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Posts tagged "ServiceDog"


betty whiteJason LaVeris, FilmMagic

Betty White Gets Two-Book Deal
The "Hot in Cleveland" actress has inked a deal to write two books for G. P. Putnam's Sons., reports USA Today. The first, due out next year, is titled "Listen Up!" and will be filled with observations and lessons learned. But it's the second book we can't wait to get our paws on. "The Zoo and I: Betty and Her Friends" will feature White's stories and pictures at the Los Angeles Zoo, where she's a longtime member of the board. The second book is set to publish in 2012.

Want Dog Owners to Pick Up After Their Pooches? Spray Paint The Poo
An unusual plan to encourage dog owners to properly dispose of their pets' waste appears to be working in Poole, Dorset, England, reports BBC News. After close to 200 piles of dog doo were found in an alley near Poole High School, workers spray painted the problematic waste a bright green to draw attention to the mess and shock the owners into picking them up. So far, the plan seems to be working.

Teen Banned From Playing Basketball With Service Dog
A teenager in Chicago has been denied the chance to play basketball in the Special Olympics because her service dog will not be allowed on the court, reports the Chicago Tribune. The 17-year-old, who has cerebral palsy, uses her trained service dog to carry around a four-pound oxygen tank, but the Illinois Special Olympics President said they had to make their ruling based on the safety of everyone involved, and, apparently, a service dog on the court was deemed unsafe. This game is just beginning, however; a local advocacy group has filed a lawsuit on the girl's behalf.

prince harry puppies, prince harry dog picture Bauer-Griffin

Following in the footsteps of his late mother, Princess Diana, the United Kingdom's Prince Harry takes his charitable duties seriously. That being said, some duties are a little more fun than others. Case in point: Yesterday's visit to Canine Partners in West Sussex, U.K.

Canine Partners, which is celebrating its twentieth anniversary, trains assistance dogs to help the disabled with everyday tasks like getting dressed, pushing buttons, working the washing machine and more. Both Harry and older brother Prince William support Help for Heroes, an organization that focuses on injured service personnel and works closely with Canine Partners, according to BBC News (which has a short video of the visit).

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Paris Buys Pug to Get Over Guy
Some girls get a new haircut or pricey pair of shoes to move on after a breakup. Paris Hilton, however, isn't like most girls, and after a split from Doug Reinhardt, she's consoling herself with a new Pug puppy. The puppy is sure to find friends in Hilton's menagerie, which, according to the Daily Mail, currently includes 17 chihuahuas and a Pomeranian. According to Hilton's Twitter feed, the little fella's name is Mugsy.

Sea Lion Pup Goes Climbing
Forget "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof"; we've got a sea-lion on a rooftop deck in Newport Beach, Calif. The pup climbed the outdoor stairs to Mike Kai's rooftop deck, according to the Orange County Register. Kai took a few pictures and shot a short video of the little guy before Pacific Marine Mammal Center in Laguna Beach snagged him. The pup, aptly named "Fiddler," weighs about 40 percent less than he should, and -- fingers, er, fins crossed -- will be released after two to three months of rehabilitation.

Kitten Safe and Sound After Car Engine Ride
Three days after taking a harrowing trip in the engine of a Sydney Highway Patrol Car, Cartwright, a 4-week-old kitten was back in the arms of the man who saved him, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. Senior Constable Tex Tannous heard the kitten meowing under the hood of his police vehicle but it took mechanics to actually get the cat out of the hot engine. Although Cartwright was terrified after his two-hours in the engine, the kitty was uninjured.

Australian Restaurant Must Apologize and Pay After Refusing Entry to "Gay" Dog
In both strange and infuriating news, a blind man's guide dog wasn't allowed to enter an Australian restaurant last year because the staff thought they heard the man's friend refer to the dog as a "gay" dog, not a "guide" dog, reports the Huffington Post. The dog's owner will be receiving an apology and $1,400 in compensation for the incident.

Sure our birthday is officialy over but we couldn't resist bringing back one last gallery of photos. Whether you caught these images of service animals the first time around or not, we hope you'll enjoy this trip down memory lane with us. Besides, what's not to love about the relationship between these amazing animals and the people they are helping?


Service dog pictureMeghan Hopkins

Name: Meghan Hopkins

Age: 33

Job: After-care coordinator for Canine Assistants

First things first: What is Canine Assistants?
We train service dogs, free of charge, for people with disabilities or who have seizures. They can open and close doors, turn lights on and off, pull wheelchairs and detect seizures. We rely on donations to train the dogs and provide them to the recipients, who come from all over the country. The recipients come for a two-week training camp. The first day, we introduce them to four or five dogs we've chosen for them, and then that day, they choose the one they'll be working with. At that point, the dogs are trained, so it's really about training the people to use them!

