Walkathon News

Jammy IS going to be at the Walkathon on March 3, 2012 at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, FL.  So if you are going to be at the Walkathon and you read the blog, please stop and say hello!  We would love to meet you in person and take a photo for the blog.

We will also be at the dinner later that night (Willow gets a pet sitter!).  If you don't see us at the walkathon, look for us at dinner.

Either way, we hope to see all of you or as many as possible on Saturday, March 3, 2012.

More Walkathon: Video Retrospective

The Walkathon was a great day. A long day, but a really nice day. Most of all, it was a successful day for SEGD. To the tune of almost $375,000 (that's where they estimate the final results of the walkathon's donations to end up!)!



Once again, Fred, HRH and I would like to personally thank our donors:

Mom and Dad
Theresa and Patrick Burress
Melinda Holmes
Karen Gray
Michele Timothy
Jan Connors
Kem Doby
Andre Partykevich
Milly Rawlings
Christy and Eliot Gaurkee

Thank you for helping us help SEGD!!

Walkathon Tomorrow and HRH Has Fans!

Yesterday, I went to SEGD to attend a little half day conference and I took Her Royal Highness (HRH) Berkeley with me. We arrived about an hour and a half early (I had failed to look at the email again and therefore didn't notice the time change to 1 pm. So I was thinking I needed to be there at noon.) So I was at loose ends. I decided to walk on over to the training kennels and was walking out the administration door when a man coming in the door said, "Is that Berkeley?"

"Yes." I looked at him and didn't recognize him.

"Do you write the blog?"

"Yes."

"I read the blog all the time!"

"Hi! Nice to meet you." Oh man, this was surreal. HRH had fans! Fans who recognized her.

Turns out that Michael and his wife Meredith are first time puppy raisers from Houston, Texas and are super nice (see below, HRH had to have them pose with her, they are after all HER fans).

Michael said that he had read about HRH and even about Bingo and that it had helped them with Sunshine, their 6 month old yellow lab, seen below with HRH. I was thinking it probably helped them more with what not to do, than anything else, but we got to talking about being a first time raiser and the fear that you have that what you are doing is going to permanently damage your puppy.

I remember that fear (it never really goes away (or maybe that is just my craziness)), constantly thinking that I was doing something wrong that would scar Bingo in some way or that I hadn't started him on the right command at the right time. It wasn't until our obedience classes with Jennifer when she told us, if you follow the program and do your best, we will be able to work with what your dog knows. Ultimately it is up to the dog to decide if he wants to be a guide dog or not.

That being said, it is important not to let the dog develop bad habits such as jumping on furniture, eating people food or begging, jumping up, etc. But if you follow the manual with good intentions, it will all work out.

And if the manual doesn't cover what to do when your dog barks during the middle of the first movement of the symphony, that's why we're here! In fact, we specialize in that.

HRH and Sunshine. Notice that Sunshine is already much larger than our delicate flower. Sigh. She's a pygmy lab.

Why won't you give me a biscuit?

Are you wondering why Bingo has that quizzical look on his face? He's wondering why you haven't added to his biscuit meter. See, Southeastern Guide Dogs has one big fundraiser every year: their Feb. Walkathon, held this year on Feb. 27, 2010. Fred and I have pledged to raise $1500 for the walkathon and we are hoping that all of our blog readers, twitter friends, facebook friends, friend friends, coworkers and relatives will help us reach that goal.

We have a personalized biscuit meter that tracks our fundraising, which is kind of cool to watch fill up. If you want more info on the walkathon, you can click the link above. If you want to donate, you can click on our biscuit meter or this link: http://www.sitstaygive.org/fundraiser/2d27093e402ee3f9222b89b3ea343c1c.html. $1000 covers the medical care of a litter of puppies like Bingo. We figured medical care and a little for toys and leashes and harnesses.

Please help us reach our goal. We'll have the link on the right hand side of the blog. Your donations are tax deductible and ANY amount is a wonderful gift.

Bingo will thank you. Actually, he would just lick you and wag his tail vigorously, but that's quite something, don't you think?