGO0P0BcnyGa0tHFaICkuwuH0ydlPA50GNLb0DmrAR_nZzcGKghRlW31hK9Nxcl1zVwgH0KmXRvLMFCpspyh1jb_4P/s960/SSD+cha+cha%252C+SSD+Hamilton+and+released+Sage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="In a living room, three yellow Labrador retrievers look directly into the camera. One dog stands with their head cocked and a serious expression. The other two sit with happy expressions. Their mouths are open and tongues are out." border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYkenp60EjgWXft2jucbp6AxD4P5TToFf8LZivec4AJpKAxliC1cwGO0P0BcnyGa0tHFaICkuwuH0ydlPA50GNLb0DmrAR_nZzcGKghRlW31hK9Nxcl1zVwgH0KmXRvLMFCpspyh1jb_4P/w320-h240/SSD+cha+cha%252C+SSD+Hamilton+and+released+Sage.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">In addition to raising puppies, Sharon and Brian also help
evaluate our released dogs to see if they would make good companion dogs. Companion
dogs are specially trained pets that provide comfort, companionship, and
motivation for one or more family members.</p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHowlHxasHwCxsYYD1uUGT6CYBgShmdGEdyZyepbGvIWVDnmd91XntJT_oCYU3_VWq_DL_Gso5Xzjdq5WHkQJugLHoPvIFPoYB7CRr8iDPRcAHw79LV3wLrZf5bBEFroGS_PiOZEG6tOq/s960/Sharon+stalker.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A woman stands in her backyard with her back to her house and snuggles a yellow Labrador retriever puppy." border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIHowlHxasHwCxsYYD1uUGT6CYBgShmdGEdyZyepbGvIWVDnmd91XntJT_oCYU3_VWq_DL_Gso5Xzjdq5WHkQJugLHoPvIFPoYB7CRr8iDPRcAHw79LV3wLrZf5bBEFroGS_PiOZEG6tOq/w320-h320/Sharon+stalker.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div>They continue to volunteer because of the impact these dogs
have on people’s lives. “The second puppy we raised, SSD Lily, was placed as a
service dog,” said Sharon. “She was partnered with a young girl, and after a
few weeks, the girl’s mother called us to thank us for raising Lily. She said
that after a trip to the mall, her daughter told her “People see me now.’ That
one statement is the reason we keep raising these wonderful dogs.”<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0wqhuCG7W-9WTiGl6wlpkgezShRJXvNaFMAHf9S5Yazx7XihSwirlIu9A8JcxcQFYtDP-zIEoeM_B5G_PyqFgiASY5EqqZs2jS7G_AvPywF8MGMILqkNz4iRowrJSC3baH_W3dBrThDJ/s960/sharon+SSD+Hamilton.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="A yellow Labrador retriever in a purple service dog harness is curled up in a ball on a bright green blanket." border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0wqhuCG7W-9WTiGl6wlpkgezShRJXvNaFMAHf9S5Yazx7XihSwirlIu9A8JcxcQFYtDP-zIEoeM_B5G_PyqFgiASY5EqqZs2jS7G_AvPywF8MGMILqkNz4iRowrJSC3baH_W3dBrThDJ/w240-h320/sharon+SSD+Hamilton.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">Thank you, Sharon and Brian, for helping #DogsChangeLives! </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-6658150653017987412020-07-17T07:13:00.002-04:002020-07-17T07:13:51.546-04:00July Volunteer of the Month<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMx5tuuLX2K0GWwJolQDnIRRILaMBUKsBcty1FDVdsTM_YS0eviyCuWjO1hQ9H_1tLJwUPhaBaCpQbXnFHVA7EYl70GalTB9opfhEXVNYwH7hoSa5Wi5QwJWKoBdfseLBU-UUHx3pt7W2U/s1600/Visiting+Felix+at+WCC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMx5tuuLX2K0GWwJolQDnIRRILaMBUKsBcty1FDVdsTM_YS0eviyCuWjO1hQ9H_1tLJwUPhaBaCpQbXnFHVA7EYl70GalTB9opfhEXVNYwH7hoSa5Wi5QwJWKoBdfseLBU-UUHx3pt7W2U/s320/Visiting+Felix+at+WCC.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Congratulations to Beth Bartoli, the July
Volunteer of the Month! Thank you for helping #DogsChangeLives! Read her story
below about her volunteer experience.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Guest post by Beth Bartoli, volunteer with Susquehanna
Service Dogs</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpiva_Yp6mAErXsW5XiZfLrFu63fFf0yYVxqY2o7WSAvSy5YAkoAHt31nWGfk3cWv8JHZ6taIRI37I_0X1eCDiVmKwuvdD9dPYOLhyZCtk2NvgNLF2K9iGXn-zbZspOscbX8KuZ9cwEyv/s1600/Felix+and+cat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjpiva_Yp6mAErXsW5XiZfLrFu63fFf0yYVxqY2o7WSAvSy5YAkoAHt31nWGfk3cWv8JHZ6taIRI37I_0X1eCDiVmKwuvdD9dPYOLhyZCtk2NvgNLF2K9iGXn-zbZspOscbX8KuZ9cwEyv/s320/Felix+and+cat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaonTrtGE5hsMG4-FF3QydMQ0HUwoMqQFctGByPzonkq4ybBayqSO_G2qSsbOOJAER9h8ukymU9b1GctWW6TCFxKpMkhS9UkSOYW6IxAQ1D-zZwzfyg_cj7U8ytdzckqXv8lUSasOkQ-y/s1600/Felix+with+puppies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1067" data-original-width="1600" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHaonTrtGE5hsMG4-FF3QydMQ0HUwoMqQFctGByPzonkq4ybBayqSO_G2qSsbOOJAER9h8ukymU9b1GctWW6TCFxKpMkhS9UkSOYW6IxAQ1D-zZwzfyg_cj7U8ytdzckqXv8lUSasOkQ-y/s320/Felix+with+puppies.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;">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. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljsNtWf7pQbX01BTpWB-0vGFzaRC59tHMx8z97rLs2-fMouPFclipeFP80rrt0iMVBpfbbm-ortGsG7TEOVe-CARSbkgRHxEpvu1waWExan3EWk0ctbPHv4WpwObAIHQrQtTldcwx60ov/s1600/Felix+with+red+collar+puppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1137" data-original-width="1600" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiljsNtWf7pQbX01BTpWB-0vGFzaRC59tHMx8z97rLs2-fMouPFclipeFP80rrt0iMVBpfbbm-ortGsG7TEOVe-CARSbkgRHxEpvu1waWExan3EWk0ctbPHv4WpwObAIHQrQtTldcwx60ov/s320/Felix+with+red+collar+puppy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixo93rqn1dhqsu0JR6y64BA5igcjgIt4n6ct8OPwvhji7LQu8r8c3GPJjq54Tn5QCCoRadHD0hnkgBqDa26gnAVWbWsIY93FfDT2bSjgLxNDmA38YB0kB4_44DDoAdrPOfN0RnAfK_FfaJ/s1600/Felix+with+black+and+tan+puppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1136" data-original-width="1600" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixo93rqn1dhqsu0JR6y64BA5igcjgIt4n6ct8OPwvhji7LQu8r8c3GPJjq54Tn5QCCoRadHD0hnkgBqDa26gnAVWbWsIY93FfDT2bSjgLxNDmA38YB0kB4_44DDoAdrPOfN0RnAfK_FfaJ/s320/Felix+with+black+and+tan+puppy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHJxHaZ4SGJyYlu4NtfIebf7Wh9M3gYwfQpggWYe8YqTTSIbAF5piUntL4IvYTNJf3mU7qo4uxUWr-kvhGctSk7FGBpgs9II4XMMcPC77Rd_nQkKHQv3qpBORx_3uNbF6v9J1bsWBLTtk/s1600/Felix+with+pink+puppy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1170" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZHJxHaZ4SGJyYlu4NtfIebf7Wh9M3gYwfQpggWYe8YqTTSIbAF5piUntL4IvYTNJf3mU7qo4uxUWr-kvhGctSk7FGBpgs9II4XMMcPC77Rd_nQkKHQv3qpBORx_3uNbF6v9J1bsWBLTtk/s320/Felix+with+pink+puppy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqhoxQrXNOQPEEEdrC3VOMmaZzxA_0El6ovb5IxaOz8WIdE19_DqrfpRtWO4sMK2chGGkBmRNKgPN4kIQLAL001_9wt-ehoadI-nG3ilEwPtYPH5lQVS5B9VBnutJ85dsH0tNiHgOtWAq/s1600/At+WCC+with+Felix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1356" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaqhoxQrXNOQPEEEdrC3VOMmaZzxA_0El6ovb5IxaOz8WIdE19_DqrfpRtWO4sMK2chGGkBmRNKgPN4kIQLAL001_9wt-ehoadI-nG3ilEwPtYPH5lQVS5B9VBnutJ85dsH0tNiHgOtWAq/s320/At+WCC+with+Felix.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRiGDKeim1zDvkU1qg5u8pJceds0BRY9ClCoqbJihhzKIzuzDEOPvyb7WGSPDLdRpNRXWd0sKbOyYy8JdONYCRcccEo5cUjG2UMPijUzE6K1m0lflAO3UhEdzaB7zvla378nMIJxmOUA9o/s1600/At+WCC+with+SSD+Felix.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1112" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRiGDKeim1zDvkU1qg5u8pJceds0BRY9ClCoqbJihhzKIzuzDEOPvyb7WGSPDLdRpNRXWd0sKbOyYy8JdONYCRcccEo5cUjG2UMPijUzE6K1m0lflAO3UhEdzaB7zvla378nMIJxmOUA9o/s320/At+WCC+with+SSD+Felix.jpg" width="222" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><br />
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. <br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" />
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-47850241538469785962020-07-08T15:08:00.001-04:002020-07-09T13:46:05.811-04:00June Volunteer of the Month<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">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! </span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Guest post by Maria Hersey, volunteer with
Susquehanna Service Dogs</span></i></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzG4iVnD8cSJH7fsnIgQ_RhROlnovpdQUi9mshxHWG18fWk3HQ3fImTdZJKKrkqTL_RZlAncJIjv5qaS2G4wwn4Wo2Uj_O3pXnBb4ZzUjFuIPTyWcIVLOMjtSa4lz6xus7XSeCwoi9dtS/s1600/Hersey+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyzG4iVnD8cSJH7fsnIgQ_RhROlnovpdQUi9mshxHWG18fWk3HQ3fImTdZJKKrkqTL_RZlAncJIjv5qaS2G4wwn4Wo2Uj_O3pXnBb4ZzUjFuIPTyWcIVLOMjtSa4lz6xus7XSeCwoi9dtS/s320/Hersey+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">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.</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;"> </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTamw96rHm0psTz9dqj31r4mPXitEA0u0CdhdU-2qte9AC5ltFiHO2Emyw1mp_odOC06tq4t2ic02ZJN2jczjjq7T0tDOdBi9d8S5p0fdCsvHWwn31vRtoQmeRozd7vIHb_EURc1sJFrrB/s1600/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTamw96rHm0psTz9dqj31r4mPXitEA0u0CdhdU-2qte9AC5ltFiHO2Emyw1mp_odOC06tq4t2ic02ZJN2jczjjq7T0tDOdBi9d8S5p0fdCsvHWwn31vRtoQmeRozd7vIHb_EURc1sJFrrB/s320/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-5.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtueCCS9Hi8yTZqteIKQg8t_Y4WQyiYRJUdLbVZk1B8AJ5opZAbPMGy0GunyO_BhB_y3oFiwAlQp1AB4ZDjiDFtP30xGb4MqqIsUyZvohUDQhJBn82z_PWDuDlWLLjFIl1j2PIyqCUcN7w/s1600/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtueCCS9Hi8yTZqteIKQg8t_Y4WQyiYRJUdLbVZk1B8AJ5opZAbPMGy0GunyO_BhB_y3oFiwAlQp1AB4ZDjiDFtP30xGb4MqqIsUyZvohUDQhJBn82z_PWDuDlWLLjFIl1j2PIyqCUcN7w/s320/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-3.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkRF2KfQ6tLGW6e155CGlht7NfGPJxcMlDoNX4YrvrnVHq_MZXxH-GiBJx9mHZjSS0YdnNOFYFiZTrrNmpC6YQNPtUEWDMoJiwJNzFe145xmUGBy3fYWbAX0hXrZdjl3Y6rY6JzHvfkVe/s1600/Hersey+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLkRF2KfQ6tLGW6e155CGlht7NfGPJxcMlDoNX4YrvrnVHq_MZXxH-GiBJx9mHZjSS0YdnNOFYFiZTrrNmpC6YQNPtUEWDMoJiwJNzFe145xmUGBy3fYWbAX0hXrZdjl3Y6rY6JzHvfkVe/s320/Hersey+2.jpg" width="240" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSw_5beUlvw7muHc_wwSK47DmWpo10YMMjzarRsdQ7qNvSPWmZQPzzjzMT8ut6u_UgpnibGPoGzcYf7xuWmOY4BiHimw-HM3g3J8FFxhgP8DgP4eolwNr1Bcm_-PYZTjbN2dA4LM18EqPH/s1600/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSw_5beUlvw7muHc_wwSK47DmWpo10YMMjzarRsdQ7qNvSPWmZQPzzjzMT8ut6u_UgpnibGPoGzcYf7xuWmOY4BiHimw-HM3g3J8FFxhgP8DgP4eolwNr1Bcm_-PYZTjbN2dA4LM18EqPH/s320/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-6.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">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. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeJO8EN4C4F3oMK5027KWBGie6O1VnnGAafjQJMF5lDfy3tqQt-vlOAoP5MqwKz5Uj5lfXvn9-TL7y919mvxnbGcvrQrDH2rgrDox0Lk0BMQD7k3FXyrZcYNuYq6qx_AJKQn1PgAM4zOR/s1600/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJeJO8EN4C4F3oMK5027KWBGie6O1VnnGAafjQJMF5lDfy3tqQt-vlOAoP5MqwKz5Uj5lfXvn9-TL7y919mvxnbGcvrQrDH2rgrDox0Lk0BMQD7k3FXyrZcYNuYq6qx_AJKQn1PgAM4zOR/s320/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-4.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Admittedly, we hold a special place in our
hearts for dogs who spend an extended period of time with us:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiK7WQIhyB6LXt_RzxPK9l-kpM7BrEngmwNArFLKo5a3hR_a0I2AFi4q13k-F4s5TIU_yKkSX7GlXxtGncPSnzqlNsQMcMXGcDbXZHl1LyYVUS5ggt27oGnNGxgGiHcMOunhJk78u1dZOR/s1600/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiK7WQIhyB6LXt_RzxPK9l-kpM7BrEngmwNArFLKo5a3hR_a0I2AFi4q13k-F4s5TIU_yKkSX7GlXxtGncPSnzqlNsQMcMXGcDbXZHl1LyYVUS5ggt27oGnNGxgGiHcMOunhJk78u1dZOR/s320/Photo_Jul_08_20+12-17-18+PM-2.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Five years ago, we
