Ahnung visits her friend Jaycee's school

Getting loving from my friend Jaycee

Today I got to visit my friend Jaycee's school. Jaycee is the daughter of my mom's co-worker. She and her mom came to my Celebration of Life party in April where I got to meet them for the first time. She's been asking her mom about me all the time and has been praying for me. She also got to meet my brother Legacy at my April, 2012 Celebration of Life party .. in fact, she got to hang onto my brother for most of my party as mom was busy.

Anyway, Jaycee had to write a story for class and guess what, she chose to write about me. She wrote this really cool story about me and shared with  her classmates where I came from, what I tough life I had till mom adopted me, how I'm a therapy dog, how I got cancer, and about our special party in April. She also shared in her story how my little Legacy was being a little squirt at my celebration party and got into the cake that was there!! :) Good thing mom didn't see him get into the cake!! After mom heard Jaycee wrote a story about me she offered for us to visit her class. Today was my lucky day.  I got a spa treatment on Saturday to get ready for my big visit today. Mom always tells me I have to look and smell good when I am 'working' as a therapy dog :) Today I got to see Jaycee and all of her classmates (they are in 2nd grade). She did such a wonderful job sharing my story. Then mom shared a few more stories about me and also the work we do volunteering in hospice as a pet partner team. At the end of our visit all the cool kids came up to me to say hi and I got lots and lots of hugs and belly rubs.

Thank you Jaycee for inviting us to come your school and to meet your classmates. You are one very special girl :)

After my spa treatment on Saturday

My friend Jaycee sharing the story she wrote about me :)

Lots of love and belly rubs!!

With my friend Jaycee and her mom Stephanie :)

And yesterday I got to visit my friend in hospice ... he was so happy to see me and says he LOVES my tail. He calls my tail the 'happy indicator.' He says I am very happy because my tail is always wagging!

Passed the hospice volunteer interview!

Mom and I went in for our interview at Allina Hospice today -- mom had to fill out lots of paperwork and get reference forms sent in for us to volunteer as an animal therapy team at Allina hospice. Today was our interview with the volunteer coordinator, Judy. We passed! I think she really liked me, and I really liked her. After our interview Judy asked if we could go to the back and meet the rest of the team. They apparently wanted to meet me because they've been following my blog!! How cool is that??!!! Well, if you're reading this blog I just want you to know that i'm so happy I got to meet you today and i'm excited about volunteering at Allina!

Well, before we can start Mom has to complete a 3 day hospice volunteer training at the end of April. We can't start till after that ... I guess that's okay because i'm pretty busy anyway volunteering at The Lab! They told me at Allina that i'll have to have a picture taken so that I will have my own photo ID. I love it!! :) I'll put my pretty face forward for them :)

When we got back from the interview I got to hang out in the backyard. I love the sunshine. Mom lets me hang out in the back yard for as long as I want. Sometimes I like to stare up at the squirrel in our neighbor's tree, but most of the time I like to just sleep. Yes, I know ... it's not a surprise ... that's my favorite past time. I like to sleep. A girl's got to get her rest ... I'm not as young as my brother Mister and I don't have all his energy so I need my beauty sleep. Tomorrow I have to volunteer bright and early again at The Lab. I have to be there at 7:45 in the morning again. We have to volunteer before mom has to go into work (her paying job!) then over her lunch hour we have to go back again for another small group that mom is facilitating. I know i'm going to be tired but I think mom is going to be super tired too. I'm going to make sure that she gets to bed really, really early tomorrow night.

Then on Thursday night i'll be at Pampered Pooch Playground at 6 pm with my mom who will be offering a free therapy dog informational session. Click here for more info. I believe the Thursday session is full but there's going to be another session offered some time in April so you can put your name on the list to be contacted for the session in April. At this session you'll learn more about what it takes to become an animal therapy team so you can do the awesome kind of work I get to do!!

Okay ... time to go to bed.

Later friends ..

Love, Ahnung

My Delta Society therapy vest arrived!!!

