SSD Sonora is thankful for kennel maintenance

Is there anything better than snuggling in bed or on the couch on a cold winter day? SSD Sonora doesn't think so! When she was in the kennel for advanced training, she loved to snuggle on the bed with her kennelmate. Even though her run had two beds, she still loved to curl up with her kennelmate on the same bed.

Although she is now a working service dog who now snuggles with her partner, she is thankful for everyone who helps maintain the kennel for the dogs in advanced training. We have a wonderful staff person who cleans the kennel runs every day, and Sonora would like to add, gives the dogs peanut butter bones! The runs and the training room are kept nice and clean so they are a pleasant place to live and work.

Once a year, we spend an entire weekend cleaning the kennel from top to bottom until the kennel sparkles. A group of volunteers help us clean windows and doors, patch any rusty areas, clean and paint the training room, remove dead trees from the field where the dogs run and play, and repair fences. Last year we had over thirty volunteers helping us fix up the kennel! With their help, we were able to completely redo the fence in the field.

Sonora would like to thank everyone who kept the kennel clean and warm while she was in advance training. She's sure the dogs currently in advance training appreciate it, too!

The Kennel Sparkles!

It may have been a dreary weekend, but the kennel is sparkling! Thanks to a group of wonderful volunteers, we cleaned everything at the kennel during our annual work weekend.

Twenty volunteers on Saturday and 17 volunteers on Sunday helped us to:

• clean the windows and doors inside and outside the kennel
• clean the kennel from top to bottom
• patch up any rusty areas inside the kennel
• clean and paint the training room
• replace smoke detectors in the kennel and house
• repair the kennel's phone line
• replace the counter-balance mechanism in one of the kennel doors
• remove dead trees
• replace 1,200 feet of fencing in the field where the dogs run

We got everything done on our to-do list except removing the rust from the crates and the outside runs and painting the crates. The only that stopped us from finishing these tasks was the weather. The rain finally put a halt to our cleaning.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped us this weekend! You did a fantastic job!

We know that you worked hard this weekend, but we have one more thing to ask of you and everyone else. Don't worry - it's much easier than putting up a fence. SSD Midge is going to the vet tomorrow for an ultrasound to see if she's going to have puppies, and we need you to keep your fingers crossed. Here's hoping for puppies!

SSD Snow Dogs!

The snow we're getting in Harrisburg might be keeping many of us stuck inside, but the dogs at the kennel love playing in it!

Snow on the kennel runs from the first snow storm over the weekend. We had to clean out all the runs.



We have a fenced-in run in the woods at the kennel, and we let the dogs play in the snow.





We brought some toys out for the dogs to play with in the snow, and they got really excited.



We hope you and your dogs have fun in the snow, too!