PAD Davy

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PAD Davy is an incredible 7 month old Labradoodle puppy, who was donated by the wonderful breeder Bad Company Labradoodles. For those of you that know PAD Charming Charlie, the same breeder graciously donated him, too! After volunteer trainers Alicia Gautille and Laura Stumpf tested his litter, he was chosen and began training in PAD’s small puppy program. PAD Davy Jones’ Locker (named after the pirate because he was donated on National Talk Like a Pirate Day) is learning the necessary skills to become a solid working dog. Around 1 year he will meet any potential partners on our waiting list, and be preliminarily matched with the most suited partner. Once matched he will be trained for the specific needs which could be: pulling a manual wheelchair, alerting to sounds, retrieving out of reach items and more!

Breed:	Labradoodle
Interests:	Snuggling Making eye contact with his big brown eyes Playing with PAD Kingsley
Favorite Treats:	Freeze Dried Chicken Two Pups Pastries (carob anything) Salomi
Favorite Links:	Talk Like A Pirate Day National Dog Groomers Association Kinglsey’s (his best buds) Blog

Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

Posted on November 21, 2012 by Linzey

We have more to be thankful for than we could ever blog about, but we’re especially thankful for our trainers, volunteers, partners, supporters and especially our canines! If you have an assistance dog or pet dog at home, please take a second to read over this great flier of common dangerous things around the Holiday!

Online AUCTION Starts TONIGHT!

Posted on November 14, 2012 by Linzey

Our incredible Online ONLY Auction begins at midnight tonight! For the complete information and rules go here!

On our Facebook fanpage we’ve announced one of the larger items each day, leading up to today! Incase you missed the announcements, the items are:

A gift certificate for the General Sutter Inn and/or Bulls Head Public House
A Ski trip by Executive Coach, Inc.
A BOOST teeth whitening treatment at SmileBuilderz

These are just 3 of more than 60 items to benefit our dogs in training, like PAD Dexter!The auction begins on our Facebook fanpage tonight at MIDNIGHT!

24 Online Auction!

Posted on November 10, 2012 by Linzey

We will be hosting our first ever Online Auction to benefit our training program! The auction will run for 24 hours, beginning at 12:00am Thursday, November 15th and ending promptly at 12:00am Friday, November 16th.

The auction will be a Facebook photo album on our fanpage (www.facebook.com/padcentral). Each auction item will have an individual photo. To bid on the item you will post your bid as a comment on the photo of the item you wish to bid on.

There will be a minimum bid set for each item, posted as the first bid/comment under each item.At 12:00am, Friday November 16th a moderator will comment on each item CLOSING it and stating who the winner is.

ADDITIONAL NEWS!!

The highest 50 winning bidders (on 50 individual items) will also receive:

-1 gift certificate for $50 off of any new session booked with Beth Cardwell Photography

-1 gift certificate for $25 off of Nannies At Your Service

PAYMENTS
All items must be paid in full within 24 hours. We will accept PayPal, the only exception is for locally delivered payments in cash or check (local payment still must be paid within 24 hours). $4.00 shipping fee added to the total bid for each item, unless otherwise stated in specific item description.

SHIPPING
All orders will be shipped USPS priority mail, unless otherwise specified on the specific item. Shipping confirmations will be sent. We reserve 5 business days to mail each item. (remember, we are a small program and will do our best to mail them on Friday!)

If you have any questions regarding the auction or the rules regarding the auction please private message or email us info@padcentral.org

AUCTION RULES:

We will have 2 to 3 moderators for the auction to help manage all posts and bids. We encourage everyone that plans to bid to send us (Phoenix Assistance Dogs) a private message or email with your Full Name, Address, and Phone Number to help expedite shipping.

Do not bid if you do not have the finances to back up your bid.

All items will have a $4.00 shipping fee (to be added to the highest bid). No exceptions unless otherwise stated in the item descriptions.

Whole dollar bids ideal but not required.

No bids outside of the USA please.

Bids must be paid in full within 24 hours or preceding bidder will be announced as winner.

Bids to be paid by PayPal, unless locally delivered in cash or check (local payment still must be paid within 24 hours).

Moderators will use Facebook‚Äôs timestamp to determine which bid is the winner. Moderates have final say, no exceptions.

Auction will run for 24 hours, and begins at 12:00am Thursday, November 15th and ends promptly at 12:00am Friday, November 16th.

If you have any questions regarding the auction or the rules regarding the auction please private message or email us info@padcentral.org

Assistance Dogs and Preparedness for Emergencies

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Linzey

The possibility of Hurricane Sandy hitting our area has caused us to discuss emergency evacuations and over all safety.