Canine Assistants is being featured in the documentary "Through a Dog's Eyes," (narrated by Neil Patrick Harris, premiering April 21 on PBS). How do you hope this documentary affects your organization?
I think it will bring attention to disability awareness. You get to see the recipients, get into their lives. You see that they're intelligent and funny, but have physical challenges. You'll also see the amazing work the dogs do with them -- with one family, you'll watch them facing a challenge with their dog.

Basically, you'll realize that these are people, and then witness the difference the dogs make in their lives. Plus, you see us and the work we do. Of course, I hope it moves people to help us if they can, and donate, so we can train even more dogs.

Can you tell us a bit about what you do?
When a recipient first receives their dog, they contact me with any questions about or problems with behaviors. When they first get home, they're nervous and everything is new, so when they need anything, they contact me. In addition to acting as after-care coordinator, one of my primary roles is as assistant to [founder] Jennifer Arnold, and I also help with training.

Belgian Malinois dog picturePix'n Pages

With the Westminster Kennel Club 134th Annual Dog Show almost upon us (Feb. 15–16), Paw Nation will be talking with some of the show dogs' owners for some insight into this year's contestants.

Dog Breed: Belgian Malinois

Group: Herding

Dog's Full Registered Name: CH TriSorts Zorro del Mango, RE, TT, HIC, CGC

Nickname: Zorro

Dog's Age: 6

Owner's Name: Sara Donadei-Blood

Hometown: North Lauderdale, Fla.

Tell me about your dog's personality.
Malinois as a breed typically are aggressive. They're very reactive to their environment. Malinois are super dogs when it comes to competitive obedience. I noticed that my Malinois was developing into a sweet, affectionate boy. He showed that sweetness of nature to strangers, which is unusual to the breed. He loves people, especially elderly people.

He's very bright and extraordinarily willing to please. In a dog show, he's literally the only Malinois wagging his tail. He's a happy dog. He's a lover, not a fighter!

What is your dog's favorite treat?
He likes raw chicken backs. I give them to my dogs from time to time to clean their teeth. I think it brings out the wild dog in him.

What is your dog's best trick?
He retrieves anything I drop: a paper clip, a pen, a dime. He knows how to bring me my purse from the kitchen counter. He brings the remote control. However, because I always reward him, when he's feeling bored he takes it upon himself to bring me all those things. At the end of the day I have a whole pile of things I didn't ask for.

On Nov. 9, a police dog bit a man who was trying to defend his home from a would-be burglar. Tim Crossan, of Eugene, Ore. had just broken his hand on the face of the intruder when police, responding to a call, flooded into his home and ordered their K9 unit to attack Mr. Crossan. In the confusion, the burglar escaped and Mr. Crossan was bitten twice. The police have yet to apologize for this incident, although they described it as "unfortunate." At least they went on to say that Crossan, who had protected his wife and children, was "heroic."

Dogs have been used officially to help police officers since the late 1850s in Germany, when they were first employed purely as a deterrent, used only for their teeth and growls. However, the informal use of dogs in law enforcement goes back to the Middle Ages and most likely even before that. These days, dogs help officers primarily with their sense of smell, which is so powerful that they can detect scents one-hundred-millionth fainter than the boundaries of human perception. They can easily find drugs, bombs, criminals, and corpses, even when criminals have taken extra measures to mask odors. So although the police can often make mistakes, police dogs do not. They remain an integral part of public safety.

Lifesaver dog picture

"Put me to work!" Just chaos/Flickr

Plenty of parents and teachers would swear that service dogs are lifesavers for autistic kids, but in scientific circles, anecdotal evidence doesn't go very far. For that reason, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is offering grants worth $500,000 per year to researchers studying the impact of animals on children's health and development, reports the New York Times. The program is a partnership between the NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Development and the Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition, a division of the Mars candy and pet-food company.

It has long been known that the presence of a pooch has a calming influence on many people, according to Pris Taylor, the director of Autism Service Dogs of America (ASDA). "Children with autism have difficulty with emotional relationships. The kids relate better to dogs. The children learn empathy," Taylor told Paw Nation. "We find kids don't have as many tantrums and meltdowns. Anecdotally, speech has increased with the presence of the dog." An autistic child may talk more not only to the dog itself, but also to other people, often about the dog. For a disease characterized by social isolation, that's huge.


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