lost our beloved Annabelle, a rescued black lab/golden mix.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>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.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGeORrrXE6h0cuhlXeEwIVspx9RE_khRgVnZETpCxPpviI6q81BGqFFsU7KsQ6xQRbsPyn1380FfdrZFTW6_DvlWfwU4tebx3q4a29qi4efXiK3yrLPAq1kC3JkwjfhodGrWmTH1E4r9M/s1600/Hersey+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWGeORrrXE6h0cuhlXeEwIVspx9RE_khRgVnZETpCxPpviI6q81BGqFFsU7KsQ6xQRbsPyn1380FfdrZFTW6_DvlWfwU4tebx3q4a29qi4efXiK3yrLPAq1kC3JkwjfhodGrWmTH1E4r9M/s320/Hersey+5.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">Sitting for <st1:stockticker w:st="on">SSD</st1:stockticker> 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 <st1:stockticker w:st="on">SSD</st1:stockticker>
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 <st1:stockticker w:st="on">SSD</st1:stockticker> dog, because we are greeted
with such delight and joy by all.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the
senior center, Rob and I discovered that our “supposed” popularity is in
direction proportion to the dogs we share with the members. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTJs8ao9D66ALrkfNiwCG6BMrNE50uaklIpj6brZVCzvhKuO6_8MMyb0XkSJC68fluNBJgZ5UEG9ZSYx1tg1XysuclEw6SkHn95gVR_QQkrBWMwa28KOwNsLrbyCgefsQH7sOfm1slxwX/s1600/Hersey+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1600" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTJs8ao9D66ALrkfNiwCG6BMrNE50uaklIpj6brZVCzvhKuO6_8MMyb0XkSJC68fluNBJgZ5UEG9ZSYx1tg1XysuclEw6SkHn95gVR_QQkrBWMwa28KOwNsLrbyCgefsQH7sOfm1slxwX/s320/Hersey+7.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif;">We have truly
enjoyed working with the staff and other volunteers at <st1:stockticker w:st="on">SSD</st1:stockticker>.
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 <st1:stockticker w:st="on">SSD</st1:stockticker>
dogs you are completely accepted as part of this greater service dog family.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-66727015884403464152020-06-10T12:43:00.001-04:002020-06-10T12:43:53.931-04:00May Volunteer of the Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ELWq-6EqKG2Z6E14E3cxhZcB4AKjmGsE_jzKdv7w4cX_Yiny5TLn0zWCeuEtAiUZgpHBMHSXEdzHixh9d7sLwe9kTtbG0f-tKDqzGhYIwF_dmNG-1B4zfhf1DdoLh3jz9T-uQkR4HLJL/s1600/20200525_172925.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3ELWq-6EqKG2Z6E14E3cxhZcB4AKjmGsE_jzKdv7w4cX_Yiny5TLn0zWCeuEtAiUZgpHBMHSXEdzHixh9d7sLwe9kTtbG0f-tKDqzGhYIwF_dmNG-1B4zfhf1DdoLh3jz9T-uQkR4HLJL/s320/20200525_172925.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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Congratulations to Susan Wesner, the May Volunteer of the Month!
<o:p></o:p></div>
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Susan has been volunteering with Susquehanna Service Dogs
since May 2014 as a puppy hugger helping to socialize our youngest service dogs
in training. She first heard about SSD when she attended PawsAbilities, our
canine festival. By 2015, she took our classes to become a puppy sitter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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After sitting new puppies SSD Geronimo, SSD Godiva, and SSD
Guava as part of our 2x2 puppy sitting program, she was hooked.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcsSM9LwA5_eYLK9gE1xFAWEymspzEAVqqNhLU6v4uxrhocHkik9KU0U__Tp59L74Up9iIc9D23hFTEo8D3XcBNo7KK5M0OKuAp383GRHrhhQghUZhiz8ZsExC1ZKtvOeIhvlfP2XTMva/s1600/20180618_103741.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNcsSM9LwA5_eYLK9gE1xFAWEymspzEAVqqNhLU6v4uxrhocHkik9KU0U__Tp59L74Up9iIc9D23hFTEo8D3XcBNo7KK5M0OKuAp383GRHrhhQghUZhiz8ZsExC1ZKtvOeIhvlfP2XTMva/s320/20180618_103741.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Since then, she has supervised puppy socialization at our
center in Grantville, PA and has helped canine eye clinics and other
activities. She has also helped with litters in some of our whelping homes—clipping
nails, cleaning up after the puppies, and more. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMo-1YX4FwFm_-8pFZ2gREA0NDPv063HFL0jDYOFG2EFheyuB_Az8ATcgnyKd6USGxX30K2rF1C763Nn0HeDC01dSusXDSFQMqJuOyJsYVJqiDYpIKyEZbx_l5JZ2RGwsjBnHFimiCjeVw/s1600/20190204_231300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMo-1YX4FwFm_-8pFZ2gREA0NDPv063HFL0jDYOFG2EFheyuB_Az8ATcgnyKd6USGxX30K2rF1C763Nn0HeDC01dSusXDSFQMqJuOyJsYVJqiDYpIKyEZbx_l5JZ2RGwsjBnHFimiCjeVw/s320/20190204_231300.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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“Best of all is getting to work with the puppies on their early
socialization and learning,” says Susan.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“As a sitter, I enjoy working with the dogs in public, and
when I get the opportunity to sit a dog more than once, it’s fun to see how
they have progressed. Knowing these puppies and dogs will someday help someone
with things that I take for granted is why I continue volunteering.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91HqqTkyctSHd9_0vRbhqUoGNFGvrdY9yY1PuJnpiCl7VzdknS_IXolvS9L4687T418ERst6fmEHihcRa0i3-vwWDb4yuQ_yfyvlwNubuUj95JYcaANPiA8rvATtrXE8h2JRpCJtrZ03l/s1600/20200524_114602.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91HqqTkyctSHd9_0vRbhqUoGNFGvrdY9yY1PuJnpiCl7VzdknS_IXolvS9L4687T418ERst6fmEHihcRa0i3-vwWDb4yuQ_yfyvlwNubuUj95JYcaANPiA8rvATtrXE8h2JRpCJtrZ03l/s320/20200524_114602.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Thank you, Susan, for helping #DogsChangeLives!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our volunteers collectively give over 40,000 hours per month
to raise and sit puppies, help with public training, maintain our property, help
with fundraising, and so much more! To give back to our volunteers who give us
so much, we’re recognizing a volunteer each month. Selected by random drawing,
volunteers of the month receive a gift card to local restaurants and
businesses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Want to join this group of amazing volunteers? Sign up
today: <a href="https://www.keystonehumanservices.org/susquehanna-service-dogs/responsibilities-of-a-puppy-raiser.php">https://www.keystonehumanservices.org/susquehanna-service-dogs/responsibilities-of-a-puppy-raiser.php</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-41685456555914966702020-05-26T12:33:00.000-04:002020-05-26T12:33:00.235-04:00April Volunteers of the Month<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAutVgvK8vFciy1yp8dmf-aPLuqslcF950peWHagDkd3A307xRDtwUKeuVZgrzS9uf2mI2752nP23xyouTfaPnZANaN5S5SgEzhrrY9eVERgDcwEPo2uZAjIEkBkIx-wo3cUgFUtWkExUm/s1600/image1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1475" data-original-width="1600" height="295" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAutVgvK8vFciy1yp8dmf-aPLuqslcF950peWHagDkd3A307xRDtwUKeuVZgrzS9uf2mI2752nP23xyouTfaPnZANaN5S5SgEzhrrY9eVERgDcwEPo2uZAjIEkBkIx-wo3cUgFUtWkExUm/s320/image1.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Congratulations to the Finnegan family, the April Volunteer
of the Month! <o:p></o:p></div>
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The Finnegans have been volunteering with Susquehanna
Service Dogs since December 2017, when they began raising their first dog, SSD
Beethoven. Beethoven is now working as a detection K9 with the CIA, and the
Finnegans are raising SSD Davis, who is almost ready for advanced training, and
new puppy SSD Murtaugh. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bEj3VwOoWummxDuRT9wd0fwy176mPGY2BHc8n4xMNDqTD0CeBHMv6SgvnPLmZVCqgBw6TuNHGF8rcuBNO6gBNHuXxPdIfuVg1DWKQ6iE9AvoUthdOXJ6lBjGTz_OVVgWg0fWQImnYgMr/s1600/Beethoven+at+CIA+graduation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1323" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8bEj3VwOoWummxDuRT9wd0fwy176mPGY2BHc8n4xMNDqTD0CeBHMv6SgvnPLmZVCqgBw6TuNHGF8rcuBNO6gBNHuXxPdIfuVg1DWKQ6iE9AvoUthdOXJ6lBjGTz_OVVgWg0fWQImnYgMr/s320/Beethoven+at+CIA+graduation.jpg" width="264" /></a></div>
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In addition to raising puppies, they have also been sitters
and help with our 2x2 puppy sitting, where they watch two of our youngest
puppies overnight to help them acclimate to spending time away from their entire
litter. <o:p></o:p></div>
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The family got involved with SSD when daughter Erin was a
young Girl Scout and a group of volunteers raising guide dogs visited her
troop. “From that moment on, I knew I had to help in some way,” said Erin. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGsuH0Tg3BirnjSFDF-aPqcvzzVe7nE8mTfMdjGUKjco_7dJUueR_wiFTq-F5M4lZvx9Ac4_f4C9cptCsvn9jTWS5KJdrgkS8pz8oo1WLGw40Sf3UlaljjTujFtHpRQGFYkzhidfnzt9n/s1600/Davis+at+handout.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHGsuH0Tg3BirnjSFDF-aPqcvzzVe7nE8mTfMdjGUKjco_7dJUueR_wiFTq-F5M4lZvx9Ac4_f4C9cptCsvn9jTWS5KJdrgkS8pz8oo1WLGw40Sf3UlaljjTujFtHpRQGFYkzhidfnzt9n/s320/Davis+at+handout.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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She searched for a local organization and found SSD. “We as
a family have never been happier to be part of something so special and helpful
for the community,” she said. “We love the positivity surrounding it all. SSD
feels like one big family that we are all a part of, and we’re there to help
each other out.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you to the Finnegan family for volunteering with SSD
and helping #DogsChangeLives!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our volunteers collectively give over 40,000 hours per month
to raise and sit puppies, help with public training, maintain our property,
help with fundraising, and so much more! To give back to our volunteers who
give us so much, we’re recognizing a volunteer each month. Selected by random
drawing, volunteers of the month receive a gift card to local restaurants and
businesses. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSOtrvf8ZuiS2_XhCyGOaKHLhf9ZE2whyphenhyphenmBCjyA3TSWZ26DSsljmhn3h2f7R5PXSgWrZpqVxCMfjWfecLWyI3pgjpk5T2Leiu4YqqFpgtMiY5V7davAdoUIhDV4POIWHPLiciquXuUh-_T/s1600/SSD+Davis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="900" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSOtrvf8ZuiS2_XhCyGOaKHLhf9ZE2whyphenhyphenmBCjyA3TSWZ26DSsljmhn3h2f7R5PXSgWrZpqVxCMfjWfecLWyI3pgjpk5T2Leiu4YqqFpgtMiY5V7davAdoUIhDV4POIWHPLiciquXuUh-_T/s320/SSD+Davis.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-20960778880267258352020-03-11T10:44:00.000-04:002020-03-11T11:04:20.927-04:00February Volunteer of the Month<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvdmuk2Njo8Et2u6VplDZ1L2k7cU_FcOhEboeRU67wmTCk43UDjzhQ1IflzqhX7itilKIaBgYtGH_Gkx1J697p59VE6rIMGNwhK47py76ZGWsttbF_-6YmsirKWVh7oaT27mKzV_siVggv/s1600/IMG_0016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvdmuk2Njo8Et2u6VplDZ1L2k7cU_FcOhEboeRU67wmTCk43UDjzhQ1IflzqhX7itilKIaBgYtGH_Gkx1J697p59VE6rIMGNwhK47py76ZGWsttbF_-6YmsirKWVh7oaT27mKzV_siVggv/s320/IMG_0016.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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Congratulations to Sue Knode, the February Volunteer of the
Month! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Our volunteers collectively give over 40,000 hours per month
to raise and sit puppies, help with public training, maintain our property,
help with fundraising and so much more! To give back to our volunteers who give
us so much, we’re recognizing a volunteer each month. Selected by random
drawing, volunteers of the month receive a gift card to local restaurants and
businesses. Thank you to Skyline Family Restaurant for donating a gift card for
