Bits 'n Bites

This is the area where you'll find news we'd like to share with you immediately; what we've been up to, where our dogs have been and to let you know what's happening around the Training Centre. We update this page regularly, so make sure you check back often! 

Dogs with Wings Celebrates 2012 Graduation

On Saturday, April 24, friends, family, volunteers and 13 clients and their new Assistance Dogs crossed the stage at the Edmonton Petroleum Club. Once again, the event was hosted by our very good friends, Ed & Paige Stahl. Dogs with Wings wishes to extend our congratulations to the clients and their families that have worked so hard in Team Training and we wish them all success in the future. And to Ed & Paige Stahl, go heartfelt "thanks" for their constant encouragement and support.

Stollery Charitable Foundation supports DWW

DWW is pleased to announce a major gift from the Stollery Charitable Foundation. These funds will be used to defray the costs of another van for our training staff to use. As we grow, so do our transportation needs - so much of what we do is out in the community. Dogs with Wings is grateful for the support of the Stollery, a foundation which has done so much to support health and children in our community.

DWW Expands Puppy Program to Grande Prairie!

Dogs with Wings has started a satellite program in Grande Prairie, and Mac and Maverick are the first two pups to make the trek north. These pups will be handled through the local 4H Club in GP. Welcome to the DWW family, Grande Prairie 4H Club.

Service Dog in training 'Brooks' and Training Director Maria Illes gratefuly accept a significant donation from Nola Rintoul of Calgary. Nola has sponsored 3 of the 'M' litter and is a Litter Sponsor for the "N" litter, due later in October. We welcome Nola to the Dogs with Wings 'family'!

Brooks says 'thanks, Nola!'

Introducing most of the the "M" Litter

Grande Prairie Firefighters Come Through for Dogs with Wings

Firefighters in Grande Prairie got together a couple of weeks ago to host a Row a Thon in support of Dogs with Wings. The event raised $10,000 towards their goal of $40,000 for our organization. Planning is already underway for next year's event. Event organizer Ian MacDonald is seen presenting a cheque to DWW Client Services Director Elisa Irlam.

Birth Announcement!

Dogs with Wings is very pleased to announce the arrival of the "M" litter, 11 pups born to DWW mom Macy, and dad Pike, a male on loan to Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California from Guide Dogs Queensland, Australia.

There are 7 boys (5 yellow and 2 black) and 4 girls, (3 yellow and 1 black). All are thriving. Pictures of the litter will follow.

Sponsorship opportunities exist for these dogs and details are available by contacting the office at 780.944.8011.

Welcome Oscar and Romeo

Meet Oscar, a purebred Labrador we received from Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California. This little guy is being sponsored by our good friends at Stahl Peterbilt, and is yet another recruit being raised by Peter & Kathy Kawalilak.

And this is Romeo, a Lab/Golden Retriever cross, also from GDB, and being raised by Alex Hamilton and family.

Romeo, watching the proceedings from the sidelines. The puppy raisers and staff at DWW had a good opportunity to visit on a nice afternoon.

Dogs with Wings Welcomes TD Bank Financial Group as Sponsor

DWW is pleased to welcome TD Bank Financial Group as a Sponsor. Shown here is TD Vice President David M. Ross presenting this year's cheque to Apprentice Trainer Moira Wegner and Service Dog In Training "Iris".

3rd Annual Dogs with a Cause Gala!

The 3rd Annual Dogs with a Cause Gala Dinner & Auction was a smash again at Blatchford Hangar, Fort Edmonton Park. 200 patrons, sponsors, and friends gathered for a fun-filled evening to raise money for the important work that DWW does.

A jazz quintet provided music for coctails and during dinner. Irish dancing kept everyone's attention following dinner. This year, we added a photo booth where attendees could have their picture taken with one of our future "pilots".

It was a wonderful night for everyone!

News Flash: Dogs with Wings is very pleased to announce the opening of its new sensory therapy room. We are the first program in Canada to have a fully-functioning Snoezelin Therapy Room for use with our Autism Service Dog clients.

This room provides a variety of sensory experiences to help calm and focus the client while they are being introduced to their Service Dog. Maria and the training staff are excited to have this important tool to help these special children.

