PET PAL Rough Start - Did Kaeda Make the Cut?

Well, either way, we know who's going to be a future Pet Pals volunteer!!!

Last time I left off talking about how right off the bat Kaeda "barked her bark that catapults her entire body about 3 feet horizontally." Well, immediately following, she ran toward the door and slipped out of her new color (royal blue to match the program colors). First time wearing it, so it wasn't sized right. Well, the silly dog didn't realize she couldn't run out the window, and you guessed it -SMACK! She shook her head and sneezed it off. I thought CERTAINLY this is going to be bad news bears...

I calmly went over and got things under control. Just then the nice lady with the Pet Pals shirt (Diane) came down the stairs to get me. WHEW, that wasn't just a test! I thought for sure it was part of the test and we were done for...

Kaeda went up the elevator and spent about half an hour getting petted, giving hugs, playing, getting treats, getting crowded, experiencing new things, wheelchairs, loud noises, etc. Kaeda sure knows how to put on the charm. They LOVED her. This dog thinks everything in the world exists to please her. She has some major cat-like characteristics and almost bats at things like tape measures, hoses, etc. Well, the playful and wiggly personality shined brightly and the eval team was glad to welcome her to the Pet Pals team.

Wahoo!

About 30 seconds after getting out the door Kaeda barked at a kid across the driveway (I'm not hiding anything --I was sure to let them know she'll do much better with adults than kids she doesn't know...). Go figure though!

And some pics to show off her colors (actually I'M the one who is supposed to wear the shirt, but you get the idea).

Update: went to our first visit at the Cedar Valley Hospice Home tonight. Kaeda was a bit obnoxious as expected. Hopefully she settles down a bit over time. We have some practicing to do, that's for sure but not so bad for her first time... hopefully the people we visited enjoyed her. They seemed to!

p.s. I'm not sure on the minimum age for volunteers but you better bet that as soon as Joella's up for it, she's headed out for the visits too!

Thank YOU, READERS!!!

Those of you who know me best know that I get extremely motivated about something right away and my big dreams are great, but do they always happen? I get on board with an idea or purpose easily, but is it all just talk?

Don Miller posted an idea recently that stuck with me. "...when we talk about our work, we give ourselves the feeling that we are working on something when truthfully, we aren’t." So true!

I hope that blogging doesn't turn into me typing about a good cause instead of actually doing something about it. Instead, maybe it will motivate me to execute the idea since I know readers might be wondering about it.

I posted a few weeks ago that I "would love to make visiting different places with therapy dogs a part of my normal week... Maybe blogging about it will hold me to it. Feel free to ask how it's coming... :)"

THANK YOU, READERS!

Because a few of you followed up with me, I DID something about it - I'm pursuing Pet Pals locally. They are a non-profit org. that visits several locations in the area. Even people without pets can get involved by taking animals from the Cedar Bend Humane Society. The dogs don't have to be quite as well behaved as the Delta Society, so I figured it might be a good place to start. I did the paperwork, made the vet appointment, went to the training, "read" the manual, got together our visiting backpack full of all the necessary goods, and went to Kaeda's temperament test this morning.



Kadea can be a little bit obnoxious, so I wasn't too hopeful for how she'd do. Things got off to a rough start when Kaeda got caught off guard by a man in a wheelchair. He came out of nowhere and she barked her bark that catapults her entire body about 3 feet horizontally. Great, I thought.... we might as well just go home. Check back later this week to hear more about it...

Have you Heard of It?

I'm trying to get an idea here of our audience... If you read this, please help me out here. It will be anonymous (as far as I know -- I'm not that techy).

• If you have heard of Norwex before (before hearing about it from me) and know anything about how great the products are, please click the "funny" box down at the bottom of the post.

• If you have only heard about Norwex because I have been blabbing away about it lately, please click the "interesting" box at the bottom of the post.

• If you have never heard about Norwex other than this post, please click the "cute!" box. And check out the website while you're at it -- cool stuff!

That's all! Easy as that. Thanks so much for your help :)

Also, a disclaimer for you all (err. "ya'll" I should practice for TX, right?) I haven't really explained all this, but we're working on getting a separate website going so I don't have to annoy friends and family over and over about how much I love Norwex :) I might do it anyway, but this should help!