Don't Miss Emma Parsons' Click to Calm Workshop!

Food Donations Needed!

By Melinda Biggs

Hello again, and welcome to summer! I am sure many of you are busy planning vacations, camps for the kids and lots of time in the pool. We have had an extremely busy spring and are looking forward to an equally entertaining summer.

This month, I need your  help us with an increase in food costs that we recently have incurred. For years, we received all of our dog food for free. Because of skyrocketing gas prices, we are now being charged $50 per month for delivery and $600 per year.

If you can, please help us raise the $600 we need for a year's worth of dog food by donating $50 for a month's worth of food delivery by clicking here.

Don’t hesitate to email me at Melinda@servicedogs.org if you have some fundraising ideas of your own!

Melinda

Our Latest Campus Renovations

by Sheri Soltes, Founder & President

Thanks to a grant from the Simmons Foundation, THSD completed our front porch and has now installed your engraved Foundation Bricks and Stone Paws on the majestic columns that support it.  When you attend our dog training seminars, community events or volunteer, you can view the paw or brick with your name or special sentiment.

Thanks to a gift from Mrs. Phoebe Perry, we can begin our long needed renovation of the garage on our property to an Isolation Kennel and Training Building.  The new Iso Kennel and Training Building will contain six air conditioned indoor/outdoor kennel suites and an indoor training area.

This will allow us to house newly adopted shelter dogs separately from the other dogs until we are sure they do not have any contagious conditions, such as kennel cough or mange.   It also gives us a place to train new dogs and provide enrichment all of which allows us to adopt, train and provide more dogs to our waiting list of recipients.

Garage Exterior and Interior

After clearing away the old temporary dog runs, the crew stakes out the site for the new kennel suite exterior runs.	Krumm Enterprises, our general contractor, pours the concrete for the kennel suite exterior runs - June 20, 2008

Job Opening

Apprentice Trainer

The Apprentice Trainer is responsible for assisting with training dogs and cleaning and maintaining the kennels and dogs as instructed by the Senior Trainers and Training Director.  Training will occur at the THSD Training Facility in Dripping Springs, Texas and in public in Dripping Springs and Austin. 

Must have experience with positive reinforcement based operant conditioning training methodology.

Please email resume to Sheri@servicedogs.org 

How Sweet It Is

by THSD Graduate Leigh Ann Shingler

Editor's note:  Leigh Ann Shingler is the Information Specialist for the Brazoria County Center for Independent Living.  Candy is a female black Labrador Retriever we adopted from the Town Lake Animal Center, Austin’s municipal animal shelter. 

Leigh Ann and Candy's training were sponsored by grants from The Tapeats Fund, The Educational Foundation of America and your donations.  Leigh Ann and Candy not only passed their certification exam, they also have passed their 3 month follow up re-certification exam. Their next re-certification will be in six months and then annually.

Here Leigh Ann shares her experiences with Candy.  Thank you for supporting a lifetime of benefits.

Leigh Ann Shingler and Candy Sponsored by The Tapeats Fund, The Educational Foundation of America and your donations

Dear Sheri:

Miss Dandy Candy and I are writing to say “Hello” and to thank Texas Hearing & Service Dogs, The Tapeats Fund, the Educational Foundation of America and everyone else who made our partnership possible.  Life is going well here in Angleton.  Since Candy came to stay with me in September of 2007, we’ve gotten well acquainted with one another and settled into a comfortable routine.  

I have Cerebral Palsy and use a power wheelchair.  Candy is a big help to me. She retrieves dropped, items, opens and closes doors, brings me the cordless phone when it rings and pushes access buttons for automatic doors.

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