February’s volunteer!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcu3NzAQeL0WL7u8TjVw-3fX7fu-0pPeEJyT8C8ztrc9S77CxPZFyZk9m4DldVDKW2Tfu9dD3OG-VlI8JHPp_973f67DbfWkwjK3GOy7lihkHWaoc0C7EUAAXwEtj8M9fuPREL4jXhmv4/s1600/IMG_1526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOcu3NzAQeL0WL7u8TjVw-3fX7fu-0pPeEJyT8C8ztrc9S77CxPZFyZk9m4DldVDKW2Tfu9dD3OG-VlI8JHPp_973f67DbfWkwjK3GOy7lihkHWaoc0C7EUAAXwEtj8M9fuPREL4jXhmv4/s320/IMG_1526.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Sue has been volunteering with SSD for 13 years! She had
been volunteering at the Highmark Walk for a Healthy Community and saw the
Susquehanna Service Dogs booth. She introduced herself to Nancy Fierer, our
founder, and of course, Nancy encouraged her to get involved. Sue
went home and immediately filled out the application to become a puppy sitter! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Since that day, she has filled many volunteer roles, raising
nine puppies and sitting countless dogs. She serves on the Puppy Raiser Council
and is a partner liaison, answering questions and helping partners settle in to life with their new
service dog. She assists with IFTs (In For Testing) for
our dogs in training to evaluate the dogs, helps with Team Training, gives
public access tests and retests, does demonstrations, and more. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5_YM0daeTZ10B2i4DOxad-6x-Q4p1jhuI7ka7AQHX5IVbBTtwpJNn3DocREAZ5nNPCEbsVFmLa-wpyfA_LEZUAotWGw52jlOW4yJlmbgHy7PZjoh7-pkPwMQ08pg-nEV3bNmkreMNvAX/s1600/IMG_2484.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEji5_YM0daeTZ10B2i4DOxad-6x-Q4p1jhuI7ka7AQHX5IVbBTtwpJNn3DocREAZ5nNPCEbsVFmLa-wpyfA_LEZUAotWGw52jlOW4yJlmbgHy7PZjoh7-pkPwMQ08pg-nEV3bNmkreMNvAX/s320/IMG_2484.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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“I love the people,” says Sue. “It’s wonderful to work with
partners and see the difference their dogs make in their lives. I appreciate
the opportunity to get to know such a diverse group of people. I’ve formed
great friendships with other volunteers, partners, and staff!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you, Sue, for everything you do for Susquehanna Service
Dogs! <o:p></o:p></div>
<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-22676734448728101622020-02-05T14:36:00.001-05:002020-02-05T14:36:20.272-05:00January Volunteer of the Month<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Our volunteers are the backbone of everything we do at
Susquehanna Service Dogs. Collectively, they give over 40,000 hours <i>per month</i> to raise and sit puppies, help
with public training, maintain our property, help with fundraising, and so much
more. We mean it when we say that we couldn’t do what we do without our
volunteers.<br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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To give back to our volunteers, we’ll be recognizing a volunteer each month. Selected by a random drawing, volunteers of the month
will receive a gift card to local restaurants or businesses. Thank you to <a href="https://www.fabiospa.net/">Fabio’s Authentic Italian Restaurant</a> in Grantville, PA for donating a gift card for
this month’s volunteers! <o:p></o:p></div>
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Congratulations to the Frank family on being the January
Volunteers of the Month! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOm-jbqKkN6a5ODU2TFHlfd9e2F_gtZJHNQkScQVhvbqVtAnJ5dhOLWxKYvgwPw6RJO6_4U8rpmkJd9Ks1BauTxsUAVzai8jYFZy00SLIJBaoGo9C2AjPvk8F_UmaSvJ6rp5WE_LR2wE2/s1600/0827151809.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOOm-jbqKkN6a5ODU2TFHlfd9e2F_gtZJHNQkScQVhvbqVtAnJ5dhOLWxKYvgwPw6RJO6_4U8rpmkJd9Ks1BauTxsUAVzai8jYFZy00SLIJBaoGo9C2AjPvk8F_UmaSvJ6rp5WE_LR2wE2/s320/0827151809.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Joel, Deb, Bethany, and Josiah have been volunteering with
Susquehanna Service Dogs for almost 5 years! They got involved after seeing a
demonstration by volunteer Betsy Smith and SSD Rossi. Bethany was interested in
raising a service dog, so they applied and have been volunteering ever since.
They’re currently raising their fourth dog! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8sQDVYm43xq7SIISa7RZRL5o8ICx0jGpCb6uXNIYJEma8g5MtsYjSai_K5hhF3ORPGihSD47sG1phjGiP6LP-9hBwOH2kQPp81FkDOZguTykfYEUWuEluz8t4XPICdELPOnxSh5WJMDZ/s1600/Resized_20190929_120212.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1280" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi8sQDVYm43xq7SIISa7RZRL5o8ICx0jGpCb6uXNIYJEma8g5MtsYjSai_K5hhF3ORPGihSD47sG1phjGiP6LP-9hBwOH2kQPp81FkDOZguTykfYEUWuEluz8t4XPICdELPOnxSh5WJMDZ/s320/Resized_20190929_120212.jpeg" width="180" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMc02KIQYUXHbFHJq3DgNqLOl5scXVhMTmN0A0iKydTKGF4kN5nZ-7hC7vWgKlCnl-zgS8Pg-zX3ynciAzVDc-VvmR6gICdytUVb5SG3VdBCS-Pe2HUU0ZnkXut33TYaOrF2uRkZ3qzA_R/s1600/DSCF2883.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMc02KIQYUXHbFHJq3DgNqLOl5scXVhMTmN0A0iKydTKGF4kN5nZ-7hC7vWgKlCnl-zgS8Pg-zX3ynciAzVDc-VvmR6gICdytUVb5SG3VdBCS-Pe2HUU0ZnkXut33TYaOrF2uRkZ3qzA_R/s320/DSCF2883.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jADiBZ117tPwAuC8r3j8vq9u9OHOqWeE_d_ZXy4wQzn5zV-by8BYE5yXF3TlmligbKM264CGXgz4TKIj_ArUeqMWcA6cMRdyILY2_fIyXHZ51kxEDcsTC6-fKVniNiM0LEnSCXPrNv88/s1600/0228161418.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2jADiBZ117tPwAuC8r3j8vq9u9OHOqWeE_d_ZXy4wQzn5zV-by8BYE5yXF3TlmligbKM264CGXgz4TKIj_ArUeqMWcA6cMRdyILY2_fIyXHZ51kxEDcsTC6-fKVniNiM0LEnSCXPrNv88/s320/0228161418.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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They’ve done more than raise puppies, though. They do home
visits for new raisers and sitters and help with Team Training. They’ve been
whelpers, and have even “started” a puppy by training them for several weeks
before the pup moved on to another organization. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTz3KWlSDzve33OzZeKp3ZYIwOEo_aNGWHKWQhUP9mNTCDnAqLB27GP6MbWv_R3rLJeK_1p_qmw4ujQ5Kwg-lfXNGbSF0uHlWKQvlj_gti5intUpwsVHiPl3sWlJna4kTgizfMFS_881i/s1600/0419181532.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="1280" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGTz3KWlSDzve33OzZeKp3ZYIwOEo_aNGWHKWQhUP9mNTCDnAqLB27GP6MbWv_R3rLJeK_1p_qmw4ujQ5Kwg-lfXNGbSF0uHlWKQvlj_gti5intUpwsVHiPl3sWlJna4kTgizfMFS_881i/s320/0419181532.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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“We love to see the dogs when they are placed with their
partner! It makes all of the raising and training worth it!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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Thank you to the Frank family for helping #DogsChangeLives!<o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRHUaGHyY_C-yNduiH0cIlBSp2Bdup9gYcmEnPo165HuwfqhQVRWj3NN6G7Z2x78Id9uJ63LhTgyCOMcF8rd5kHYZ815ea_sUNir_siLlzFCNjVSu14vVU8KsXfIVXAauUMqlywgKwwn0s/s1600/Seesawing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRHUaGHyY_C-yNduiH0cIlBSp2Bdup9gYcmEnPo165HuwfqhQVRWj3NN6G7Z2x78Id9uJ63LhTgyCOMcF8rd5kHYZ815ea_sUNir_siLlzFCNjVSu14vVU8KsXfIVXAauUMqlywgKwwn0s/s320/Seesawing.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-43213980249657783282020-01-06T13:17:00.001-05:002020-01-06T13:17:13.585-05:00It Started with One Puppy<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgILr7TMdTOurUtA-QpInGyoMSBWMoIh6mrmxBc8ndytuZPS4PKbN4W-UuLOiRRLUaqtVaRcrfgYzSx7VLYHUTc73U4pkTT7OJ7eKFJYgZMDaP2jQBnWDIAk49w1xK9B7wbVPN55uvYVZR_/s1600/A54E2ED3-B9FB-43EE-A669-171726FA3F60.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgILr7TMdTOurUtA-QpInGyoMSBWMoIh6mrmxBc8ndytuZPS4PKbN4W-UuLOiRRLUaqtVaRcrfgYzSx7VLYHUTc73U4pkTT7OJ7eKFJYgZMDaP2jQBnWDIAk49w1xK9B7wbVPN55uvYVZR_/s320/A54E2ED3-B9FB-43EE-A669-171726FA3F60.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sharon Stalker and SSD Hamilton at ZooAmerica</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Sharon Stalker and her husband Brian have been raising
puppies for Susquehanna Service Dogs since 1994. We were founded in 1993, so
they’ve been volunteers from almost the very beginning. Can you guess how many puppies
they’ve raised?<o:p></o:p></div>
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19!<o:p></o:p></div>
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Back in 1994, the Stalkers had recently lost their family
dog after moving to Hershey, PA. One day, we were training puppies on campus at
the Milton Hershey School. Another houseparent at the Milton Hershey School
called to tell Sharon and Brian about us. <o:p></o:p></div>
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“I was going to go check it out,” said Sharon, “but Brian
said that I would come home with a puppy. So he went. He attended one class and
came home with a puppy!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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They’ve been raising puppies ever since. Currently, they’re
raising SSD Hamilton. <o:p></o:p></div>
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How do they do it? People often tell us that they would love
to raise a puppy but they’d never be able to give them up. It was really hard
for the Stalkers to let go of the first dog they raised, SSD Lily. In fact,
they had decided that they were going to wait before raising another. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Then the mother of SSD Lily’s partner called her and shared
stories about the bond between Lily and her daughter. “Her mother told me that
after going out somewhere with SSD Lily, her little girl said ‘People see me
now,’” said Sharon. “That simple statement grabbed my heart and is what keeps
me going. It’s why I’ve raised 19 SSD pups.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“It’s hard to let go," she said, "but once you meet their partner, it’s
the best feeling in the world. You’ve been part of a priceless gift that will
change their world. The pup has also changed your own life.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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We’re looking for more puppy raisers who want to make a
difference and help dogs change people’s lives. Raisers welcome a 9-week-old
puppy into their home and teach them good house manners and over 20 different
cues. They also take the dogs out in public to learn how to work in all kinds
of different environments. Learn more and apply on our website: <a href="https://www.keystonehumanservices.org/susquehanna-service-dogs/responsibilities-of-a-puppy-raiser.php">https://www.keystonehumanservices.org/susquehanna-service-dogs/responsibilities-of-a-puppy-raiser.php</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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If you’re not ready to raise a puppy, you can still help our
dogs with their training! Donate to help build a new training center where our
dogs will learn skills like opening a door, picking things up, and alerting
someone for help. Give now and make a difference: <a href="http://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">http://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign</a><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-13802195078679313952019-12-24T07:19:00.001-05:002019-12-24T07:19:36.250-05:00Service Dog Training: The Walk and Talk<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0nauuxqO_FhU1cN8C9IuZDsCzwhRNPMM4qKJGlJ_bAVSBB56zOerWrmrE8wvaKhdQBz5OMCoBsm6K1vQGpLL4jhtprzAFnL-qlXk9omYM1d_E0MYxhwER5JGVlT5f-g493yQIyjkGF0c/s1600/IMG_7477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1495" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI0nauuxqO_FhU1cN8C9IuZDsCzwhRNPMM4qKJGlJ_bAVSBB56zOerWrmrE8wvaKhdQBz5OMCoBsm6K1vQGpLL4jhtprzAFnL-qlXk9omYM1d_E0MYxhwER5JGVlT5f-g493yQIyjkGF0c/s320/IMG_7477.jpg" width="299" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SSD Lucky explores a new object</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guest post by Becky