Colours, sounds and images can all be manipulated in order to provide sensory stimulation

 This particular video reinforces the auditory/visual connection for clients. Greatful thanks go to the Telus Community Foundation for its support of this initiative.

Dogs with Wings held its 2010 AGM this past week, and elected a new Board of Directors. Toby Ramsden, C.A. is our new Board President. Gene Klenke, LLB. remains as Vice-President, and we welcome Greg Northcott, CMA as Treasurer. Cheryl Newton becomes Board Secretary. Board Members-at-Large include Norma Rodenburg, Marie Gynane-Willis, Gay Andrews, Gail Stanford and Marsha Johnston. Thanks go to our outgoing Board President, Warren Fraleigh, Secretary, Kathy Dettman and members Penny Radostits, Ellen Green, and Gavin Mulcahey. We truly appreciate all of your efforts! 

Some more "K" litter shots; they're growing at a furious pace:

Smaller than a breadbox, bigger than a pen

Indy, out for an autumn walk

Ms. Daisy Duke, chillaxin' at the Training Centre

 "K" LITTER ARRIVES!

We are pleased to announce the arrival of 5 purebred yellow Labrador puppies, born to first-time mom, Harlow, on Saturday, September 25th. Sired by Jenkins, a yellow Lab standing stud at Guide Dogs for the Blind, at San Rafael, California, the pups are doing fine. Harlow is doing a fabulous job, looking every inch the pro!

There are 2 girls, and 3 boys.

Flight School begins for the "K" litter in about 8 weeks!

Autumn is upon us now, and heralds a couple of regular events for Dogs with Wings. On September 29th, the Annual General Meeting will be held at the Training Centre. The meeting begins at 7:00 p.m. Memberships are available at the door. But you should arrive early as there will be a Silpada Jewellery Show running upstairs in the front training room. It is important that our volunteers and supporters come out for the AGM,  so come on out and take an active part in your organization and do a little early Christmas shopping at the same time!

The other event which keeps us busy in October is the Dogs with a Cause Dinner & Auction. This year's event is October 16th, 6:00 p.m. at Blatchford Hangar, Fort Edmonton Park, and promises to be our best yet. We will feature the Elise Diewert Sextet, some Irish Dancing, great food, and an opporutnity to support the important work that Dogs with Wings does for Albertans. Call Marilyn at 780.944.8011 for tickets or more information.

We recently took part in the first annual Dog & Pony Show last weekend at Still Meadows Ranch, east of Sherwood Park.

 This event was organized by Paws & Think Petcare as a fundraiser for Dogs with Wings. We managed to have the only clear day in gosh-knows-how-long, and it was a full day of dog agility, horse gymkhanna, hayrides, trail rides and face-painting for the kids. We had a fabulous time!

A mother/daughter team in one of the Gymkhana events

Cathy & Cosmo

Kaitlin & Brooksie

Melanie & Ms. Daisy Duke

Marilyn & Lindsey, aka the 50/50 Dream Team

Agility competitors

An agility team with great "watch me" skills!

Mr. Indy

DWW volunteer Kent with Daisy

Good form in the jumper class

Hayride Heaven in the sunshine

Maria & Goldie

A future competitor!

Thanks to all who organized and took part in this event.

What better way to celebrate spring than with the arrival of PUPPIES! We now have a breeding partnership with Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California and the first two pups arrived a week ago. Meet Nala and Minnie:

Females from different litters, these two tykes are already rippin' it up in our revamped Puppy Room on the second floor. They'll soon be joined by 2 more females from another two litters; all intended to boost our own breeding program. If you're in the area, stop by and meet these two junior pilots. All four of these puppies will join the Early Education Program.

Its Poker Tournament time and this year's event begins at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 24th at River Cree Resort & Casino. There are still some places open for this No Limit, Texas Hold 'em event, so give Marilyn a call at 944.8011 and register for this fun event.

Update: We now have two more pups, courtesy of Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California. Daisy and Lilo arrived last week, along with Brooklyn and Macy who were down there for breeding to one of their males. So, here are our latest recruits:

We got a call last summer from Jo Ann Creore who told us of her plan to climb to the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro to honour the memory of her dear friend, Jackie Beaudry (Chloe) who had passed away in the spring. Jo Ann also wanted to raise some money for an organization that had given Jackie such a wonderful guide dog and companion in Chloe. Well she's back, and here are the pictures to prove that DWW made it to the top as well!