I am so excited ... my new therapy dog vest arrived from Delta Society the other day. My mom took a bunch of pictures of me in my cool new vest. Tomorrow, when I go to work at The Lab I'm going to wear my new vest. And today, mom got more goodies in the mail. She ordered a bandana for me and a badge holder. Our Pet Partner badge/ID (which has a photo of me with mom) won't arrive for another week or so. I've had a few days to rest and do nothing so i'm all ready now to go back to work.





Are you (and your Human) interested in going through therapy dog class? If so, you can sign up for classes at The Canine Coach. They have 2 classes starting in March. One class as of right now has 2 spots open. The one starting on 3/15 that's being taught by auntie Danielle (my mom is assisting) only has one spot left. For more info visit The Canine Coach website and click on Group Classes, then Therapy Dog classes.

For my fellow fur friends .... working as a therapy dog and partnering with your Human is the best job one could have!! :)

Transformation ... one kid at a time ...

On Wednesday of this week I had a very busy work day as a therapy dog. My day began with volunteering at The Lab (a program serving at-risk youth of St. Paul Public Schools). Last semester we had this one kid "J" go through one of our "dog groups". "J" had a chance to meet me, and my buddy Sharpie, at this group. Mom assisted auntie Danielle in leading our dog group. I could see "J" come alive over the weeks. He LOVED coming to The Lab for the dog group. We decided to give "J" an opportunity to continue working with dogs, and mom offered to provide 1:1 mentorship to teach "J" how to give presentations. My first volunteer opportunity at The Lab was when i went with mom to a class and we shared my story ... that was so fun!!

So mom and I met with "J" two times to prepare him for giving a class presentation and assisting mom. He's never given a presentation or had any experience public speaking so this was new for him. He was so excited about having the chance to do something and for the two times we met, "J" and mom put together the outline of what the presentation would be (of course, a large part was my story and how resilient and forgiving animals are) and he even had a chance to rehearse. Our second prep meeting including "J" presenting to mom, Momma MT and my brother Mister. He rocked!!

Well, this week he had a chance to present to a class of 6th graders. It was an early morning class (8 am!) so mom and I got to The Lab really early so that we could greet "J" when he comes out of the cab and walks into the Homecroft building where The Lab is. I love how excited "J" is to see me. This last time, when mom saw "J' coming in she let me off leash so that I greet him. She knows I just love him. He's a pal now and I know I can trust him. He's always looking out for me and making sure i'm okay.

"J" did such an awesome job presenting to the class of 6th graders. They were all so interested and asked lots of questions. At the end this one kid said to "J": "You did a great job. You really know your business". They also got the key message we were trying to convey: that Ahnung who came from a very rough start has been able to move through it (they learned the word "resilience") and has been able to learn to trust again, and to play.

"J" and I (okay ... mom too!) will be presenting to 3 more classes. I am so proud of my buddy "J". I gave him a high five. Mom also gave him a high five after our presentation.

Mom also wants me to tell you that we are needing more therapy dog teams. Sharpie and I are a part of the Canine Inspired Change team whose mission is partnering with therapy dogs to teach social and emotional skills ... right now we are focusing on at-risk youth and autistic youth and adults. If you want to learn more about it takes to become a therapy dog, you can email me ... yes, I have my own email account: ahnung.star@gmail.com. Okay friends .... what are you waiting for! Tell your Humans to get you signed up for training so you can join me and Sharpie making a difference in our community ... transforming kids one dog at a time.

And here's a short video clip that my mom took of me when "J" arrived! I was so happy!!! :)

Officially a Therapy Dog!

This past Tuesday, my mom and I took our test through Delta Society .... we were being evaluated/tested as a Pet Partner Team. After 8 weeks of going to therapy dog class at The Canine Coach, simultaneously taking other obedience classes with Danielle of The Canine Coach, I was ready!! Besides, I have already been volunteering with at-risk youth at The Lab and many have told my mom that i'm a natural at this therapy dog stuff ... that's what Humans call this work I do naturally. Hey .... if it makes them happy to call it something and if I have to pass some test to prove to them that I can do it, well ... that's fine. Don't tell my mom, but I think it was more about making sure she could hold her end of the bargain :) She tells everyone she's so proud of me. Well, you know what ... I'm really proud of her too. Our therapy dog class was at 8 pm and there were times she was really tired and didn't feel so good, but she packed up my bag, put on my leash, and we would head out to class no matter what. What a trooper!