Assistance Dogs are permitted to enter any shelter, but we still encourage our teams to be fully prepared by also knowing where pets are permitted if they need to evacuate and the local shelter does not understand the law regarding assistance dogs. If teams are denied access, they can call the National Red Cross 24 hour access number, 1-866-GET INFO.

A service dog is defined under the American’s With Disabilities Act as a guide dog, signal dog, or any other animal individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. Assistance Dogs represent a specific group, different from pets or other animals such as therapy dogs.

The Red Cross specifically allows an individual with a disability the use of an assistance dog in its disaster or evacuation shelters; or we will make special arrangements to accommodate the individual, together with the assistance dog, within the facility or in another appropriate facility. In all such circumstances, the care and supervision of the service animal is the responsibility of the individual, and not that of Red Cross.

We recommend that partners put no less than one week of dog food in their fully fueled vehicle ahead of time, and packing the following:

An extra collar with proper ID
An extra leash
Two dog bowls
Clean up supplies (poop bags, etc)
Copies of their dogs;
- county license
- veterinary records
- assistance dog public access letter provided by PAD
A current photo of their dog

We encourage our teams to put all of these items into a “to go bag” which is then put somewhere that they can easily access if the emergency level changes without notice. Near this bag should also be their assistance dog’s public harness or vest. If your dog has a harness with packs, we encourage you to pack a safe weight amount of your dogs necessities in their packs, saving space and helping you manage your things.

Even though assistance dogs are highly trained and taught to handle stress, emergency evacuations can be an extreme situation for them. It can be beneficial to have a chew toy, power treats and even a clicker packed for these situations.

We hope that everyone takes time to plan for an evacuation, especially so for those with disabilities and assistance dogs. Stay safe and be prepared!

An Update On Biscotti

Posted on May 8, 2012 by Linzey

A message from the director and co director:

We want to address the current issue with PAD Biscotti, as we’re sure if most of you haven’t heard yet, you will soon. Although it is extremely rare for PAD to ask for a dog to be returned from a team, due to concerns about Biscotti’s well being and continued training, we picked him up today. We’ve had many conversations to attempt resolve numerous safety issues over the past 5 weeks. Due to the fact that we were unable to get adequate cooperation, we finally had to intervene to ensure the dog’s health and safety. PAD Biscotti will be seen by our veterinarians, and when cleared for work we will re-evaluate his ability to continue in training. We hope that you all understand how devastating this is for everyone involved, especially Biscotti.

Sincerely,

Linzey Zoccola and Cory Grimm

Biscotti has been on medical leave since returning to PAD. During this leave, we’ve been giving him a lot of wonderful time to be a puppy, including food toys, snuggles in bed and long walks. His volunteer Puppy Trainers are going a great job at this important break.

Biscotti is learning to walk on a Gentle Leader, while still working on loose leash lessons on his collar, this will allow his trainers to handle him safely. Gentle Leaders are wonderful tools, and we will use them also with partners that need additional safety measures taken with their dogs.

This weekend they took Biscotti on a long walk around a beautiful cemetery across the street from his Puppy Trainers home. He is learning quickly that the Gentle Leader is not a bad thing, and we are so proud of their work! Though Biscotti has returned to us with significant behavioral set backs surrounding fear, his trainers are working through them and we hope he will continue to make great progress and soon be back to the confident and social Labrador we know he is.

On Tuesday, Biscotti will undergo surgery to have a growth removed from his lip. So today, he had two very important visitors over for a play date – his littermates Rogue and Squeak! ¬†Rogue and Squeak are not in training to be service dogs, but are wonderful loved pets. ¬† The litter will be 8 months old on the 9th of May, and it was great to catch up while they romped in the 3/4 acre of fenced in grass at PAD.

Biscotti (front) with Squeak and Rogue (L to R)

We will be posting updates as he recovers, his health improves and we evaluation him for continued assistance dog training

Tabs for PAD

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Linzey

Tabs for PAD, a fundraising initiative to benefit Phoenix Assistance Dogs of Central PA, is a way for you to turn your aluminum trash into treasure. The Ephrata Recycling Center has collaborated with PAD to make a considerable dollar donation in exchange for aluminum. By collecting simply the tabs off of your cans or the entire can, then turning them over to PAD, PAD can yield donations towards the training and placement of service dogs for individuals living with disabilities.

