Southeastern Programs, People & More

We wrapped up our meeting at Carillon with some good information to know about Southeastern programs and people.

The first topic involves the many programs in place at Southeastern Guide Dogs, including any number of exciting careers for the puppies we raise that do not end up as working guides, such as:

- becoming breeders of future guide dog candidates;

- learning to be a Veteran's Assistance Dog (part of the Paws for Patriots program, which also includes guide dogs for veterans and facility therapy dogs), serving veterans suffering from anxiety and balance issues, thereby helping them readjust to civilian life;

- being companions in Canine Connections, which gives visually impaired children the chance to experience the responsibility and joy that comes from having a dog, preparing them for the day when they may have their own guide dog;

- being Ambassador Dogs for Southeastern Guide Dogs, appearing at public demonstrations and other events raising awareness of Southeastern and its mission as well as working as therapy dogs visiting nursing homes, hospitals, and schools, where children gain confidence in their reading skills by reading to a dog; and

- becoming a Public Service Dog who works with law enforcement in arson, bomb, narcotics, wildlife, or other detection, including search and rescue.

And, of course, a few go on to become cherished pets adopted by their puppy raisers or the general public.

An important note for puppy raisers: Puppy raisers need to apply before their pup goes in for training if they wish to be breeder hosts or ambassador dog handlers for the pups they raised.

Along with the programs at Southeastern, there are a couple of people whose names puppy raisers should know. Jennifer Bement (rhymes with "cement") handles public relations for Southeastern and is the person to contact if you are contacted by the media or if you think a particular event warrants media attention. Jennifer encourages everyone who posts about Southeastern on the Internet, be it on a blog, Facebook, Twitter, or wherever, to avoid referring to Southeastern as "SEGD" or "SEGDI" and instead use "Southeastern Guide Dogs" or just "Southeastern." This will allow Google and other search engines to do a better job of collecting and displaying mentions of Southeastern on the Web – especially since "SEGD" is used by the Society for Environmental Graphic Design. The same applies if you are talking to someone in the media about the school.

McCall Kurland oversees Southeastern's Speaker's Bureau and coordinates presentations educating the public about Southeastern. The Speaker's Bureau Resources page has a lot of useful information to help you give a great talk about the school, whether you're speaking to 100 people or just one. You can also contact McCall directly if you need materials for a presentation or if you know of a group that would like to schedule a presentation, whether or not you would be the presenter. The Speaker's Bureau Resources page also has a link for a "Presentation Report Form," where you can log the hours you spend giving demos and presentations for the school. The school uses this form to help keep track of all volunteer hours given, so that accurate numbers can be entered in grant proposals. The more volunteer hours the school can verify, the better it looks on a proposal, as this displays a strong community commitment to the school and its mission, so please remember to fill out this form whenever you do a demo or make an appearance with your pup at an event outside of your normal meetings and outings. (Note: You only need to enter your name on the first page, as the school already has your contact info.)

I also mentioned that along with enhancements to the puppy early socialization program at Southeastern, where very young puppies still in Southeastern's care are exposed to a variety of sensory experiences (including collars and leashes, crates, multiple surfaces and sounds, rolling wagons, and more) before going home with their raisers, Southeastern is planning to do puppy temperament testing to better match puppies and raisers.

Finally, a note about the new look of Royal Canin Large Breed Puppy food, which now just says Royal Canin Maxi and is a mostly white-and-blue bag with a German shepherd on it. This is the food Southeastern wants us to feed our puppies from the time we pick them up until they are 15 months old (or until we transition them to adult food if IFT is sooner).

Whew! Are we done talking about the October 15th meeting yet?