Some announcements and news…
Eight years have passed since I started this group and it has been a fantastic eight years. I consider myself very honoured and privileged to have been invited into each and every one of your lives. When I think of all of the families I have encountered out there over the years, whether they have members with two, three or four legs, I am humbled and consider myself very fortunate to have met each and every one of you as you are one of the biggest reasons I have had the success I have had. It is hard to imagine a time when I did not know any of you…even harder to imagine a time when I did not get a face washing from your dogs.
When I look at all the good the group has accomplished over the years both through formal and informal means, I am very proud. When I started this group, I got a lot of people being naysayers. I was told…:
”too much work for too little payoff”
“people will never want to form a group to walk their dogs”
“too much potential for too many things to go wrong”
Yet here we are eight years later with over 3000 members, a couple of walks every weekend (even if I am not able to attend), thousands of dollars donated to various charities, thousands of dogs helped, invaluable knowledge, education and discussion happening daily…the list goes on.
I am no stranger to being busy. It seems to be a way of life for me. This past year however things have hit an all time busy level…I have been attending university full time doing my MSW, I have gotten my photography business off the ground and running, I have been slammed with teaching group classes and the one on ones have exploded. Add in the volunteer work that always comes up with these things…it makes for a insanely busy schedule. I am always looking for ways to mobilize and utilize the group however. I know that we have a very dedicated membership who are just looking to sink their teeth into new ventures and I want to be able to utilize this resource.
So with that in mind, I want to share with you guys a few things that I have been working on
- You have all seen the clothing that I have gotten on the go for the group. Janine, Heather, Cynthia and myself have been sporting hoodies, soft shells and hats. A number of group members have bought tee shirts. I still have a half dozen ladies tees left, size medium and large, if anybody wishes to purchase one. With the warm weather, it is a good chance to show off our colors. I also have a half dozen For the Love of Dogs hats that are available for purchase. It is really impressive seeing that sea
On the topic of clothing….I am now accepting orders for any other clothing members wish to order. Let me know what you are interested in and within the next week, I will place an order. There are a lot of options. For those who have their eyes on any of the current clothing that is out there, get in touch with me. Not going to lie, it is expensive because of the type of clothing it is and the amount of embroidery that is on it. However, there are options for reducing the cost. I also plan to order in some other items without the embroidery that will be much less expensive. Bottom line, if you are interested in getting anything, let me know and I will add it to the list.
2. Donna Inkpen, one of our own members, nominated me for an award from Pets Plus Us. https://www.petsplusus.com/championawards/ken The main part of this award is a $1500 donation to any charity of the winner’s choice. I would love to bring this one to Newfoundland and with the numbers in group, there is no reason why this cannot happen. Voting takes place until mid September so vote everyday and use any email address you have.
If we win this one, I will be holding a poll to see who the money goes to. If I can divide it up, I will be dividing it equally among the many charities the group supports.
3. I have been asked by the St. John’s SPCA to come on board and help them in a number of areas. In the future, I will be doing all the assessments on any dogs going into the shelter and training their staff and volunteers so eventually, they will have in house staff that are comfortable doing the same.
We had a meeting with a bunch of the staff and volunteers on Monday to see how else I could help out with the SPCA. Volunteer opportunities were discussed and a lot of interest was expressed in partnering with our group toward this end. This will mean potentially some bigger things for our group. As I work out the details in the future, I will let you know.
4. A couple of months ago, I was asked by Rogers Cable to participate in their upcoming fall season of Out of the Fog. I accepted. In August I will be filming for a couple of days with them and they will divide the segments up over the fall season. They have asked for my input into the shows and I think it would be great to be able to do some different shows…obedience, success stories, every day demos…I have lots of ideas for this one and will be approaching some of you to borrow your dogs and maybe even yourselves, to use in the shows.
5. Things have been so crazy that I have been finding it hard to keep up with the one on ones. I want to thank you all as it is through your referrals that I get a large portion of my one on ones. With the new schedule, it has been quite difficult to stay on top of them and at times, I find it hard getting an appointment for somebody quickly. So it is with great pleasure that I want to announce that Jodi Rideout has agreed to come on board and start doing one on ones with me. For those of you who do not know Jodi, she has her bachelor of the arts in Psychology, is a certified dog trainer with Animal Behavior College, is a certified evaluator with the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program and was my intern for a year and a half. She brings with her a wealth of experience and knowledge and I am proud to have her as part of the team.
6. The demand for help from the various charities has gotten huge. Chance was the start this year and I was very pleased, to say the least, with his progress. Chance led to Karma, Jake, Jake, and Patches. Fortunately Jake, Karma and Chance have been adopted. Jake and Patches are still out at Topsailstar however and they are joined by three others. Thus far, I have been relying on Janine, and Sarita to do the bulk of the work with whoever is there at the time with a couple of others like Pam and Kelsey stepping in, but the demand has increased and we have two other dogs that Janine is helping with. As of tonight, there will be seven dogs at Topsailstar that need some help.
So I am once again throwing it out there…anybody who wishes to help and has some time to spare, let me know. We need these dogs walked and worked in class. I am going to create a formal group that is a part of but also separate from the For the Love of Dogs group so when the need arises, I can put a message up asking for help. It would be great if I could match 2-3 people to a dog and have those people work with that dog.
Many of these dogs come with issues so you are going to have to know what you are doing. You will have had to attend at least level one at Topsailstar, preferably level two in order to do this, as you will be bringing them into class and I want you to know what you are doing in there. I am not going to ask anybody to do anything that they are uncomfortable with and I will be with you every step of the way to help you help the dogs but the more they are out, the more they are handled and worked with, the more adoptable they become.
If this is something you are interested in, keep your eye open for that group…I will be announcing it on For the Love of Dogs when I form it.
Also, if any of you are interested in fostering…drop me a line. The rescues are always looking for good, dedicated and patient foster homes. Take it from somebody who has done a lot of this in the past and is currently still doing it with Angel…it is hugely rewarding. A lot of dogs come with issues but with time, patience, understanding and a bit of skill, magic happens. All three of mine (as well as our kitty) are rescues.
7. Some of you know, I am the Provincial Evaluator Trainer for the St. John Ambulance Therapy Dog Program. This is a program I am very dedicated to and so proud to be a part of. On July 22, there will be a Janeway Testing that takes place. For those members of the group who are already a part of the program, this is your opportunity to start conducting visits at the Janeway. Prerequisite for this one is that you and your dog already be an existing therapy dog handler team with an abundance of hours logged in the program. Contact Roberta Hewitt with St. John Ambulance to register.
8. As some of you know, Angel is back with me now. Angel is a Heavenly Creatures/SCAPA dog that I fostered years ago. Her story has been told in the DownHome Magazine. She is a lovely little girl a real sweetheart and is looking for a loving patient home that will continue the work I have been doing with her. I love this little girl and she won’t be going anywhere until we are sure she has found a great match. If you are interested, let me know.
I think that is about it…some bigger and smaller announcements but thought you all might find it interesting anyway.
Thanks a lot for your support, the referrals and the friendship you all have given me over the years. Thank you very much for allowing me to be a part of your pooch’s lives.
Ken