ok to euthanize

Yesterday our staff visited the San Antonio Animal Care Services - their city shelter. It is a new facility, very clean and the staff and volunteers seem pleasant.

We went through two buildings with runs full of dogs classified as "stray". In fact, the staff designates the buildings as Stray 1 and Stray 2.

There were lots of dogs eager to get out of their cages. Some were thin, some had injuries, all had stories - we just don't know what they are. Most of them looked healthy, robust and irresistably endearing. There were dogs of all sizes, mostly young adults.

Each run had the dog's information in a plastic envelope attached to the front gate: the dog's breed, age, where it had been found, any meds. Many had this handwritten in black ink:

ok to euth 9/25

That meant okay to euthanize, September 25. That's Thursday. That's tomorrow.

One dog was lying in the back of her kennel. Unlike the other dogs, she didn't get up to greet us as we stopped at her kennel. She was nursing an injured hind leg. She was young, blonde fur, maybe a small lab. She had that written on the card on her door.

I know this is a fact of life. I know we can't save them all. I know we're doing our best and that we have to choose dogs that are likely to work in our training program: be able to master the behaviors, be good in public and do it all for a novice handler - the person getting the Hearing or Service Dog.

But...

This shelter euthanizes 95% of its dogs.

They try to get rescue groups to take many of them. They don't push adoption much in their community because other facilities do. There were a handful of people looking for pets.

This is my 20th year doing this and it's still as fresh as the first time I ever saw an animal in need and wanted to help.

After we had dinner. After we drove back to Dripping Springs and dropped people off. After I made it home to Austin and settled in for the evening. Even though I took deep breaths, I couldn't hold back the tears. I just couldn't get it out of my head. "ok to euth 9/25". That brown eyed, yellow lab lying in the back of her kennel nursing her hurt leg. And all the rest of them.

Will it be peaceful for them when it happens? Will any one of them get adopted before it's time?

It's not just 9/25. It's a lot more. It's not just her. It's a lot more.

I have six pets, all from shelters. Well 5 from shelters, one from a tree at an abandoned house.

Does anyone need a pet? Do you know ANYone who is ready for some love, gratitude and affection in his or her life?

Don't wait! An animal needs you so much! Please take a drive to the San Antonio shelter if you live there - it's easy to find - it's on Hwy 151. Or if you live in Austin, we have a city shelter here near Cesar Chavez.

www.petfinder.com is also an excellent site. You put in your zip code, and choose the kind of animal you're interested in and it gives you photos, bios and contact info for animals starting with those at places closest to you. You can even sort by age and gender.

I know you love animals or you wouldn't be reading this. If this blog moves anyone to go adopt a dog or cat from a shelter, it will unbreak my heart just a little bit.

Thank you,

Sheri

Vroom, vroom!

Thanks to our friends at Roger Beasley Volvo, we were able to replace our '03 Dodge Caravan of nearly 200,000 miles with a slightly used 2008 Dodge Caravan at an extremely reasonable price complete with trade in. (Now, they have a paperweight in the shape of an '03 Dodge van!)

We've gotten such a great response from my Scion XB being wrapped in graphics, that I wanted to do the same with the new vehicle.

Rick Clark helped design the graphics, which will be applied by AccuGraphics in Austin.

Here's what the van will look like from the sidesThis is Service Dog team Chris Hyatt and "JJ" of Austin. We adopted JJ from the San Antonio animal shelter. I really want to emphasize that we adopt shelter dogs and turn them from strays to stars.

and from the rear:This is brand new Hearing Dog team Candice Benavides and "Cookie". They just completed their 5 day training course at our facility last week. THSD Sr. Trainer Susan Ramsbottom moves Cookie into Candice's home tomorrow! That will begin their 13 weeks of In-home training. We adopted Cookie from Citizens for Animal Protection in Houston.

I'm excited about our progress and proud to show it on our vehicles. See y'all on the road!

Sheri

All Hands on Deck!

Alrighty - it's only 1 in the afternoon, but seems like a full day already.

We had a great 3rd quarter board meeting first thing this morning. Have I told you I love our board? I love our board.

You can check them out under "About Us" on the main page. Give our webmaster a few minutes to update the list - we added a real winner today: David Stein, owner and partner in Roger Beasley Volvo, Audi, Porsche and Georgetown Subaru.

