Today we watched the Canine for Combat Veterans video and the kids got to hear from Chris Strickland and service dog Ruthie. We watched the pictures scroll by of all of the veterans on the NEADS site, and I told them a bit about each dog from our string who was placed with a veteran, and the veterans who they were placed with.
WPR Dawn joined us today for a rememberance of Veteran's Day. Dawn is a Marine and was active duty for 6 years. During that time she served in communications and intelligence, as well the MP's and as a recruiter. Her time as a recruiter seemed to be her favorite. She now has a family and volunteers as a weekend puppy raiser so she can continue to give to her fellow countrymen. Hoorah Dawn! Thanks for coming in to speak with us.
Today Hope was our guest. He is a 12 month old standard poodle who was raised in someone's home before going into the prison pup partnership. He's learning more obedience and his task work so he can be matched with a client who needs him. Some of our clients need dogs who do not shed but can still do all of the things that the retrievers do~hence the reason for the poodles. We talked about the different care that Hope's coat needs, and everyone got to pet his soft fur.
The children in the classroom had excellent questions and did a great job of paying attention. They are writing letters to a veteran from Bellingham who is currently at Walter Reed. I am sure that he will have gotten many, many recommendations for a service dog to help him when he comes home, from our young ambassadors.
I am hoping to see some of the kids at graduation on Sunday!