Dombrowsky, SSD Lucky’s puppy raiser</i><br />
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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SSD Lucky has now finished the first part of his service dog
training—Early Socialization Class (ESC). During ESC, he and other puppies his
age met every week for eight weeks to learn the basics of being a future
service dog. They practiced cues like “sit,” “down,” recalls, loose leash
walking, and many more. These weekly classes help give puppy raisers a strong
support system as the puppies grow and learn quickly. <o:p></o:p></div>
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At the end of those eight weeks, SSD schedules a one-on-one
meeting with the training staff called a “Walk and Talk.” Other programs
accredited by Assistance Dogs International (ADI) also use Walk and Talks to
assess their puppies in training. By using the same assessment tool, SSD is
able to collaborate with other ADI programs about puppies in training and
breeding. SSD Lucky did his first one around four months old. He’ll do another
one later in his training.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Walk and Talks take place in a neutral space, ideally
somewhere the dog is not familiar with. Lucky had his at Keystone Human
Services’ main office in Harrisburg, PA. When we arrived, Lucky demonstrated
how to safely exit a vehicle and he was given a chance to potty before entering
the building. Inside, we met Lauren Holtz, the Puppy Development Coordinator,
and a volunteer who was filming the session.<o:p></o:p><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSkl2Si8-cp83wt3aiGDBSQyiqydAw6o41HtxZjeLnl76SBMov_9n8WDi_dsjeuIQPdnaFL9GBXTiiIdJBNkA6lejFvJo2JQtiAJR9hn4y2Ot7RQqLxLNydioKrZR3YYUMSMqevz-Lpzt/s1600/IMG_7470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="929" data-original-width="1600" height="185" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnSkl2Si8-cp83wt3aiGDBSQyiqydAw6o41HtxZjeLnl76SBMov_9n8WDi_dsjeuIQPdnaFL9GBXTiiIdJBNkA6lejFvJo2JQtiAJR9hn4y2Ot7RQqLxLNydioKrZR3YYUMSMqevz-Lpzt/s320/IMG_7470.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucky walks across new surfaces </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Lauren guided us through the building, giving us
instructions as we went. Lucky was given the chance to explore the new space
without guidance from me, which gave Lauren the opportunity to see what choices
he makes on his own. These choices can be different than the choices he would
make when working with a person. There’s no correct choice. <o:p></o:p></div>
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We then demonstrated basic cues like “sit” and “down” on the
verbal and hand cues separately.<o:p></o:p><br />
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We practiced walking up and down stairs. Lucky does better
going down stairs in a controlled manner than he does going up, so we are
continuing to practice going up. Lauren reviewed the video with me after the
Walk and Talk and explained that Lucky might be pulled ahead of me on the way
up because I’m clicking slightly later than I should be. I’m marking his
position when he’s slightly in front of me instead of directly next to me. When
he walking on a loose leash, I will work to correct his position next to me. It
was great to be able to see this on video. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br /></div>
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DDTPdG_LFtA" width="440"></iframe>
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Another big part of service dog work is walking on different
surfaces, body handling, and maneuvering in tight spaces. One place to practice
is in a public restroom setting. Service dogs should enter the stall first,
turn around, and then back up next to the toilet. This is also a great place to
practice self-control so he doesn’t sneak a drink!<o:p></o:p><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYr0TUWjcQA3t1P6tDqyufzdEY_ximdo-LLTS4S58zQnpbEIryUtPgCxzNVjYHVAxtVHB0D7dOdgCw8obAD5FoWIfyzaPyzX8AdL76OImeIxkZbadXGHi1lq9skePdg1J_eb356atdUxP/s1600/IMG_7531+cropped.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1072" data-original-width="1600" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRYr0TUWjcQA3t1P6tDqyufzdEY_ximdo-LLTS4S58zQnpbEIryUtPgCxzNVjYHVAxtVHB0D7dOdgCw8obAD5FoWIfyzaPyzX8AdL76OImeIxkZbadXGHi1lq9skePdg1J_eb356atdUxP/s320/IMG_7531+cropped.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lucky sits exactly where he's supposed to</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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What does Lucky need to continue to work on? Good loose
leash walking and proper positioning on the stairs, especially when going up.
He also had a hard time settling in a crate at the end of the session. While we
practice good crate behavior in different rooms at my house and at work, we
need to continue to practice in different locations. This is a little more
challenging to do since it requires me to have a crate with me, but I plan to
practice at other people’s houses where they have crates. I also have a travel
crate. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Want to help Lucky
with his training? Donate to build a new training center for Susquehanna
Service Dogs! Give here: </i><a href="https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign</a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-23131578196264663622019-12-20T10:17:00.000-05:002019-12-20T10:22:10.494-05:00Service Dog Makes the Impossible Possible<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4WFHs0ByRITNlGM_mi2eHgXtn8uEF8SQj5Cw-s5t8kO9fzzOUz-F4poezhXVGgwRpXvnzz1qEH4-4lMAL1B3s0y7dv_NvnPM52fzaoAuUEyt4-rVFkwe9UKneBbMVsjrjZBsdY4HtezI/s1600/Cooper+and+Jennifer+Jones+snowshoeing+at+Lyebrook+Falls.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh4WFHs0ByRITNlGM_mi2eHgXtn8uEF8SQj5Cw-s5t8kO9fzzOUz-F4poezhXVGgwRpXvnzz1qEH4-4lMAL1B3s0y7dv_NvnPM52fzaoAuUEyt4-rVFkwe9UKneBbMVsjrjZBsdY4HtezI/s320/Cooper+and+Jennifer+Jones+snowshoeing+at+Lyebrook+Falls.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennifer Jones and SSD Cooper snowshoeing at Lyebrook Falls</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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The support of a service dog can make things that seem
impossible, possible. Jennifer Jones shared how her service dog, SSD Cooper,
has helped her reach goals she once thought were impossible:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“SSD Cooper and I snowshoed to the Sugar House from the base
lodge. I was FINALLY able to be in the middle of the mountain and watch people
ski! I’ve wanted to do this for years, but the only way to get there was to
ski. Cooper has helped me do things that I never thought possible. What a
blessing he is!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOpSCfZgCWlPG-VzSEXyx9TYglA-VVTPuxNv5x-5_aAHPWuLiBeUj2YMZLGa6zvYf5xzoEUPnxvXTlEtpX9JwtvV1trxrT8Mi2AjSa-1t18LrXA4kk7Q75JNzS81TbSq6jULd_n26xdFE/s1600/Cooper+and+Jennifer+Jones+at+Sugar+House+on+Okemo+Mountain.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbOpSCfZgCWlPG-VzSEXyx9TYglA-VVTPuxNv5x-5_aAHPWuLiBeUj2YMZLGa6zvYf5xzoEUPnxvXTlEtpX9JwtvV1trxrT8Mi2AjSa-1t18LrXA4kk7Q75JNzS81TbSq6jULd_n26xdFE/s320/Cooper+and+Jennifer+Jones+at+Sugar+House+on+Okemo+Mountain.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooper hangs out with Jennifer at the Sugar House on Okemo Mountain after their snowshoe hike up the mountain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXybS51qW4MDTqJ1ThYnBgrzIZMcs6oR8jSn6CIAinQhtV7MWlW8qYLqKVjZrnHxNZSPqB0ru8uLRdqYhIz9ISEDfukcN55R2GywTvOVi0g77pKcog4HsbZiY_jGJN5q4_A4Aqb-YbnO6/s1600/Cooper+on+Lyebrook+Trail.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJXybS51qW4MDTqJ1ThYnBgrzIZMcs6oR8jSn6CIAinQhtV7MWlW8qYLqKVjZrnHxNZSPqB0ru8uLRdqYhIz9ISEDfukcN55R2GywTvOVi0g77pKcog4HsbZiY_jGJN5q4_A4Aqb-YbnO6/s320/Cooper+on+Lyebrook+Trail.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooper on the Lyebrook Trail</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOtJYXWZDpuSuchAuZLgxiZVzDPd5VDyleAlV51ehfwF5z9oIVmOQD3TRL-3_M6drtEckxrn1JrK94lnrKYpye3jAsZH3BmBkV2WTxzdKL5WTbLJ8-mVr5v5A0FTyi8hHYzhgAVAdI-o6/s1600/Cooper+on+Timber+Ridge.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvOtJYXWZDpuSuchAuZLgxiZVzDPd5VDyleAlV51ehfwF5z9oIVmOQD3TRL-3_M6drtEckxrn1JrK94lnrKYpye3jAsZH3BmBkV2WTxzdKL5WTbLJ8-mVr5v5A0FTyi8hHYzhgAVAdI-o6/s320/Cooper+on+Timber+Ridge.jpeg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooper relaxing on Timber Ridge</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNpYWEmoOYD_rxsZi16ijMR9afGwvS-y8TH_IdHHpvqIsnUanqhyphenhyphenQpRV5okmgiz5EDeYCecbsFQzDC-vlLeLRMZdpVkfql9w2N7BWbsUOpygC9gUiH8s5qG5-fdgr_cHOC-NiS2IsVAuv/s1600/Cooper+and+Jennifer+Jones+cross+country+skiing.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHNpYWEmoOYD_rxsZi16ijMR9afGwvS-y8TH_IdHHpvqIsnUanqhyphenhyphenQpRV5okmgiz5EDeYCecbsFQzDC-vlLeLRMZdpVkfql9w2N7BWbsUOpygC9gUiH8s5qG5-fdgr_cHOC-NiS2IsVAuv/s320/Cooper+and+Jennifer+Jones+cross+country+skiing.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jennifer and Cooper cross country skiing</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirw2D8-J3fP0O2aDuuTL3RDznRk5yVHqRMhiwr8Sx_3WL2dg-rd37pEjD64jmoCdGRJTM_Tv0eXsu2TUUrsnVa5ZXhJJRLzzNBBQVaiM7WJyAewprY-8ZTb5BbSe8FC21X2f5YlA2ATUm-/s1600/Cooper+in+gondola+at+Stowe+at+top+of+the+mountain.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirw2D8-J3fP0O2aDuuTL3RDznRk5yVHqRMhiwr8Sx_3WL2dg-rd37pEjD64jmoCdGRJTM_Tv0eXsu2TUUrsnVa5ZXhJJRLzzNBBQVaiM7WJyAewprY-8ZTb5BbSe8FC21X2f5YlA2ATUm-/s320/Cooper+in+gondola+at+Stowe+at+top+of+the+mountain.jpeg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cooper sitting in the gondola at Stowe when they rode to the top of the mountain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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You can read more about Jennifer and Cooper in <a href="https://vtsports.com/the-2019-adventure-dogs-best-story/">Vermont Sports</a>, where they’re the second story. <o:p></o:p></div>
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You can help create partnerships like the one between
Jennifer and Cooper. Donate to build a new training center where dogs like
Cooper can learn specific tasks to assist their future partners! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">Learn more and donate</a> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-9649062473580469972019-11-26T11:13:00.000-05:002019-11-26T11:13:25.499-05:00SSD Gannett Makes the Impossible Possible<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2e0wxjK-KZzCoTGcPslVWEI3j66otSsHDT081oIdGP6L1mhhHNDv-CBngSIGqv078LLB6576Tjg3t6g83hbFsOj4GpAxyz0wdLzq95xECMEdkQr9iBD8wpNB2fwkDf1a-FRqHAPR7oxuk/s1600/Kristin+and+Gannett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2e0wxjK-KZzCoTGcPslVWEI3j66otSsHDT081oIdGP6L1mhhHNDv-CBngSIGqv078LLB6576Tjg3t6g83hbFsOj4GpAxyz0wdLzq95xECMEdkQr9iBD8wpNB2fwkDf1a-FRqHAPR7oxuk/s320/Kristin+and+Gannett.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">My name is Kristin Livelsberger and my partner is SSD Gannett.