Welcome to our updated website! Our friends at 4Web.ca have put together an updated look for us and we've added some new areas to explore. This page will be updated when there is news to share, so check back soon.

We've had good news today: Eddy is now an approved Therapy Dog at a junior high school in the city. In his new role, Eddy will be a regular part of daily class at Rosslyn Junior High where he will be in a class of special needs students. It's a first for us, and a first for Edmonton Public Schools, as Eddy will be a resource for the class, instead of one client. Eddy has been sponsored for all 3 years of his training by our friends at Stahl Peterbilt. Congratulations to handler/teacher Charles Gachnang, Stahl Peterbilt, and "good job" Eddy!

The Training Centre is bustling these days with the "F" litter now in Adult training and Puppy Cuddlers arriving to take their shift with the lucky 3 from our "I" litter, Brooks, Izzy and Irma. This is proving to be a great program, and the pups are already showing the benefits. If you know anyone who would like a chance to cuddle a puppy for an hour a week, have them call Lindsey at the office, and she'll arrange a time for you to come in to the Training Centre to see how this great new program works.

For those needing access to the Class Schedule, your username and password has been sent to you by email. You will need to log in to get access to this area. If you have any difficulties, please call the office.

We spent a pleasant hour at the Edmonton International Airport this week, meeting with the Edmonton WestJetters Team. This wonderful group of community-minded people raised $2,400 for us at a recent Christmas Auction. We are proud to have Westjet helping us to fly!

We are so appreciative of the support offered by our client families, and the groups that they are involved with. Thanks to the Matthews family, Dogs with Wings will receive the net proceeds of the annual RAN-CEL Golf Tournament in southern Ontario for the next five years. This photo is from the 2009 tournament which raised $5000 for us. Pictured, l to r, are Donny Cameron, Brian McGougan, Mackenzie Milligan, Jayne Matthews, Bryan Macauley, Peter Milligan, Tony Matthews, Alex Morrison, Martin Guthrie, Alistair McFarlane, Colin Philips.

Happy New Year to everyone. If you haven't had a chance yet to drop in and visit us, please do so. There's probably a pot of coffee on!

Part of the work we do at DWW involves outreach in the community. We probably do 40 presentations a year to various groups. Most recently, Maria and the training staff were invited back to speak to the Companion Animals & Society class, taught by Assoc. Professor Gaylene Fasenko, University of Alberta. This time, Maria wanted to show the effects of distraction in the training process. Who better to illustrate this than our mascot, Clive. Here's a shot of him in his DWW 'doo rag at Marilyn's desk.

And of course, here he is doing his "distraction thing" in the classroom. Eventually, the class got down to business; here's Maria delivering part of her lecture with Finn.

Irma and Forrester were also there with Shannon Northcott. Pictures courtesy of Moira Wegner.

We received good news today from the International Guide Dog Federation, advising us that our accreditation is complete, and that we are now a full member of this organization. This completes an initiative begun a number of years ago to have our school recognized in both of its main program areas - Service and Guide Dogs. We began with our admission to Assistance Dogs International in the late summer of 2008, and followed this up with IGDF in the fall of 2009. It means that our Assistance Dogs are protected by the Service Dogs Act, RSA c. S-7.5 and the Blind Persons' Rights Act, RSA c. B-3, in the Province of Alberta. "Good Job" team!

DWW is pleased to announce that the 3rd Annual Dogs with Wings Charity Poker Tournament will be held on Saturday, April 24th at River Cree Resort & Casino. This event has been a huge success in past years, and we are looking to provide an even better experience this year. We have also booked Blatchford Hanger, Fort Edmonton Park for our annual Dogs with a Cause Charity Dinner and Auction on Saturday, October 16, 2010. More details to follow, but mark your calendars now!

As they have in the past, the Royal Alexandra Hospital Employee's Charitable Donations Fund has honoured DWW with another donation to help us in our work. The cheque presentation took place in the Atrium of the Royal Alex Hosipital. John, Flash and Lindsey attended this event.