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#TeamAnnie!
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Fundraiser by BC & Alberta Guide Dogs - Go #TeamAnnie!
New Fundraiser at:
TeamAnnie2024 - Five Dollar Fundraiser - CanadaHelps
I have been meaning to sit down and write this post for several months. There are some events approaching and I have put this off for too long. The closer this post gets to being complete, the closer it is to the end of a chapter. A chapter that part of me doesn't want to end. A chapter that the other part of me is filled with so much pride and happiness for the outcome.
We had Annie, our Service Dog in Training, for significantly longer than most puppy raisers - 2 ½ years. There were many factors that made this so, and the selfish part of me is thankful for the extensions.
Continue reading Annie's Pup-date, by clicking the "Read more about fundraiser" link below.
Annie is an amazing dog that we were so fortunate to have in these very "unprecedented times". Oh, how she filled our hearts…
Some of my #SQLFamily met Annie at the PASS Data Community Summit in Seattle in the fall of 2022. She accompanied me there and managed so well in a new environment. She seemed right at home in the hotel room, in the Seattle Convention Center, and in Freeway Park behind the convention center. Annie really showed us her confidence in adapting to her new surroundings and not being bothered by that fact that almost everything around her was different. She was able relax, play, eat, sleep, and walk without any fuss. She was a rock star. She even hung out with Auntie Melissa (Melissa Coates) while I presented my session at the conference and played "fetch with rules" in the Community Zone afterwards.
Yes, the PASS Registration team INSISTED on making Annie a badge and Annie managed to collect the First Timer, Women in Tech and Canada ribbons for her badge too.
Shortly after returning home, and after the Winter Holidays were over Annie was off on her next big adventure. BC & Alberta Guides Dogs does train for Guide dogs; but not all dogs are suited to be Guide Dogs - some would be better suited for Autism Support Dogs, or PTSD / OSI Dogs. Sometimes it is suitability and sometimes the dog prefers one path over another. Annie went off to Advanced Training to be a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) / Occupation Stress Injury (OSI) Service Dog.
We had the pleasure of having Annie with us longer than some of the other puppy trainers have had their dogs. Annie was originally being considered for the breeding program. Yes, that would mean that we'd have been able to have her with us for her lifetime - that would have been like winning the lottery. And as it turned out her path was to become a PTSD dog. And we think that's a great job for her. If you met her, you know she is full of love and empathy. She knew when you'd had a bad day and she would exude love, and everything would be better. That might be the most important trait but to be a successful PTSD dog, she needed to go to Advanced Training to hone her skills and learn some new ones too. She left us for Qualicum Beach, BC at the end of January 2023 and she is finishing up her skills training. We get monthly updates from the team in Qualicum Beach with a few words on how she is doing and a few photos. She stays at a boarding home full time and that person takes her to her training and takes part in the training with Annie. It is a demanding volunteer position and after about 6 months, the dogs are matched with a first responder (military, ambulance, police, or fire) that has experience a traumatic experience. After a month of working together, Annie will be considered "Graduated," and they will become Annie's person- they will be a team. Annie and her person spend an entire year training together building a strong bond. Annie will get to know how she can use her skills to help her person, whether it be her being a living "weighted blanket" during her person's therapy session, bringing them out of night terrors, or bringing them back into the moment when their memories take them to their past. She will be one of her person's lifelines.
I'm sure if you are a human being with a pulse, COVID has had an impact on your existence. The same can be said with a program that leverage volunteers and highly skilled trainers. Really, I'm not sure this is much of a story here. Dogs were in holding patterns, new employees were in holding patterns and puppy-raisers got extra kisses and hugs.
Yes, some organization call us "Puppy Trainers", while others call us, "Puppy Raisers", "Boarders" or "Fosters". We are actively part of all the foundational obedience training from when we pick them up at 7 or 8 weeks old, until they go off to secondary training any time after 14 months (yes, sometimes as long as 2 years). We have them with us when we go to the store, go for coffee, go to work, when we go out to restaurants, when we travel on planes, trains and automobiles (or Helicopters and ferries for that matter, too) when we pick up books from the library, or go away on your 25th Wedding Anniversary - Yes, there are volunteer temporary boarders for those occasions, but they came down with COVID the night before we left.