We just completed Team Training in October 2019. It was an intensive three-week
program where Gannett and I trained as a team along with 5 other teams. It was
a valuable, inspiring, and mind-blowing experience! It was amazing to
personally witness the positive impact each dog so quickly had on their
partners in those first three weeks. Susquehanna Service Dogs often says that
they change lives! It sounds dramatic and positive but yet doesn’t even scratch
the surface of what a positive impact a service dog can make in someone's life.
In truth, yes Susquehanna Service Dogs does change lives but in reality, as I
witnessed, they save them!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s my story:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The day I first met Gannett, she literally gave me a hug and
stole my heart. I later found out we were matched. A month and a half later we
were reunited at Team Training. Gannett saw me and got so happy that she gave
me a hug. She remembered me! Gannett and I bonded quickly. We learned how to
work together. I saw huge changes in the other teams during Team Training.
However, it didn’t totally hit me how much the experience changed me until it
was over. I think part of that was because, during Team Training, I was dealing
with some health issues and I worried about whether or not I would get through
and complete the training. The fact that I made it through without having a
major health crisis or hospitalization is truly a testimony to the change that
was starting to happen in my life. It is all because of SSD Gannett! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SSD
Gannett is 100% pure love, joy, positive energy, and motivation! She motivated
me every day! She gave me hope and peace. She distracted me from my pain and
with all the tasks she had learned to do, she made the impossible possible for
me to do! As a result, my confidence grew! My limitations are no longer a
barrier to being more independent. This is huge! To go from being told what is
and isn’t possible for a tetraplegic to do, to being able to do things I was
told I would never be able to do. During Team Training, Gannett and I were
proving them wrong! It was hard to really process all of this at the time. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Since Team Training ended, SSD Gannett has accompanied me to
multiple medical appointments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Having
Gannett with me kept my stress level down, which helped me stay focused and
allowed me to communicate better. SSD Gannett also made it possible to go into
the appointment by myself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Being able to
do things by myself is a huge step forward for me. The other major difference
in having Gannett with me when I am out in public is that, for the first time
in a decade since my spinal cord injury, I feel like I am no longer invisible.
I feel like I’m a part of life again. This sounds strange but for a decade I
have had doors literally slammed on me by people who swore they didn’t see me.
I have had people talk to others around me and never acknowledge that I was
there. This happened so often. This was a very harsh consequence for me, a
super outgoing, fun-loving disabled person, to endure. This left me feeling very
lonely and disconnected from the world. The only exception was the senior
population and children. Now, when I go out, everyone sees me! People smile at
me and make eye contact. Because of SSD Gannett, I exist again. People treat me
like a valued member of the human race! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SSD Gannett has given me the gift of getting my life back and
allowing me to be more independent with my care. As a result, this has given my
family permission to live their lives as well. My daughters whom are both in
college; have both said that they feel relief knowing that Gannett is with me
and they feel less guilty about being away from home. My parents are going out
more and not having to constantly be around to help me. This is very huge! My
family has piece of mind with Gannett near me! She’s able to get help when
necessary and fulfill many tasks that I no longer have to depend on others to
do. SSD Gannett does so much for me and she loves helping and learning new
things. She keeps adding tasks to her list of things she can do. There is so
much possibility now that I have Gannett. She has learned to open doors for me
but in so doing she’s opened the door to reclaiming my life and allowing my
family to do the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_gjdgxs"></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">SSD Gannett is an amazing dog and
there was a lot of time and hours spent training Gannett and cultivating the
motivation and talents that she possesses, making her the awesome incredibly
helpful dog she is today. All the Susquehanna Service Dogs staff, trainers,
puppy raisers, volunteers, and generous donors make all things possible for me
and many others to live full, meaningful, and the most independent lives
possible! Susquehanna Service Dogs is an incredible organization. They have
been wonderful to work with, and all the care and dedication and commitment to
change lives is proved by these remarkable dogs. Thank you for not only
changing lives but saving mine!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-15165533198686564462019-10-11T06:00:00.000-04:002019-10-11T06:00:00.475-04:00Working 9-5<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Guest post by Becky
Dombrowsky, puppy raiser<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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What does a typical day look like for SSD Lucky? On most
days, he comes to work with me.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our mornings start at 7 am when my alarm goes off. He sleeps
in a crate in my bed room right now because he’s still a young puppy. When he
gets older, he’ll learn how to sleep in a dog bed at night. We head outside so
he can “get busy,” and then he has breakfast. We play until we’re ready to
leave for work.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Our commute is about 40 minutes. Lucky is now old enough to
ride in the car without a crate. (When puppies are little, SSD has them ride in
a crate in the car to help them settle in the car more easily and to keep them
out of trouble. Lucky rides in my backseat or in the back of my SUV. He’s not
quite big enough yet to jump in and out of the car on his own, since his bones
and hips are still growing. Eventually, he’ll learn the cue to get in and out
on his own. <o:p></o:p></div>
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When we arrive at the Capitol Building in Harrisburg, we
park in the garage beneath the building, head for the nearest elevator, and
find a place for Lucky to potty. Before entering any public space, Susquehanna
Service Dogs requires that dogs be given a chance to take care of their
business. Since I work in the city, Lucky’s options are limited, and he often
has to use a small patch of grass near a busy road. <o:p></o:p></div>
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As we approach the Capitol, we have to walk past a giant
fountain. Lucky loves to swim, so it’s tempting to investigate the splashing
water. We enter then building and head to the mail room to pick up the day’s
mail. The curved stairs on the way present a challenge for Lucky. There are
only 10 steps, but because they’re curved rather than straight, they appear
different to him. Lucky has a hard time walking in a slow, straight path and
often turns himself around or just runs up them. I plan to continue trying to
make this set up stairs a positive experience. <o:p></o:p></div>
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While I sort the mail, Lucky lies under the desk and ignores
anyone who opens the door to the office. His focus remains on me as I load the
electric mail opener that zips letter through a conveyor belt and slices them
open.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The rest of Lucky’s day varies day by day. He spends a lot
of time in my cubicle, either hanging out in his crate or under my desk. He has
bones and toys he can chew on, but he spends a lot of time snoozing. When I need
to run paperwork to offices throughout the Capitol, Lucky usually tags along,
giving him a chance to go outside. He has gained all kinds of experiences. He’s
walked by protesters and loud drums in the rotunda. He attends meetings and
lies under the table, only interrupting with the occasional puppy dream
whimper.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I am very thankful for the opportunity to take Lucky to the
office. He is the second dog I’ve raised in this office, and it’s a great
training opportunity for him. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
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It has also been a positive experience for my coworkers.
When I first started bringing a dog to work with me, my neighboring coworker
was afraid of dogs. Over time, she began asking to say hello to the dog, and a
few months later, she welcomed under her desk.<o:p></o:p></div>
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A couple of my coworkers wanted to share their experiences:<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Having a service dog in training in our office has been a
really unique and positive experience. I’ve never worked with service dogs in
any capacity before, so this has been a great opportunity for me to learn about
the process and see it in action. Lucky is the first service dog puppy we’ve
had in the office and it has been fantastic to see his growth and progress
every week. He brings so much joy to our work space, even when he’s having a
rough day, and he can always make us laugh or provide a soft head to pet when
our workday is particularly stressful. I’m very grateful to work with an SSD
volunteer!”<o:p></o:p></div>
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“Having a service dog in training in your office is a cool
experience because you’re indirectly helping the dog become a working dog that
will one day help someone who really needs it. Plus, being in an environment
that is constantly changing and sometimes stressful, a dog is helpful to ease
the tension in the room. Since moving away from my dogs, I do not have that
stress reliever to come home to, so it’s nice to have one at work with me. Who
would not want a dog as a coworker?”<o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Help Susquehanna
Service Dogs train more dogs like SSD Lucky to become life-changing service
dogs! Donate to build a new training center, where SSD’s dogs in advanced
training can learn specific tasks to support their future partners: </i><a href="http://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">http://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign</a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-54894335584701347152019-09-18T06:10:00.000-04:002019-09-18T06:24:36.384-04:00Puppy Swap for Success<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_m_pS5KmX4Be3Xh8C4yNuOaqJqncnTs6IHdlEDW0F-Uxs5yUgRxWqDkvkWNaFiUMpuKJV-GDoDAtBMuUB8hjtRDvWbfnmjXFlNtXxb2dPRplBOu-eygthJSsY5Yel9jrAFoWUUNEZehyphenhyphenE/s1600/TJMaxx.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_m_pS5KmX4Be3Xh8C4yNuOaqJqncnTs6IHdlEDW0F-Uxs5yUgRxWqDkvkWNaFiUMpuKJV-GDoDAtBMuUB8hjtRDvWbfnmjXFlNtXxb2dPRplBOu-eygthJSsY5Yel9jrAFoWUUNEZehyphenhyphenE/s320/TJMaxx.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Different raiser, different house, different routine—it’s a
puppy swap! SSD Lucky spent a week with puppy raisers Revenda and Brian Bierley
to broaden his experiences. These puppy swaps are an important part of Lucky’s
early socialization, helping him learn to work with other people and settle in
to a new environment. After all, he’ll one day live at our kennel during the
week while he’s in advanced training, and then he’ll ultimately go live with
his new partner.</div>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
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Revenda chronicled Lucky’s time with them: <o:p></o:p></div>
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“When he arrived, SSD Lucky was extremely excited to find
SSD Russet, a 16-month-old golden retriever, waiting to show him the ropes. Their
first introduction was typical: a lot of circling and sniffing. Lucky quickly
became Russet’s sidekick and they enjoyed a lot of playtime. On occasion,
Lucky’s energy surpassed Russet’s patience, and Russet took refuge in a quiet
corner of the house. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Lucky’s first outing occurred the second day of his puppy
swap when he visited the Carlisle Library. The library is a great place to take
young service dogs in training because it offers a wide array of opportunities
to practice newly learned cues along with new experiences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Lucky practiced down-stays in the book aisles and went under
chairs and tables. We also found some unique surfaces for him to stand on,
practiced walking on stairs, and every worked on his elevator skills. Lucky
will practice these behaviors in many different environments as he continues
his journey to become a service dog.<o:p></o:p></div>
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He did such a lovely job practicing his newly learned cues
at the library that we added a short walk around town. We kept the walk short,
but it gave him the opportunity to experience the noise of traffic, crossing a
crosswalk, and walking up cement steps.<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Friday, he went swimming with Russet. They enjoyed
romping around the pool, chasing each other, and retrieving toys from the pool.
Lucky quickly found his inner water dog and is well on his way to becoming an
accomplished swimmer. <o:p></o:p></div>
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On the weekend, Lucky went on an outing with Russet. We took
both dogs to Kohl’s, where Lucky (and Russet) practiced loose leash walking,
down-stays, and “under.” This time, Lucky has the added distraction of working
in close proximity to another service dog in training. This was a very
successful outing, and Lucky was unfazed by Russet. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Toward the end of our time at Kohl’s, two small children
asked to say hello to Lucky. He did a nice job keeping all four paws on the
floor, even as his little tail was wagging a mile a minute.*<o:p></o:p></div>
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On Monday, Lucky went on one more outing with us before his
scheduled return to his raiser. He was a rock star at T.J.Maxx. For a
3-month-old puppy, he showed off some impressive loose leash walking. I heard
multiple people commenting on how well he was doing. We also took the
opportunity to practice “under” and down-stays, as well.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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It sounds like Lucky gained some valuable experiences! He’ll
continue to build skills like these over the next 15-18 months. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">*Note: Even though the
public is not supposed to pet service dogs, we train all of our dogs to be able
to handle greetings. They’re trained to keep all four paws on the floor and
stay focused on the person holding the leash. It’s all part of their training
to ignore distractions. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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Help build a new training center for our dogs in training!