David and his wife Jenny have supported THSD for years! The Saab dealership has been a dog walk sponsor for the last 6 years - this year it was Subaru. David helped us trade in our well worn Dodge van for an almost new one at ZERO markup! Our In-home Trainer, Susan Ramsbottom put thousands of miles on the old van driving all over Texas. These days she's got:

Mondays - Hearing Dog team, Sanger (near Dallas)
Tuesdays - Hearing Dog team, San Antonio
Wednesdays - Service Dog team, Houston
about to start - Hearing Dog team, San Diego (south of Corpus Christi)

So thanks to David, we can keep Susan safe on the road!

Our extensive in-home training is part of what makes our program shine.

Upcoming Stuff

20th Anniversary Events

• Toy Hearing & Service Dogs - this project is finally starting to materialize. After final approval of the latest dog vest from China (ahem, they're orange not brown), we'll be able to start production. 45 days to make the dogs and 30 days to ship. Hopefully, they'll be here in time for the December holidays!
• Starting a Hall of Honor for THSD Grads for Outstanding Achievement.
  

Holidays

• Scooby's Haunted Carnival Sat. 10/25 - we need volunteers to help with the games and also cakes cakes cakes for our Magic Cake Walk. Email Debbie@servicedogs.org to get involved.
• Holiday Open House Sat. 12/13 - Pot luck or bring a donation or dog toy. Email Debbie@servicedogs to RSVP

Training Seminars (see our website Calendar)

• Intro to Service Dog Training Oct. 16-17, Becky McClintock
  
• How to Read Your Dog Like A Book Nov. 8-9, Steve White

And we have the coolest team in training this week: Candice Benavides and Hearing Dog Cookie. Candy's leaving a day early b/c of the stupid hurricane. She's in San Diego near Corpus Chrisit. Scary! We'll move Cookie in with her next week, but you get to see them now.

Candice already has gotten a Corpus Christi TV station and the Corpus Christi Caller Times to do stories on her and Cookie. That's wonderful - she's a real go getter!

Candy & Cookie...well now, I'm really hungry. Gee, I already had spaghetti and eggs for breakfast. (Stop that - it's quite normal, esp. w/ soy sauce.) You'd think that would last longer. Okay, off to stoke up.

Onward,

Sheri

Committed to the Blog

Hiya Everyone,

I'm back and committed to keeping an ongoing blog.

Seems that blogs are supposed to be quick little remarks, not essays. Okay, fine.

Today - gave a 9:30 am presentation to a college class at Southwestern U in Georgetown. Just an hour drive each way, but the professor was nice enough to give me a Starbucks gift certificate.

Groovily, our grad Service Dog team Amy Litzinger and Karma joined me in the presentation. Amy's a student there. She hit a home run talking about her experiences with Karma and showing off some behaviors. I appreciated the students' attention and thoughtful questions. I hope we get some of them as volunteers.

This afternoon, I met with our graphic design artist for our new van. We're going to wrap it in graphics like we did the Scion XB. So we met to photograph SD team Chris Hyatt & JJ near downtown. We'll be showing a "before" photo of a black lab at a shelter with an "after" photo of him as Chris' Service Dog. I really want to bring home the message of "Strays to Stars". I'll put up some drafts of the van once Rick gets them to me.

We're hosting a quasi military event in December - Inner Service Family Assistance Committee (ISFAC). What's that? It's different organizations that provide services to military personnel and their families. I just attended one in San Antonio last week at St. Mary's. The theme was "Invisible Injury" and it was about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury and other things that don't show on the surface but are very profound conditions.

We need a theme for ours, seating for at least 100 guests, tables for exhibitors, two meals for everyone and some really cool speakers. I want us to take this to the next level. Interesting, lively, informative, moving - lots of WOW. It will be Thursday, Dec. 4th.

Okay, obviously, I can't write a short blog. Tough - maybe they'll decrease when I write them more often.

Onward,

Sheri

Sheri Soltes
Founder & President
sheri@servicedogs.org

5 Exciting Things!

Hi Everyone,

Did you miss me? It took me this long to figure out how to do these blogs after getting back from the holidays. I mean the December holidays!


Okay - let's get to it. Here are 5 Exciting Things happening at THSD. Don't miss them!

