Boots and Bling: An Evening with the Dogs

When SSD Fire got a sneak peak at the silent auction items for Boots & Bling, he knew that Boots & Bling was going to be something to write home about. And he wasn't disappointed!

On Sunday, guests and their dogs arrived at the Holiday Inn Harrisburg/Hershey decked out in their finest western or formal wear. Each dog received a goodie bag full of tasty treats, and guests had the opportunity to have their portrait taken by Terry Rowe Portraiture.

The ballroom was surrounded by tables full of items guests could bid on in the silent auction, including a basket of fine fragrances donated by Macy’s, automotive detailing donated by Bobby Rahal Automotive Group, an oak finish jewelry box donated by Mele & Company, a portrait sitting donated by Willow Street Photography, a gift basket and gift certificate donated by Classic Drycleaners, doggy gift baskets filled with leash and collar sets, treats and toys, and much more! Guests and their dogs strolled around the room to the boot-stomping music of The Waves.


Our canine guests had the spotlight in the parade of dogs, and our mistress of ceremonies, Flora Posteraro of ABC27, formally introduced each dog.

After dinner and the live auction, where several lucky people got a Yappy Hour for 10 people and their dogs, naming rights to an SSD puppy, an oriental rug, a dog-themed dinner party and a trip to Siesta Keys, Florida, it was time to dance! Even some of the dogs strutted their stuff on the dance floor!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the first Boots & Bling! We hope you and your dogs had a boot-stomping good time. And a special thank you to all of our sponsors!

We hope to see you all next year!

Building a Relationship with Dogs: ADI North American Trainer's Conference

“Every dog is a unique individual,” says Suzanne Clothier. Having worked professionally with animals since 1977, Suzanne has a wide range of experience, including obedience, agility, breeding, canine midwifery, puppy testing, and kennel management. She teaches relationship centered training methods, and we’re happy to have her as the presenter for the Assistance Dogs International North American Trainer’s Conference.

Today is the second day of the Trainer’s Conference that we are hosting at the beautiful and serene Camp Hebron. The conference is focused on Suzanne’s Clothier Animal Response Assessment Tool (CARAT™), an assessment tool for creating a profile of a dog with well-defined traits. This tool can be used for any dog, and for assistance dog organizations, it can help with assessing puppies, breeding stock, and potential assistance dogs, as well as help trainers create training plans for each dog.

Although other assessment tools exist, CARAT™ is unique in that it is much more detailed and is one of the few tools with statistical validity. Guiding Eyes for the Blind uses CARAT™ to assess their dogs, and they have found that they could correctly predict whether a dog would be successful in the guide dog program in 87.4% of the cases. Susquehanna Service Dogs has been using CARAT™ since 2008, and we feel it has helped in our formal evaluations of our dogs, as well as helped us see and understand each dog’s behavior. As a result, we can make better choices about each dog’s role in our program.

Over 50 people from 25 different assistance dog organizations are attending the conference. All of them are members of Assistance Dogs International (ADI), a coalition of nonprofit organizations that train and place assistance dogs. All members of ADI must adhere to certain standards and ethics in their training and placement of dogs, and members meet regularly to share ideas, attend seminars and conferences, and work to make improvements in training methods, placement and the use of assistance dogs.

We are very excited to see members from so many service dog groups here at the North American Trainer’s conference. As we all learn more about CARAT™, we will all use similar language when we assess and talk about the dogs in our programs, which is especially important. Many assistance dog organizations build strong relationships with each other and often exchange puppies or use breeding stock from other organizations. If we all use the same language when we describe a dog and its traits and personality, we will have a greater chance of training that dog within our programs and successfully placing the dog with its partner.

The assistance dog organizations at the conference include:

Assistance Dogs of the West

Blue Ridge Assistance Dogs

Canine Partners for Life

Canine Partners of the Rockies

Circle Tail, Inc.

Dogs with Wings

Eagles’ Wings Service Dogs, Inc.

Eyes Ears Nose and Paws

Fidelco Guide Dog Foundation

Fidos for Freedom

Hawaii Fi-Do Service Dogs

Indiana Canine Assistant Network

Japan Hearing Dogs for Deaf People

Kids and Canines

KSDS, Inc.

New Horizons Service Dogs, Inc.

Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services (PAALS)

Pacific Assistance Dogs Society

Paws with a Cause

Pawsitive Perspectives Assistance Dogs

Paws’itive Teams

Prison Pet Partnership

Saint Francis Service Dogs

Service Dogs of Virginia

Susquehanna Service Dogs

And we don’t want to forget about the canine attendees. Although Camp Hebron does not allow pets, they have graciously welcomed the assistance dogs to the conference.