So ... on Tuesday, along with two of my classmates (Trugen and Skye) we got tested and we all passed! I was pretty pooped after the test so I just crashed while my mom had to do some paperwork and watch a video on this really cool dog Sasha who is doing incredible work as a therapy dog. Sasha was featured on Fox9 News ... maybe some day I'll also get to be featured on TV.

Now that i'm officially a registered therapy dog (well ... after my mom completes and sends in all the paperwork!) I need to get my mom to work on my resume and my business cards. I've met other therapy dogs in my volunteer work and they all have business cards. I should have one too! It will be a tough decision for me to decide which one of model poses to use :) Or maybe I should have my mom take more photos of me :)

I slept so hard Tuesday night and the next morning our backyard was covered with snow. My mom let me out to do my business .... I used to love the snow but now I just quickly do my business and ask to be let back into the house. I want to make sure mom knows that I have no desire to be an outside dog again. A little over a year ago I was having to fend for myself up at the Red Lake reservation and it was no fun having to scrounge for food, protect myself and sleep outside in the frigid cold. Yes, I much prefer my mom's red couch to sleep on!! [Thanks again to Karen of Red Lake Rosie's Rescue for rescuing me and my pups!]

Stayed tuned my friends .. now that my mom and I are a Pet Partner team we are going to be doing even more volunteer work! I think my mom is also checking into us volunteering as a pet therapy team at a hospice. There's apparently a big need for pet therapy teams so I think it's time for us to jump right in!!

To my friends ..... I highly encourage you to convince your Humans to take you through therapy dog training and to become registered. Not only is it fun, but it's rewarding and healing for the people we work with, for the canine (okay, that's me!), for my Human and is a great bonding experience for us. Sounds like a WIN/WIN/WIN all around!! :)

Therapy Dog in Training

It's hard to believe i'm half way through my therapy dog training class that i'm taking through Canine Coach. I have class again tonight. My Human has been really good this week and has taken me lots of places ... we went to Chuck & Don's (my favorite store!), Tires Plus, and of course the big Pet Haven Fall Benefit where I was a star! :) The photo on the left was taken at the Fall Benefit. I also got to work on Thursday at The Lab with at-risk youth of St. Paul Public Schools. My lesson plan was to "talk" about trust and boundaries. I really connected with this one kid .... I think he really liked me to. After my mom got done sharing my story, he said "I can really feel Ahnung's pain." At the end of the 45 minute class period, he came up to me and gave me a big hug. I could tell he didn't want to leave. I gave him one of my photos and told him I would be back next week (i'll be seeing him again on Thursday!). I can also relate to the pain these kids feel. It was hard for me to trust at first too.

I really love working with the kids at The Lab. I'm so glad they love having me around too. We're helping rescue each other.

Strays to the Rescue

Through facebook my Human learned about this new book that will be coming out on November 1st. A Book titled "To the Rescue" and is a photo book about dogs rescued from shelters and streets who are now registered therapy dogs, giving back to the community.

Check out the Time magazine piece on this book and their website.

I'm really excited that my Human is committed to us working together so that we can become registered with Delta Society as a Pet Partner team. She heard back from the therapy dog evaluator the other day and is going to observe some therapy dog evals so she knows what the test entails. Even though i'm still finishing up my Obedience I class I will also be starting my Therapy Dog class next Tuesday! My Human and I are going to be busy!!! After my Human observes the therapy dog tests she's been told that as soon as she feels we are ready we can sign up for the test. She's also been busy studying the Delta Society Pet Partner's Team Training course student manual which is another requirement.

Who knows ... maybe some day I can be featured in a photo book too!! :)

Photo by Diana Walker.