Puppy Raising is incredibly rewarding and you are part of putting smiles on people's faces in your community. You are educating the public, and that little bundle of joy is a never-ending spigot of unconditional love. I learned a LOT about communicating with dogs in a way that they understand you and you understand them. It starts and ends with love.
As we wait with bated breath for the email at the end of the month for our pupdate, Joan and I talk about times we spent together with Annie and we share some tears. When we read the email, there are more tears. We miss here so, but we are so proud of her.
Many people have asked us, "Will you do it again?"
I sure hope so, but it does take a big personal commitment. In the meantime, we are on the "Boarding List" if someone needs some short term support because they have to focus their attention on other demanding life events, we are here to take the pups in for a few weeks. We've boarded Jango (born on May the 4th), Emmett (a stud dog) and Vesper (Latin for "night"). Incidentally Emmett sired both Jango and Vesper's litters - great to see the similarities in them. Yes, we fall in love with them too… it really doesn't take long.
By volunteering and sharing my experience, one of my professional colleagues has joined BCAGD as a volunteer Puppy Raiser and is onto her THIRD puppy! Way to go Jessie Hundal (and the rest of the Hundal family, as they all actively take part).
"So why would we give your time for free, I mean they end up selling the dogs in the end for profit." - Nope, not the case. Dogs are not sold they are provided free of charge to the recipient. We donate our time and others donate their money. And it does take a LOT of money to raise a guide dog. I suspect the $35,000 is quite outdated. Organizations like BC & Alberta Guide Dogs have a lot to manage, like a breeding program, they pay for vet bills, food, supplies and highly skilled trainers to train the volunteers, and other skill trainers to work with the dogs and recipients of the dogs. It can't be easy to find qualified employees - How many people do you know that went to school to train guide dogs.
Okay so this chapter is long and getting close to the end… like me… Okay, here it is… I turn 52 on Sunday. Please don't post on my Facebook page, instead, please donate $5 to #TeamAnnie through CanadaHelps.org and those funds will go to BC & Alberta Guide Dogs (and the PTSD and Autism Support service dog programs too). Just $5 - the price of a coffee (yeah, I know they are like $7 now a days - don't get me started).
I will be reaching out in some YouTube videos in the next few weeks and month to ask viewers to give $5 if my video helped them in their Power BI, SQL Server, or other learning quest. Please also like and repost to increase the love.
YouTube Videos - What do I hope to do? I am thinking about doing a deep dive into Web Scraping with Power BI. I will pull Global Service Dog Associations from around the globe and consolidate some directories so that people see how widespread service dogs are in the world. It will likely incorporate some Python code to "Lazy Load" some webpages, so I'll be reaching out to Chris Webb and Miguel Escobar to see if they have other ideas for "Lazy Loading". I've also changed a PDF form into a Microsoft Forms to collect Service Dog Boarding Reports so that they can be stored in a workbook and then analyzed in Power BI. I'd love to move this to Power Apps and have it stored to a database and make them accessible to Puppy Supervisors and other Program staff. The third YouTube video I'd like to produce will step through creating a Power BI report to act as a photo gallery / carousel of cute puppy photos - that you will get a link to if you donate to #TeamAnnie at that link I provide!
Will I bring a Service Dog in Training to the PASS Data Community Summit 2023 this year? If I raise $1,000 for BCAGD, then I will talk with the Director of Puppy Training, and the organizers of the PASS Data Community Summit
Want to donate your time? Talk with me about being a volunteer puppy raiser - it’s a job like no other! My Power BI Report will be out soon to help you find the Service Dog Organization closest to you.
Want to read about my best day with Annie? Head over to this article on LinkedIn:
Click to enlarge an image or watch a video
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Someone donated $20 anonymously! Thanks for sharing Annie with us and getting her ready for her forever companion... |
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