Donate here: <a href="https://www.crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">https://www.crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign</a>
<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-82912032941714274792019-09-04T07:30:00.000-04:002019-09-04T07:30:07.671-04:00Service Dog Training at the Elizabethtown Fair<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Guest post by Becky Dombrowsky, puppy
raiser and volunteer</span></i><span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">One of the reasons
I love raising a puppy is it encourages me to go out and experience new things.
Last year, Matt and I moved from Harrisburg to Elizabethtown, PA to be closer
to his job. In that time, we have explored some of the restaurants in the area,
but that is about it. I was excited to learn that Etown has its own fair!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Matt and I had
planned to attend on Thursday night with Lucky, but the weather was supposed to
get into the 90s. Friday’s forecast was much cooler, so that was the better choice.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Not having been to
the fair before, I wasn't sure what to expect. Assuming there would be all
sorts of smells and foods, I knew I needed to make sure to bring along good
power treats to keep Lucky's attention. We packed dog food as usual, but I
also had some other dog treats plus small pieces of hot dog. I like using hot
dogs because the juice gets onto the kibble and turns the kibble also a higher
value treat. Last I grabbed a travel bowl and water, and off we went. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">We decided to pay
$5 to park closer to the fair. I was amazed by all the people, rides, food,
games, music, animals and smells! Since we didn't know our way around, we
headed into the fair and started exploring. Click-treat, click-treat,
click-treat. And then it started: "Excuse me, can I pet your
puppy?" <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">At this point, I
can choose to say yes or no, based on Lucky’s behavior. I picked yes, and asked
them to pet him behind his harness when all four feet are on the ground. Lucky
practices a lot of greetings when he’s in the office with me, so I was
confident he could be successful with the greeting. It went well, we took two
steps, and someone else asked to pet him. I realized I had started down a rabbit
hole and we had just became the most exciting thing at the fair. We continued
with a couple more greetings; it was nice for Lucky to practice greetings with
younger children. Greeting with little kids can be tough for a puppy because
the kids are so much closer to the puppy than an adult. We then made a quick
exit and headed for the food.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">While Matt ate the
amazing fair foods, Lucky and I found a seat and listened to the music coming
from the stage. We worked on "down" and hanging out as the sun
set.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">From there, we
decided to head over to the animal section. The fair had many farm animals,
which Lucky had never seen before. First up was the sheep. Lucky
wasn't so sure about him, and we worked up to being a couple feet away. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">Lucky
did get startled with the sheep baa-ed at him. I decided to make this less
stressful on both animals and picked Lucky up as we walked through the rest of
the animal area to also meet a cow, baby ducks, and a goat. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">It’s important
to remember the animals at the fair had limited space to move away if they
weren't comfortable, so I did my best to keep Lucky’s exposures short.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">On the way out of
the fair, there were far less people and it made walking by all the games and rides
a lot easier. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;">I think the night
was a success. I look forward to getting to build Lucky's confidence with
different animals as he grows. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Georgia",serif;"><o:p><i>Help Susquehanna Service Dogs train more dogs like SSD Lucky! Donate to build a new training center: </i></o:p></span><a href="https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, serif;"> </span></div>
<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-76739064111437056842019-08-26T15:48:00.000-04:002019-08-26T15:48:17.556-04:00A Service Dog Makes an Impact on an Entire School<br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Guest
post by Christi Henry, one of SSD Eagle’s handlers in Lampeter-Strasburg School
District<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eagle’s impact on our school community has
exceeded our wildest expectations. We knew his impact would be positive for our
students, but we just could not imagine how much positive influence his
presence would have on our entire school building.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eagle cannot wait to get to school in the morning,
and from the moment he walks in the door, he brings smiles to all who see him. When
staff members hear his tags jingle, they come out to say hello and give him
some morning love. Our custodians always have something special in their
pockets for him, and the office staff loves when he lays down in the sunny spot
in the middle of the office. He brightens everyone’s day and has helped to
connect us as a staff in new ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Just before the students come in, Eagle dons his
vest and prepares for work. He waits at the doors with a handler during arrival
to greet the kids. Kids squeal with delight to see him in the morning. Our
principal has found that students who are reluctant to come to school are eager
to see Eagle. The principal will work with the students and parents and have
Eagle at the doors to help them transition more smoothly from home to school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Throughout the school day, Eagle has a busy
schedule. He begins with a morning walk-through of the building with the
principal, and he stops in each classroom to wish everyone a good day. He has
learned to give the kids a fist bump with his nose. The kids LOVE to get a fist
bump from Eagle.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One of Eagle’s favorite jobs is working with small
groups of striving readers, inspiring and motivating them to work hard. He
snuggles in to listen to them read. One student practices reading jokes all
week and then meets with Eagle and a handler on Friday for joke time in the
snuggle chair. This student works SO hard to be ready for joke time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many of his jokes are about dogs. What dog
keeps the best time?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A watch dog!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eagle also works with our students who need
emotional support, reminding them that will-power and self-control are skills
that everyone needs to practice. He demonstrates by not touching a kibble placed
on his paw. He drools to show them that it is hard work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His presence in the room is calming, and
snuggle time is a huge reward.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eagle visits with our students in the life skills
class each day. Students work hard to earn a golden ticket to help care for
Eagle’s needs. Students learn to gently brush Eagle and fill his water dish for
him. A favorite among the kids is double-leash walking Eagle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One student who uses a wheelchair for
mobility was struggling with her motivation to practice with her walker. Walking
ten feet was a huge struggle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>With Eagle
by her side, she is now walking laps around the whole third grade wing!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eagle works with small groups of students,
including our speech and language, learning support, and guidance groups. His
presence encourages not only hard work and perseverance, but also conversation
and self-reflection. When Eagle is present, students are willing to try harder,
open themselves up to new experiences, and discuss topics that may be hard to
face. He attends meetings with families, meets with the principal and guidance
counselor when they work 1-1 with students, and even attends parent-teacher
conferences.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRk7htxBjtmAZZax9V5hvK35b1_wYCfrpTl1ngxsyYBVp1GHJac5gr5hXRrXVaDsqOEnuFOdODzu6uJ-d_Mvzp_lkWRC-qhr38rOTikM375zWgNPD3jgw-zhXCsMvka278BqmAU_jiiW6f/s1600/IMG_7843.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRk7htxBjtmAZZax9V5hvK35b1_wYCfrpTl1ngxsyYBVp1GHJac5gr5hXRrXVaDsqOEnuFOdODzu6uJ-d_Mvzp_lkWRC-qhr38rOTikM375zWgNPD3jgw-zhXCsMvka278BqmAU_jiiW6f/s320/IMG_7843.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eagle also works in classrooms with large groups
of students. Everyone loves when he hops up into a chair to see what’s going
on. He reinforces classes of students who have earned time with him for great
behavior. He attends pizza parties and movie days, and he is always available
to educate group of students about his work in our school.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">He participates in large group activities and
attends special events in the performing arts center with the whole school. Sometimes,
he is the star of the show, coming on stage to demonstrate and inspire good
behavior. He is an integral part of our school, and everyone looks forward to
seeing him at all of our school and district-wide activities and events. He
participates in open houses, family nights, and school board meetings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In our district, our dogs also work together. In
crisis situations, all of our dogs come together to assist with grief
counseling. They also participate in mental health education activities and
support students in emotional crisis throughout the school district. The dogs
are able to help students calm and settle in order to move forward in the
school day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our dogs also have time to be together socially.
Eagle enjoys pulling up to Gabby’s building for Wednesday morning play-dates
with Gabby and Maya.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They run, tumble,
and play ball together. This summer, we welcomed Monarch to the team.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At the end of each day, Eagle gets out of his vest
and shakes off his hard work. He loves to run down the hallways, chasing a ball
or stuffed toy. He cracks everyone up with his slipping and sliding around the
corners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Eagle’s presence and hard work in our school has brought
us all tremendous joy. We are grateful to have the opportunity to share each
day with him. He is truly loved and his impact on our community is
immeasurable.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Georgia",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Help Susquehanna Service Dogs train more dogs like SSD Eagle. <a href="https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">Donate to build a new training center for SSD</a>.</i></span></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-27098180945397886862019-08-22T13:34:00.000-04:002019-08-22T13:34:04.925-04:00SSD Lucky Had How Many New Experiences? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgFUJhTEjB2dFs8FhtlPZvK-Y81qCkPrrh4b-c4UEO_wDsXmE8-h9nIlSrsKMcn-zHLdLKo9dzxO-qwbfA3frPltYZtCOIWOrW3C4iMZOMGRRIcn_ds2r99e5RUySjvYnTZwch9YcGYjJe/s1600/IMG_3261.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgFUJhTEjB2dFs8FhtlPZvK-Y81qCkPrrh4b-c4UEO_wDsXmE8-h9nIlSrsKMcn-zHLdLKo9dzxO-qwbfA3frPltYZtCOIWOrW3C4iMZOMGRRIcn_ds2r99e5RUySjvYnTZwch9YcGYjJe/s320/IMG_3261.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Wait! Don’t read this blog post if you haven’t already read
<a href="https://susquehannaservicedogs.blogspot.com/2019/08/can-you-count-all-of-ssd-luckys-new.html"><b>yesterday’s post</b></a> about SSD Lucky and his new experiences. <o:p></o:p></div>
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If you already read yesterday’s post, thank you! How many
different experiences did you count from our tale of Lucky’s weekend? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Here are the ones we counted:</div>
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<ol>
<li>New house</li>
<li>Sleeping in the guest room</li>
<li>Crate located at the foot of the bed</li>
<li>Can’t see his raiser from his crate</li>
<li>Two other dogs in the house</li>
<li>Sounds from other dogs at night</li>
<li>Yard sale (This could probably fill up 12+ experiences
alone!)</li>
<li>Down-stays on different surfaces</li>
<li>New children</li>
<li>New adults</li>
<li>Wooden deck</li>
<li>Down the wooden open riser stairs</li>
<li>Up the wooden open riser stairs</li>
<li>New backyard</li>
</ol>
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Look for the next post about SSD Lucky in the coming weeks! </div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-87513751781386623912019-08-21T14:11:00.001-04:002019-08-21T14:11:26.034-04:00Can You Count All of SSD Lucky's New Experiences? <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchDqIUueYwIzdUdYxNITfbtPOVxzW2ApThOeeOn1ClZaG16eG0kZRnveI-61LmMZh_rCglqK4T7GnMH7Sne1duJ1E07q13BW3xdf4d2aIrxMNba_ixJJ6JPjB0rgz7nKy265aBqJua8l1/s1600/IMG_3260.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchDqIUueYwIzdUdYxNITfbtPOVxzW2ApThOeeOn1ClZaG16eG0kZRnveI-61LmMZh_rCglqK4T7GnMH7Sne1duJ1E07q13BW3xdf4d2aIrxMNba_ixJJ6JPjB0rgz7nKy265aBqJua8l1/s320/IMG_3260.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Meet SSD Lucky! He’s two months old today, and we’re going
to be following him throughout his training to become a service dog. He’s part
of our Fortune Litter, born on May 21. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Lucky is being raised by Becky Dombrowsky, one of our
long-time raisers. He’s the eighth dog she has raised. Do you know any of these
dogs?</div>
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<ul>
<li>SSD Scotia, one of our former breeders</li>
<li>SSD Bridge, currently working as a balance dog</li>
<li>SSD Jade, one of our demonstration dogs</li>
<li>Raptor, a beloved pet</li>
<li>Larson, currently working as a detection dog with the United
Nations</li>
<li>Lincoln, a beloved pet</li>
<li>SSD Larry, currently in advanced training</li>
</ul>
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Lucky lives with Becky, her husband, Scotia, and four cats.