1. Your Engraved Stone Paws and Engraved Foundation Bricks are now installed! They are the first thing you see when you walk into the Training Building & Visitors Center.

Don't worry, we won't be walking all over your good name. They are part of the natural rock columns holding up the roof to our new covered wheelchair accessible front porch. The inscriptions really are quite moving. Come see for yourself!

2. The Toy Dogs are coming! Tomorrow I go to San Antonio to view the latest samples of our toy Hearing and Service Dogs. High quality plush replicas of eight of our all time favorite graduate dogs, each one has a storycard attached with each dog's stats and bio.

This is our special 20th Anniversary project - 2 years in the making! I can't wait to get them in your hands!

3. Did someone say "ACTION!"? Elephant Productions is filming a public service announcement about THSD starring Service Dog team Chris Hyatt and JJ. Part will be filmed at Chris' home and part at local favorite BookPeople. Our goal is to show more people what service dogs do to encourage them to apply for a dog.

4. Caffeine makes everything better - yes? That's why we're looking for tables and chairs to furnish Cafe Woof. We need three round tables that seat either 2 or 4 people, plus chairs. We are striving for a bistro look - something charming. If you can help, please call me at 512-891-9090 or email me at sheri@servicedogs.org. Free cup-o-coffee for every table or chair donated. Okay, I'll throw in a dozen donuts from GG's in Dripping Springs - you like sprinkles, don'tcha?

5. After a miserable week, the only fever I now have is to do a great job for Texas Hearing & Service Dogs and for you!

Me?

Yes, you!

Me?

Sure. You're the one reading this. You're the one who donates or just takes the time to read what's going on at THSD. Your good thoughts keep us going.

You might have one of our dogs. You might be one of our dogs. (Yes, they do read blogs.)

You might be my mom, or a friend of mine. You're someone's friend and family member and you're loved by your dog or other pet and by lots of people who know you. When you think well of us, so do all of them. So, yes, I want to do a good job for anyone and everyone who supports us in any way - from writing a check to thinking a good thought - you deserve excellence, integrity, enthusiasm and results.

For more exciting events, see our calendar and don't forget to subscribe to our monthly e-news. Just write webmaster@servicedogs.org and write "subscribe".

Love you,

Sheri

Moment of Glory

Yesterday, Nov. 10th, THSD got its moment of glory on the field at the final UT football home game.

Thanks to Roger Beasley Volvo's invitation to join them in their 2007 car giveaway, I had one of the highpoints in my nearly 20 years with Texas Hearing & Service Dogs.

Between the first and second quarters, I, along with Pearl, the Wonder Dog (demo dog for THSD), got to walk out onto the field at DKR Memorial Stadium and receive a giant check for a $2,500 donation from Roger Beasley Volvo. The best part was that Roger Beasley Volvo had produced a 60 second video from some videos THSD provided, and they played it on the Jumbotron.

I almost started crying, it was so beautiful. RB Volvo captured our essence perfectly. Scene after scene of our amazing teams working together, with the wonderful voiceover and music adding even more emotion. And a giant THSD logo flying through the screen towards the audience when the voice says "And wouldn't you like to be a part of it!"

The UT and Texas Tech fans actually started APPLAUDING when it was over!

Throughout the rest of the game and after, people recognized me and Pearl and told us how great they thought THSD and the video were. The Director of Women's Athletics told me that was the best presentation they've ever had. When I took Pearl on a grass break, people would say, "There's that Hearing Aid Dog" (well, they were in the ballpark). When I was walking to the car after the game, people would stop us and compliment us on THSD's work. They actually asked me for my card because they wanted to volunteer. Some families who were already in their cars actually rolled down their windows to compliment us!

Working with Texas Hearing & Service Dogs has always been rewarding and fulfilling. But this was truly a moment of glory!

Behind the scenes - training talk
If you like to read about animal training, read on:

Getting Pearl, the Wonder Dog onto the field was a very interesting challenge. Why? Two things:

Bevo and cannon fire.

The correct way to work with an animal in a new environment and around new, and possibly frightening stimuli, is to desensitize it ahead of time. You gradually expose the animal to the stimuli at very small levels and reward it for being calm or for ignoring the stimuli and doing something else, like looking at you or performing behaviors you ask for. For example, with a longhorn steer, or other animal, you would have your dog with you and the other animal WAY far away to a point where your dog isn't really bothered by it. You work with your dog, asking for eye contact, rewarding it for calmness and asking it for typical behaviors it already knows how to do so it can be successful.