Prescott from Canine Partners for Life

Padriag from Blue Ridge Assistance Dogs

Jabin from Eagles' Wings Service Dogs

Alepo from Canine Partners for Life

Dexter from Fidos for Freedom

Basil from Susquehanna Service Dogs

We are learning a lot from Suzanne, and we hope everyone is enjoying the conference as much as we are!

Watch the Eastern Stars on the Puppy Cam

SSD Buster, Hope, Carol, Kate, Maggie and Lucy are now on the puppy cam! You can watch them play, eat and explore their world. Right now, they're only 10 days old, and their eyes and ears aren't open yet. They rely on their noses to find their mom and their siblings. Soon, though, they're eyes and ears will open and they'll start to take their first steps. And you can watch it all on the puppy cam!

When Dogs Become Mummies

Halloween is a time when things are not what they appear, and sometimes they turn into something else entirely. This Halloween, our dogs in training became mummies!

At our Halloween party, we played a game where teams of our puppy raisers had to completely wrap their dogs in toilet paper. Check out the results:



We also played Musical Hoops, the popular PawsAbilities Dog Olympic Game. All of our dogs walked on a loose leash around a circle of hoops, and when the music stopped, puppy raisers had to get their dog to sit in the hoop. This is a great game for the dogs to practice their skills. Not only do they have to walk on a loose leash, but they have to ignore other distractions and listen their puppy raiser. Watch how Susan works with SSD Julia to get her to sit in the hoop. Even though there is lots of noise and movement around them, Susan stays calm, which helps Julia stay calm and focused. Susan is also very patient when Julia get distracted and quickly redirects her. And look at the beautiful "sit" that Julia gives at the end!



Our staff transformed our puppy class room for the Halloween party, complete with a haunted house! The dogs and some of their puppy raisers came in great costumes, and we had so much delicious food! We hope everyone had as much fun as we did!

And the Stars Are...

Are you ready to meet SSD Midge's Stars?

SSD Hope, named after Bob Hope (female, teal collar)
SSD Kate, named after Kate Smith (female, pink collar)
SSD Maggie, named after Ann Margret (female, tan collar)
SSD Carol, named after Carol Burnett (female, orange collar)
SSD Lucy, named after Lucille Ball (female, purple collar)
SSD Buster, named after Buster Keaton (male, red collar)

The Eastern Star selected the names for this litter, and they have chosen famous actors and actresses who have given their support to our nation's veterans during war time through the USO shows and hospital visits.

The Eastern Star has graciously allowed us to call one of the females SSD Carol, in honor of one of our puppy raisers who passed away suddenly on the day the puppies were born. Carol, her husband and her family raised three SSD dogs for us - SSD Cypress, SSD Penny and SSD Jasmine II. She was a dedicated volunteer, and we will miss her.

SSD Carol and her brother and sisters were born on Thursday, October 20. Midge was due to give birth the following Sunday, but on that Thursday, Midge's breeder caretaker Susan thought that Midge might be showing the very beginning signs of labor. However, Midge was sending mixed signals, and Susan decided it was too soon for the puppies to arrive. She continued her day as usual, leaving Midge at home with her husband, Bill.

Midge hung out with Bill in his shop and took treats just like any other day. In her previous pregnancies, Midge didn't really care about food when she was in labor. That Thursday, however, she loved food! But later when she went into a strange squatting position, Bill was instantly suspicious - and it's a good thing he was watching, because all of a sudden he had to catch a puppy before it hit the ground!

After cleaning the puppy and taking care of the placenta, Bill let Susan know that Midge was, in fact, having her puppies that day. Pretty soon, the entire whelping team was on their way.

The rest of the delivery went very smoothly. Midge delivered the other five puppies quickly, and she was attentive to each puppy. She's a great mom!

We took Midge and the puppies to the vet the next day, and the vet gave her and the pups a clean bill of health. Each puppy had gained weight overnight, which is wonderful news.

Thank you to our whelping team and our vets at the Palmyra Animal Clinic!

The Stars puppies will be making their debut on the puppy cam next week. Check back early next week for the official announcement!

Meet SSD Midge's Stars!

On Thursday, October 20, SSD Midge gave birth to six puppies! She had five black females and one black male. Mom and pups are all healthy and doing great!