(Yes, you can raise a puppy if you have other animals in your family!) On
weekends, Larry returns from advanced training, adding another dog to the mix. Growing
up with other animals is a wonderful experience for our puppies in training
since we never know if their future partner will have pets.</div>
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But that’s a potential topic for the future. Today we’re
going to talk about early puppy experiences.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The goal is to expose the puppies to
12 new things every day. These new things can be sights, sounds, smells,
surfaces, places to potty, objects, and more. The key,
though, is to make sure each experience is a positive one so the puppy builds
up memories of lots of positive experiences they can draw on throughout the
rest of their training. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QlwP1wjj2WWZNWxyD3tyW9BxwIq9tVZ0NY35Fgx5iK6-v1bbgs71EDuJGHcE5cAq0XdZce_ohqvpS0yQ6LIePc8RdiXp0EF4U0iNXtoJ-9yMQdXpeTvxEJNAopFmZIGRjf4jfo1eKZAh/s1600/IMG_3259.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8QlwP1wjj2WWZNWxyD3tyW9BxwIq9tVZ0NY35Fgx5iK6-v1bbgs71EDuJGHcE5cAq0XdZce_ohqvpS0yQ6LIePc8RdiXp0EF4U0iNXtoJ-9yMQdXpeTvxEJNAopFmZIGRjf4jfo1eKZAh/s320/IMG_3259.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Lucky had a busy weekend! How many different experiences can
you count? <o:p></o:p></div>
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Over the weekend, Lucky went with Becky and her husband to
her parents’ house for a neighborhood yard sale. They spent the night, staying
in the guest room. Lucky slept in his crate, which is where he usually sleeps. However, unlike at home, Lucky’s crate was at the foot of the bed and he couldn’t
see Becky. There were two other Labradors in the house, and Lucky could hear
them move around the house at night, even though he couldn’t see them. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyjJXfYZQM8V-xTJ5i4Ero8ZS_oQVuv4z42Pp2STp2CD4Y5v22uwAl3ZUqIL4gQxyejW-Ay3-7OuDl0iV0Ig7WKJ6epdKM3IDRHBb_tTI20n9MYBxuArZwT5jVy3argpSnFloNrcSWAnf/s1600/IMG_3258.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZyjJXfYZQM8V-xTJ5i4Ero8ZS_oQVuv4z42Pp2STp2CD4Y5v22uwAl3ZUqIL4gQxyejW-Ay3-7OuDl0iV0Ig7WKJ6epdKM3IDRHBb_tTI20n9MYBxuArZwT5jVy3argpSnFloNrcSWAnf/s320/IMG_3258.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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During the yard sale, Lucky practiced long down-stays, an
important skill for service dogs to perfect in all environments. Since many new
people stopped by the yard sale, he also worked on calm greetings with kids and
adults of all ages. (Even though people aren’t supposed to pet service dogs, we
still make sure our dogs learn how to properly greet people. We’ll talk about
that in a future blog post.) <o:p></o:p></div>
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Perhaps Lucky’s biggest new experience happened in the backyard.
Becky’s parents have a deck with wooden open riser stairs. Little Lucky calmly
trotted down the stairs to the grass without a problem. Going back up was a
different story. The backs of the stair were open and looked completely
different. He wasn’t sure he could go back up. “From my point of view, it
looked easy,” said Becky. “But from his view, it didn’t look safe or even
possible to get back up on the deck.” <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIEot0K4BWzqC_2d09kzdwN02vc4qcUDAQaHw49E76CjJnoqeetH6mCraNSVQhA1TNsatFCtqA6qQiqWUczHn0GyC8Z0VmYt-PwjR9_8jQI_yk8SLNM6nJdU80oOPONExBfxzsHoihS5N2/s1600/IMG_3263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIEot0K4BWzqC_2d09kzdwN02vc4qcUDAQaHw49E76CjJnoqeetH6mCraNSVQhA1TNsatFCtqA6qQiqWUczHn0GyC8Z0VmYt-PwjR9_8jQI_yk8SLNM6nJdU80oOPONExBfxzsHoihS5N2/s320/IMG_3263.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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She let Lucky explore the stairs without any pressure to
climb them, and as he got more comfortable, he walked up two steps! “We’ll
continue to expose him to stairs like this as he gets older,” said Becky. <o:p></o:p></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqA5XfaaSYnWHoVgR03xysyHZsyT8un2IDspWZ5yM-LfeYi93SVxqGfcbI6p9_JVyhaPb8EKjLK4wVlldf4Vfz_vvCmCnvvaslxr8ArH2RIzYofSPbjEXXehe-AZTuwqRS5BC2EgxlhMc/s1600/IMG_3262.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAqA5XfaaSYnWHoVgR03xysyHZsyT8un2IDspWZ5yM-LfeYi93SVxqGfcbI6p9_JVyhaPb8EKjLK4wVlldf4Vfz_vvCmCnvvaslxr8ArH2RIzYofSPbjEXXehe-AZTuwqRS5BC2EgxlhMc/s320/IMG_3262.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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How many experiences did you count? Let us know in the
comments. We’ll post the ones we counted tomorrow afternoon. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div>
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All of these new experiences are helping to prepare Lucky to
be a service dog. By law, he’ll be able to accompany his partner anywhere that’s
open to the public, so he needs to be able to calmly handle and even enjoy
being in many different environments. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Look for more posts about SSD Lucky in the future! <o:p></o:p></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Help us build a new
training center for our puppies like Lucky! Donate today: </i><a href="https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign</a><o:p></o:p></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-74276451671722281752019-07-18T12:44:00.000-04:002019-07-18T12:44:08.889-04:00Service Dog Makes His Partner’s World Bigger<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWThbmKoD-jBTnJ9tIOVsJWi54MT2of-rds0H4DfrEhAq-pMoJASQRsDMkkR-3NnV-euRJz-X5RLIkQr7D5YnJdunC06RctHMSsD8tpEdzMQhEKmDo-GOhqTduG0ajAvgzzkXtVEjAIep/s1600/66429619_10157110009750661_3692381619139641344_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="770" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieWThbmKoD-jBTnJ9tIOVsJWi54MT2of-rds0H4DfrEhAq-pMoJASQRsDMkkR-3NnV-euRJz-X5RLIkQr7D5YnJdunC06RctHMSsD8tpEdzMQhEKmDo-GOhqTduG0ajAvgzzkXtVEjAIep/s320/66429619_10157110009750661_3692381619139641344_n.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><br /></span></i></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Guest post by Heather Campbell <o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">I grew up an
overachiever. One teacher described me as having an A+ personality instead of
the regular A type. So I thought nothing of working two jobs and going to
school full time when I was 24 in 2012. It was hard, but I loved to work hard
and I was going after my dreams. Then I started having my seizures and
everything changed rapidly. My world became very narrow. I didn't leave my
apartment for much of anything, my depression and anxiety shot through the
roof, I was dealing with seizures, fainting, and nerve pain, and I found that
many things that seemed so easy before—like picking something up off the floor
or walking for long periods of time—were suddenly out of reach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">When I got my
diagnosis, one of the things recommended to us was looking into having a
service dog. As soon as I could, I started applying. SSD was the only one in
the half dozen applications I initially sent out that said yes. From that first
submission to receiving SSD Cricket, it took four years. In that time, I had
over a dozen concussions and had injured myself in many ways with my seizures.
I still struggled to get out of the house, to the point where I was starting to
get afraid to do so.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMm6-_SD0h5qMa2rLTDumYxwLx1R9VjrvO5kC7DDTmsBJRSsiU1niFMTdVwSnGLfaqe4zU4rICD6AzqqSQ9QqIZpLZJTMrj3WFkKfcKp21ZYh2W4ebBACVhMG_-kLNwow_UKq8tgaydAX/s1600/64571136_1060482594339486_678526612823605248_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimMm6-_SD0h5qMa2rLTDumYxwLx1R9VjrvO5kC7DDTmsBJRSsiU1niFMTdVwSnGLfaqe4zU4rICD6AzqqSQ9QqIZpLZJTMrj3WFkKfcKp21ZYh2W4ebBACVhMG_-kLNwow_UKq8tgaydAX/s320/64571136_1060482594339486_678526612823605248_n.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SSD Cricket</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">When Cricket
walked in during Meet the Dogs, it was like everything clicked into place. He
zeroed in on me right away, was eager to please, gentle despite his food drive,
and a giant goof when we were just getting to know each other. I remember
telling Amanda [SSD’s director of training and breeding] and the others "I
think he just fetched my heart and took it with him." I was hopeful for a
match from the group after doing so well, but I truly was hoping for Cricket
above all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZSO9HKYb7778aN1cA8_s6pIe7UG8Bf_Cnqz3Q9ppzpD3lXv8F75NBBzTFc9CovQbw1DLlhM_z9VV-hOBPAOa6ZsqwZVjPAYbAr4a_J2ZpyzcnwVuQx4jdCbbikV2cQULBGCg3M93HW83/s1600/64739569_1059872534400492_5373101943830872064_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaZSO9HKYb7778aN1cA8_s6pIe7UG8Bf_Cnqz3Q9ppzpD3lXv8F75NBBzTFc9CovQbw1DLlhM_z9VV-hOBPAOa6ZsqwZVjPAYbAr4a_J2ZpyzcnwVuQx4jdCbbikV2cQULBGCg3M93HW83/s320/64739569_1059872534400492_5373101943830872064_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Heather and SSD Cricket with her wife and Cricket's puppy raisers</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Being matched
with him was amazing, but training with him was even better. He was responsive
and I could see opportunities opening in front of me with every moment. He read
my body better than I could sometimes and responded amazingly. During one of
the practices with the cue Pillow, where he pillows my head while I'm on the
ground, I found myself feeling a seizure coming on. Despite it only being
Cricket's second time seeing one of my seizures, he stayed right where he was and
I was able to just focus on getting through it. He helped me up to my knees
after and I couldn't stop myself from crying. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRS1HGIk5l4Nf1dG7vb3EiuUc8B9q3pdFixHFE0CTgVXId9r7nrntDBxW9BlINJ3UAT8rW3IC3yzw0xnEY_wKOn5SibE-GsvJRTUyfpW8K9EgAhjOFKzYBfN_JF5s_9rXrjTEIhUQMELT0/s1600/65279280_1066031070451305_2560844335792783360_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="562" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRS1HGIk5l4Nf1dG7vb3EiuUc8B9q3pdFixHFE0CTgVXId9r7nrntDBxW9BlINJ3UAT8rW3IC3yzw0xnEY_wKOn5SibE-GsvJRTUyfpW8K9EgAhjOFKzYBfN_JF5s_9rXrjTEIhUQMELT0/s320/65279280_1066031070451305_2560844335792783360_n.jpg" width="239" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">SSD Cricket relaxing under a table</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Looking at
Cricket was like looking at a chance at having a life again. He's the key to
taking my world- which has consisted mostly of my house and times my wife could
take me places- and making it bigger. I don't need to be afraid of going
places. I'm not afraid of being alone. Because I'm not alone- I have my
partner, and we're looking out for each other. He's given me both purpose and
independence. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";">Cricket and I
couldn't be a better pair. We both strive to do well, we respond amazing to
praise, and we are both so proud to be part of the SSD team. Normally, I'm a
rescue sort of animal parent, but in this case, the rescue went the other way
around. He's rescued me. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2u2_1FEspgn53xen8H8bfE_q1iM-bHYsCrj2mxZTSdlgF1mUb5XUQC0KK1hvtO8bENayBl0iE_4HmGC2lxP3lvQqh-3ZmrMdgJ7jvmwRJRGWTwf5zMx3HxLAFqiwl4jGMQtuaTMuRnEE/s1600/67085745_10157110010165661_7387012796120039424_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="770" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB2u2_1FEspgn53xen8H8bfE_q1iM-bHYsCrj2mxZTSdlgF1mUb5XUQC0KK1hvtO8bENayBl0iE_4HmGC2lxP3lvQqh-3ZmrMdgJ7jvmwRJRGWTwf5zMx3HxLAFqiwl4jGMQtuaTMuRnEE/s320/67085745_10157110010165661_7387012796120039424_n.jpg" width="256" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif";"><i>To support future partnerships like Heather's with SSD Cricket, donate to build a new training facility for Susquehanna Service Dogs. With a new facility, SSD will be able to serve more people on our waiting list in a shorter amount of time. You can make a difference! Give now: </i></span><a href="https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign"><b>https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign</b></a></div>
<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-961517579887201252019-05-17T16:07:00.001-04:002019-05-17T16:07:24.903-04:00How SSD Nugget Changed a Life<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEATG0L8eoAIy-it0OWcjr3DeTQxxvw18SQjCiiuPhT9pX6oeN9aUvDN-XuWGh5XWbeMI_CGv8iP4gASSmnK6PXDMHg1PnM6eA7bSwFudnvf_pOMoUfBsPD0Texz981a085SAiBuBS50E/s1600/Marissa+and+SSD+Nugget+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXEATG0L8eoAIy-it0OWcjr3DeTQxxvw18SQjCiiuPhT9pX6oeN9aUvDN-XuWGh5XWbeMI_CGv8iP4gASSmnK6PXDMHg1PnM6eA7bSwFudnvf_pOMoUfBsPD0Texz981a085SAiBuBS50E/s320/Marissa+and+SSD+Nugget+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">“One of the ways Nugget has helped me in life is by giving
me the ability to walk on my own to the pond near my house for the first time
ever.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That’s what Marissa Kitzinger says about her service dog,
SSD Nugget. Nugget has been giving her the confidence to do things she never
thought she could do before. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For years before getting Nugget, she dreamed of walking by
herself to the local pond to go fishing. Three days after her service dog came
home with her, she got herself and Nugget ready and went for a walk in the
neighborhood, something she hadn’t done in the 15 years she had lived there.