Gradually, you bring the other animal closer, but so gradually that your dog can continue to be calm and engage in the desirable behaviors mentioned above. If you proceed too quickly, you will know because your dog will exhibit fear instead of focusing its attention on you.

Well, in this case, gee whiz, we didn't have any longhorn steers, thousands of screaming fans and a cannon firing every five minutes to practice with ahead of time. I suppose I could have looked for a CD with cannon fire and started off by playing it very quietly but you still don't get that lovely vibration like the world is going to end.

So they're leading us to the field about 10 minutes ahead of time. Pearl sees Bevo and Bevo sees Pearl. (For those of you who may not know, Bevo, a longhorn steer, is the University of Texas mascot and stands on the sidelines during the football games.) We had to walk right by him and initially, they wanted us to wait just across the sidewalk from him. Well, a longhorn steer is not lacking in confidence. Bevo makes eye contact with Pearl and she displays some very apparent characteristics of fear. Freezing alternating with with attempts to flee the area for a nice Starbucks where the only essence of bovine is that which is poured into the cups.

This was NOT fun for me; however, knowing training principles, I set to work with the limited time I had. I asked the UT folks escorting us if we could move a little past Bevo along the sidelines. They were extremely gracious in agreeing. We edged along to the actual sidelines where the sports photographers, State Troopers, Sheriff's deputies, UT Police and various other personnel stood. Pretty near whatever that thing is where the football players warm up their arms by throwing a ball into a PVC pipe and net contraption. (So, I'm a roller derby girl at heart - that's a sport, too!)

Throughout the next 10 minutes of Bevo stil glaring at Pearl from his domain and intermittent cannon fire, Pearl and I worked on calm behavior on the field. At first, I got a little eye contact from her - big accomplishment - yay! Then, finally, I started getting some sits, downs and even a few handshakes. Everytime the cannon went off, I gave her a jackpot of treats if she was calm. After a few minutes of this, she even started looking at me in anticipation of treats when the cannon fired.

By the time we walked out onto the field, I had a dog that was relatively under control, instead of a panicked animal that refused to walk or was bent on fleeing the scene.

When it was time to leave the field, she still refused to walk past Bevo. We couldn't stay on the sidelines for the next three quarters so I improvisded and just picked her up until we got around the corner from Bevo. After that, she trotted happily by my side as we made our way along the goal line and out the other end of the field past the now quiet cannon. Folks, there's nothing like carrying a 45 lb Border Collie in a dress and high heels (me, not the Border Collie), but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do.

So that was several weeks of desense training crammed into 8 minutes. Happily, the training principles held true as they always do. Knowing them helped me just proceed along with the training instead of panicking or becoming frustrated. It's just a matter of - let's find a starting point, work from there and we'll get some progress.

I hope to have some photos here for you soon. Until then,

Onward,

Sheri

Directions to Training Center

If you're like me, you're not a map person. Especially an online map person.

So for those of you who just want good old words, here are

Directions to THSD Training Center:

THSD Training Center

4925 Bell Springs Road

Dripping Springs, TX 78620

1. Take Hwy 290 West out of Austin (near Oak Hill) to Dripping Springs.

2. Once you get to Dripping Springs, you will cross RR 12. Keep going on Hwy 290 West.

3. After you pass the middle school and high school, you will turn right onto Bell Springs Road off of Hwy 290 West. The ACE Hardware is on the corner and there is a traffic light.

4. Go 0.9 miles on Bell Springs and turn right at 4925 Bell Springs Rd.

5. Landmarks

a. On Bell Springs, you will pass a Pink Pig mailbox. We are the next driveway on the right AFTER the pink piggy mailbox (not directly across from it).

b. Look for the stone THSD sign on the right. You will turn right into the driveway and follow it up the hill.

6. Parking:

a. If you need wheelchair access, park in front of the main building with the glass double doors.

b. General Parking: Along the driveway on the right as you are arriving OR across from the garage building to the left of the house and flag pole (as you are arriving).

7. Call the Training Center at 512-858-1495 if you have trouble.

8. The drive takes 25 minutes from the Oak Hill area of Austin.

The terrain is a little rocky and uneven. We are raising funds to smooth this out.