At PAD, we run solely on a volunteer basis and 100% of our costs are covered by donations. It is estimated to cost approximately $15,000 to locate, raise and train one service dog. Each of our service dogs is placed nearly free of charge to the individual with a disability, as we only ask for a donation to be made when they receive their dog – of any amount they can afford. Read more about the services we provide, or about our dogs.

PAD is currently welcoming anyone within Lancaster County to participate in this fundraising effort. Individuals, clubs, groups and offices are encouraged to participate together to collect as many tabs or aluminum items as possible. Collections can either be dropped off at PAD (in Lititz, PA) or a pick up can be scheduled.

Please contact us for more information!

PAD Charming Charlie

Posted on March 25, 2012 by Linzey

PAD Charming Charlie was donated to PAD by his breeder, Bad Company Labradoodles. Bad Company Labradoodles have been breeding Labradoodles since the early 90′s and have had many become therapy and service dogs with individual trainers and service dog programs. Charlie, now one old is a therapy dog at a private counseling practice. He has been adopted by one of the dedicated therapists there and is doing wonderful in this career! PAD Charlie is pictured [left] with Sarah Taby, his certified therapy handler.

Breed:	Labradoodle
Interests:	Snuggling Daily Routine Eating Playing “hide and seek” a game he gets to search for his trainer and earn treats when he finds her!
Favorite Treats:	Two Pups Pastries Soup Bones Mother Hubbard Treats
Favorite Links:	www.bc-labradoodles.com – Charming Charlie’s breeder http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labradoodle – A wonderful description of why the breed was started www.redferncanines.com – Favorite place to socialize and practice his skills!

Spring Fling!

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Linzey

Come stop by our Spring Fling for – Unrestrained pursuit of your wishes and desires! -

Date: Sunday, March 18, 2012

Where: 547 Wood View Drive, Lititz

Time: 2 pm – 5 pm

What: Vendors, raffle baskets, and service dogs in training to greet!

ENTER TO WIN!

3 GREAT GIFT BASKETS ARE BEING RAFFLED OFF ON MARCH 18TH

RAFFLE TICKETS ARE

1 FOR $1 OR 7 FOR $5

ALL RAFFLE TICKET PROCEEDS BENEFIT

THE PHOENIX ASSISTANCE DOG TRAINING AND PLACEMENT PROGRAM

DONATIONS INCLUDE:

Dog Basket- one pocket 2.0 (dog training treat bag) and a gift certificate for Cody’s Creations (designer collars, leashes, harnesses), Pet Supplies donated by Drake’s Pet Place, Gift Certificate from Wag’s Wash and Groom, All-natural dog treats donated by Two Pups Pastries

Baking Basket-(value $90.00, done by volunteer Jeanean Vath) a baking basket- hat box with Hello cupcake cookbook, brownie cook book, brownie cutter, Duff’s cake tatoos, spring rainbow cookie kit, set of 4 silly silicone cupcake critters, cup cake wrappers, toll house cookie mix, red velvet cookie mix, white choc. cupcake mix with raspberry icing, brownie mix, sprinkles, yankee candle vanilla cupcake candle.

Human Basket – two Thirty One bags (One 8 deep, 10 long black and white floral pattern with a handle) and one cappuccino w/ white polka dot brown handles, cinch top insulated same approx. size), Voucher for a pie from The Pie Shop, $15 Gift Certificate from Forever Green (herbs, veggie and foliage plants), Unique repurposed glass item donated by Antiquita Glassworks, Pampered Chef recipe collection, kitchen towel and cutting board donated by Pampered Chef consultant Amy Estrada, 1 Satin Hand set by Mary Kay, one $25 item from Dove Chocolate, $15 item from Avon

AND MANY MORE!

Temperament Evaluating Labradoodle Litter

Posted on February 6, 2012 by Linzey

We take many characteristics and attributes into consideration when choosing a suitable puppy for our training program. We first discuss with the caretaker of the litter everything that we’re looking for in that puppy and then ask them which puppy in their opinion, most matches that criteria. We then run through a list of specific situations with each puppy including:

Natural desire to follow
Food drive
Sound response
Reaction to being held off the ground

After all of this information is gathered, we decide together which puppy is best suited for our program. According to many research studies, tests like this done at such a young age, are great guidelines for showing one specific thing: if the puppy is fearful or not. Taking this into consideration reminds us that all dogs in training in the US have a 50/50 chance of success, so we will continue to evaluate each dog in training.

We were granted the incredible opportunity to chose a puppy from Bad Company Labradoodles, to be donated to our training program.

We are ecstatic to welcome PAD Charming to our program!