Since that day, they have gone on many walks and went fishing at the local
pond. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOsuIDYnJbUzLY6smYr8-Ytp4j0rlhqZRXQoF9pa_7Km-fkA9aIO8i-PcdIDzsiZQY0bhKvYz-e32NdfbUjZLZGOoles8e7I86VjAI1UM_oVx0wCHQp59xkDTi9CApyXFnsCvk3Mi0B1dX/s1600/Marissa+and+SSD+Nugget+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOsuIDYnJbUzLY6smYr8-Ytp4j0rlhqZRXQoF9pa_7Km-fkA9aIO8i-PcdIDzsiZQY0bhKvYz-e32NdfbUjZLZGOoles8e7I86VjAI1UM_oVx0wCHQp59xkDTi9CApyXFnsCvk3Mi0B1dX/s320/Marissa+and+SSD+Nugget+3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rosemary, Marissa’s mother, says, “Nugget has an effect on
Marissa that is hard to explain but easy to see. She walks taller with
confidence in public spaces, she is calmer in crowds, and she is more focused
on Nugget and less distracted. I imagine they will have many new adventures and
experiences together as Marissa continues her college journey and chooses her
path in life.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The world has opened for Marissa, with the help of the black
lab by her side.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You can be part of stories like Marissa and SSD Nugget.
Donate to help a dog change a life through our CrowdRise campaign. Every dollar
you donate brings us closer to building a new training facility so we can continue
training and placing dogs like Nugget. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/susquehanna-capital-campaign">Donate now</a></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-10937502884510346842019-05-14T14:30:00.000-04:002019-05-14T15:28:10.066-04:00SSD Phelps Is My Lifeline to the World<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZQpVMDxyIysKu4J8Ui6BxZgjx_E1Ra-RhAC5e8gbUVa5z9xEx1eUzoSPbsCWYZeSUU54WbjBK-GnuME5GTQOh04wwPBE7G4JI4EGbyKd3rj_G5iiED0w6sbOvvczFxUiPPUARb9X496r/s1600/Team+Training+October+2018+28.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1529" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwZQpVMDxyIysKu4J8Ui6BxZgjx_E1Ra-RhAC5e8gbUVa5z9xEx1eUzoSPbsCWYZeSUU54WbjBK-GnuME5GTQOh04wwPBE7G4JI4EGbyKd3rj_G5iiED0w6sbOvvczFxUiPPUARb9X496r/s320/Team+Training+October+2018+28.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Guest post by Lisa Edwards, partnered with SSD Phelps</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This October, I successfully
obtained a service dog through Susquehanna Service Dogs. His name is SSD Phelps. SSD Phelps is a
gentle giant and he is attentive and supportive of my anxiety from PTSD due to
my military service. As we embarked on our journey together, it was clear to
the staff, volunteers, and other partners that Phelps was clearly allowing me to
gain confidence. Without the support from his whelping family, puppy raisers Katie
and Eddie, and with the army of support from staff, trainer, volunteers and
everyone who make SSD the organization that it is, Phelps and I could not have
made the strides that we have in changing my life. Phelps is my lifeline to the
world and has opened doors that I would have never dreamed could be open again.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqVvZ5wqsKo2ZEPmxyzDeM_xjYsrkTjQq5gpbOpzybtnCSu3ODkwM0CQBigjUXCSR_Qhh_UkePqI6a-zgwxtWwkXt02aRtKnGiarNpGaH0ggx4BVt5gWEXoGEgpJojUU3rKl7LOOgmrXj/s1600/IMG_20190430_095147.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUqVvZ5wqsKo2ZEPmxyzDeM_xjYsrkTjQq5gpbOpzybtnCSu3ODkwM0CQBigjUXCSR_Qhh_UkePqI6a-zgwxtWwkXt02aRtKnGiarNpGaH0ggx4BVt5gWEXoGEgpJojUU3rKl7LOOgmrXj/s320/IMG_20190430_095147.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When Phelps was born his whelping family made sure that he got used to lots of different sounds and objects. She
worked on socialization him with his siblings, essential training needed for newborn
puppies. After 8 weeks, she successfully transitioned Phelps to his puppy
raisers, Katie and Eddie, who were instrumental in preparing Phelps for a life
of service. They helped him learn basic cues, and then things I need him to do
for me. They orientated him to the
public and other animals and prepared Phelps for advanced training. For 2 years,
they went to puppy classes, progressing Phelps through the different stages of
training until Phelps was ready for advanced training. At the SSD facility, Phelps stayed at the kennel
Monday through Friday and went back to Katie and Eddie on the weekends where
they continued to work with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once Phelps entered advanced training, Kara (one of SSD's trainers) took over his training to do specific tasked that I needed him
to do for me. She taught him lap,
squish, go behind, find the phone, find me, and other tasks. Phelps knew the cues when we started team
training. I believe it was easier to train Phelps than it was to train me. Kara could not do this alone. The other SSD staff made sure that Phelps was
ready for training every day and after training, they took care of him in the
evenings. They made sure he was fed, and
had time just to be a dog by allowing him to play with the other dogs in the
kennel with him.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">None of this could not of
happened without the dedication of SSD
staff, and countless volunteers who made sure that Phelps made all his
veterinary appointments, transported him back and forth to different training
sites around Harrisburg, and watched him when his raisers left town. The fundraisers
that are set up throughout the year to support all the dogs in the program are
critical, as well as educating the community about what a service dog is and
where these dogs can go in public. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHAx4uWLh9gH2e8c8rgEBIv4pFWVhTgvIgyIaBOYNBFTa_yIgvMF6Fcy7JIUnCm9B9yrG1bATFw43Y02mA17_aQ6ebPcuGJnijOkDCJ-4Se5ES9DgZbeUzCorFDVrt7AsN_sSoD3prZtB/s1600/received_2821961411163395.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1024" data-original-width="768" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJHAx4uWLh9gH2e8c8rgEBIv4pFWVhTgvIgyIaBOYNBFTa_yIgvMF6Fcy7JIUnCm9B9yrG1bATFw43Y02mA17_aQ6ebPcuGJnijOkDCJ-4Se5ES9DgZbeUzCorFDVrt7AsN_sSoD3prZtB/s320/received_2821961411163395.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SSD Phelps has already made a
difference in my life. He has become the lifeline to a world that had been
closed off to me for many, many years. Phelps
and I have been to state parks that I had not been to in many years. We have
been to the movies, which I had not been to in 22 years. We have gone out to
eat. We have gone to many stores in my area, and have many more adventures
ahead of us. We even have some speaking engagements where I will educate people
on service dogs, service dog etiquette, and explain what SSD does and what
the process is for obtaining a service dog through them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Phelps has given me a lifeline to
the world! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><i>Help a dog help a veteran by <a href="https://crowdrise.com/susquehanna-capital-campaign">donating to Susquehanna Service Dogs</a>. SSD is in the middle of a capital campaign to build a new training facility to train and place life-changing service dogs. Your donation makes a difference and changes lives! </i></span></div>
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<br />SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-47869885124157801582019-04-30T16:26:00.000-04:002019-04-30T16:26:16.584-04:00Changing Lives at 95<i>Post by Pam Foreman, Director of Susquehanna Service Dogs</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Every
year when we give the Nancy and Robert Fierer Spirit of Volunteerism Award, we know so
many are deserving. In fact, that is exactly what this year’s recipient
said when I told him he was chosen. He said, “What about all those raisers and
other volunteers who do so much more
than me and are so much more
deserving?” That is the humble nature of this year’s recipient, Melvin
Brownold. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChjlFt4E4hPEWerWr91BpIqAcRqYMNc0Us3oz8r1FuT6v_Gybu_IVZFHwFuVxj54bVDSak7RLReWs-HgaiqP7x0477JU5m0v7x0V8FiISltI3Hiuq5ghyphenhyphenijKNbPxq2zAtCkHIu9PdH5v6/s1600/Mel+Brownold+Spirit+of+Volunteerism+Award.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgChjlFt4E4hPEWerWr91BpIqAcRqYMNc0Us3oz8r1FuT6v_Gybu_IVZFHwFuVxj54bVDSak7RLReWs-HgaiqP7x0477JU5m0v7x0V8FiISltI3Hiuq5ghyphenhyphenijKNbPxq2zAtCkHIu9PdH5v6/s320/Mel+Brownold+Spirit+of+Volunteerism+Award.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">At 95 years
old, Mel is Susquehanna Service Dogs’ eldest volunteer, and a true inspiration
to other SSD volunteers and staff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He began
volunteering in 2009 when his wife Janie became ill, and he wanted a project to
throw his energy into as he embarked on a new stage in his life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">As a retired
Air Force Pilot, Mel knows the meaning of service and dedication to a cause,
and that is exactly what he has done for SSD. He has dedicated his energy to
our mission and championed SSD over the many years he has volunteered. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Most
notably Mel has made an impact by being a public volunteer. Each week he can be seen pulling up to a mall,
or a grocery store, or other venue in his baby blue convertible (weather
permitting, top down), where he meets the trainers and other public volunteers
to help train our AT dogs and prepare them for their future partner. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Despite
his age, and some of the physical challenges that come with it, he is always on time and ready to work his dog, even if
the weather isn’t all that agreeable. Three years ago Mel underwent heart
surgery. After a short recovery he was back volunteering. He hasn’t skipped a day volunteering for SSD since. He is reliable
and engaged, putting his own comfort as secondary to improving someone’s life
through the gift of a skilled service dog.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mel is
the proud father to five children, grandfather of seven, and great-grandfather
of three. Whenever his family is in town, he stops by for a visit to show them
the work we do. His love for SSD is truly apparent during these visits.
Actually, Mel takes any opportunity
he can to educate anybody about SSD, as well as how they too, can contribute.
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mel
donates financially and encourages others to do the same, he shows up at
informational meetings and at events with genuine
interest, a willingness to serve, and with wise counsel. He is an intelligent, experienced businessman and offers a sharp
mind and a lifetime of expertise to SSD. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">Mel’s
fellow volunteers describe him as a joy to be around and an inspiration, humble
in nature, deeply caring about the needs and comfort of the dogs as well as their needs. He is also described as a
lot of fun. Like the time he fooled them into thinking he was carrying the 70
pound black lab he had been training earlier that day, only to find as they got
closer it was a stuffed animal he bought when they weren’t looking. After they
recovered from their shock and concern, the dog (named Neut, for Neutered) was
strapped into the front seat of his convertible and off they went. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">While his
time volunteering in a physical capacity may evolve and as he’s questioned his physical ability, his </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">first and biggest concern is whether
he will hinder the </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">needs of the dogs and program,</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> and asks, “When that happens what else can I do for SSD? Where can my
efforts best serve the program?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">When we
think of Nancy and Robert, and especially Nancy and what she epitomized
regarding perseverance in support and love for this program….and doing so as a
volunteer, we think of Mel, because he also epitomizes that same spirit. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">He is
contributing in a full, robust way, with his main focus being what is good for
the dogs, and SSD, and future partner--and doing so at 95 years old.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">Please join me in congratulating Mel on this well-deserved
recognition.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Nancy and Robert Fierer Spirit of Volunteerism Award is given out annually to a volunteer who is a champion of SSD and our mission. Recipients of this award not only support our work raising and training service dogs, but they truly embrace the heart of our mission--to support people to live their best lives with their service dog at their side.</i></span>SSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8499260985247022926.post-32288506081900387082019-04-08T16:02:00.002-04:002019-04-08T16:02:45.726-04:00Help a Dog Change a Life<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/p4l3XdH97Gc" width="440"></iframe>
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We're so excited to share our new video with you! Please watch and see how a cute little puppy grows up to change someone's life!<br />
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But we're excited for more than just our video. Today, we launched our CrowdRise campaign to help raise funds for a new training complex so we can continue to train high quality assistance dogs. We need your help to make it a success!<br />
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<a href="https://www.crowdrise.com/o/en/campaign/susquehanna-capital-campaign"><b>Visit our CrowdRise campaign</b></a>, donate, and share!<br />
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As Kira says in the video, assistance dogs are "living proof that a life has been changed."<br />
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#DogsChangeLivesSSDhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08615811701599976060noreply@blogger.com0