Danny Spaide and BoykeAs many of you may know, I’ve been looking for work recently, along with millions of other folks. It certainly hasn’t been easy or fast to find a new job, but I finally found one and am gainfully employed for all of one day now.

Yesterday was my first day, filled with orientation, classes and meeting new folks.

As luck would have it, I ended up sitting next to a nice young man. (At this point, I have to share that it finally dawned on me about 2 o’clock in the afternoon that I was the only “old” person there. All of those folks were born AFTER I got my college diploma.) Anyway, we did afternoon introductions and Justin advised that he had separated from the Army in October. Far be it from me to leave a veteran without thanking him for his service, I asked some more questions about where he had been stationed. He mentioned Balad and FOB Rustamiyah. “FOB Rusty?” I questioned. I knew Rustamiyah seemed small enough that he might know the dog handlers there. And, he did- the 95th MP BN. Small world? Coincidence? Either way, I always love being able to make those connections. Attached are some photos of Danny and Boyke, one of the FOB Rusty teams.

100_1662 Being March, you never know if you’re going to get the lion, the lamb or lamb chops when it comes to the weather and today was no exception. Early this morning it was misting rain and cool, even though the weatherman “told” me it would be warm and sunny. Well, he didn’t lie, really, it just didn’t warm up until afternoon when the temperature hit the mid-70’s and the sun broke forth. It ended up being just a grand day.

MWDTSA was invited to attend an Open House at the local Invisible Fence dealer today. http://www.invisiblefence.com/

Several area vendors with dog related businesses were also in attendance and the general public was invited to come and bring their dogs. Activities for the dogs included agility play, bone toss and a paw print on a tile.

The best part of the day, other than getting a chance to hang around with buddies Ann, Liz and Ken, is that we got to meet some awesome folks. First, there is Jody McGlothlin of Invisible Fence with whom is always a treat to spend time. But, we also got to meet some pretty cool vendors and other folks that had a real interest in what we were doing.

100_1664We had several offers to help with fundraising etc, but one of the most unique that I think we’ve run across comes from Pet Dreams Memorial Center and its owner, Kevin Marcy. Kevin advised that his full service funeral home for pets would provide free service to anyone residing in the greater Atlanta area when their Military Working Dog dies. Since I’m thinking of getting one of these dogs as soon as I bulk up the bank account a bit, I think that is really, really generous and very appropriate offer.

There were many other really great vendors with amazing services and I was able to get cards from many of them. If you’re in the Atlanta area and need to know where to get an invisible fence, have a pet sitter come to the home or board your dog in a non-boring kennel, get a doggy bath with a blueberry facial, learn K 9 first aid from an expert, go to doggy obedience school and more, let me know, have I got info for you.

(BTW, I nearly lost Ann to the blueberry facial folks at Aussie Pet Mobile. Not only did the thought of a facial sound really amazing, the blueberries were somehow dancing in our heads and creating visions of muffins, too.) I’ll in100_1661clude a list of all the links of the wonderful vendors we met.

http://www.invisiblefence.com/

http://www.bonesandmore.com/

http://www.pettechatlanta.com/

http://www.dogschool101.com/

Enjoy a few photos of the day: Ann with the cutest little papillion, Ken with Kala (an extremely sweet mixed breed that just won all our hearts), Kevin Marcy with his display and some of the “goodies” available for munching.

Thanks, Jody, it was terrific and it’s always great to meet new friends. Monies donated at today’s event will go to my favorite charity : ), MWDTSA, to help us with new requests that are coming in.

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Philip Mendoza doing the FURminator thing

MWDTSA is always grateful to get enthusiastic responses to the items being sent over. Nothing much seems to beat the FURminator for being a bit hit with the handlers and tough toys for being a hit with the dogs. Here’s a piece of a recent thank you note:

“I wanted to let you know that I got my package from you today and I also wanted to say thank you very much for the Furminator. Rico loves the toy I can’t get him to let it go sometimes. The snacks for both me and the dog are great they will be shared with my fellow handlers here but the Furminator is MINE! Thanks’ again for everything and here are some pictures but there are much more to come.”

Philip

Fort Benning dedication 2007 032Please accept apologies for the delay in updating the blog and photos on the blog.

I took a quick trip to North Carolina and tried to include visits to both Fort Bragg and Camp LeJeune.

The Fort Bragg visit went well as my POC, who was away at a class, made sure I had a good contact person in Sgt. Greenfield. It was a great surprise to find that Sgt. Greenfield had been the recipient of MWDTSA packages while he was in Afghanistan. He introduced me to Sgt. Floyd and I immediately recognized his name and knew that he had been in Iraq with his dog, Bridge. You’ll find photos of Greenfield and Floyd along with a photo of Floyd and Bridge in Iraq.

My trip to Camp LeJeune didn’t quite go as planned. Although I have a perfectly wonderful POC who wanted to get together, another visitor (the President) got preference. So, I didn’t get a chance to visit with the Marines, but wish them well as they head off to Iraq/Afghanistan over the next several weeks and months. Here’s a photo of Dennis, my Marine POC.

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Duck and Cover
Training is always about the dogs and handlers working together. Each end of the lead having total trust in the other end of the lead. The black and white photo from the Scout Dog school at Fort Benning in the 60s showcases the handlers and dogs in a “ducking for cover” position.

The color photo is of dogs being trained to accept being carried by their handlers. Should the need arise, dogs could be carried by their handlers. Imagine trying to do that trick with a dog that had never before been carried. Yikes!

Looks like they still have some work to do with various carrying profiles and butt sniffing going on. I suspect this would be easier to train when there isn’t another butt at your dog’s nose level to sniff. This exercise would make we want to find the smallest, sleekest MWD available.

If you check out the 47th IPSD website at http://47ipsd.us/47clip6.htm you’ll find a news clipping of an instance in Vietnam where a handler carried his dog from 9:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the evening, after he was shot in battle. Truly heroic actions from both ends of the leash.

AURORA, COLORADO, NOVEMBER 5, 2004--Recently returned from a 6-month tour of duty in Iraq as an explosive detection dog, "Billy", a specially trained Dutch Shepherd dog, sits comfortably inside his handler's SUV at the Military Working Dog training area at Buckley Air Force base in Aurora on Friday. Billy and his handler, Staff Sgt. Chris Roach, currently perform security patrols at Buckley. "He likes that comfortable seat," Roach said. (DENVER POST PHOTO BY GLENN ASAKAWA)

AURORA, COLORADO, NOVEMBER 5, 2004–Recently returned from a 6-month tour of duty in Iraq as an explosive detection dog, “Billy”, a specially trained Dutch Shepherd dog, sits comfortably inside his handler’s SUV at the Military Working Dog training area at Buckley Air Force base in Aurora on Friday. Billy and his handler, Staff Sgt. Chris Roach, currently perform security patrols at Buckley. “He likes that comfortable seat,” Roach said. (DENVER POST PHOTO BY GLENN ASAKAWA)

Photos of Billy, a drop dead gorgeous Military Working Dog, looking for a cushy retirement home:

Here’s a note from his kennel:

“Our dog that has been considered excess about 2 months ago. His name is Billy B041. He is a 12 year old Dutch Shephard. He is on Rimadyl, Tramadol, and Dasuquin for his bad back. He has been approved for adoption. He back is bad enough that he needs the pain killers and the Glucosamine supplements but not bad enough that he still has plenty of energy to play. He still jumps around like a puppy when it’s feeding time. Only thing is he is agressive with animals and would need to be put in a home with no animals and preferably a fenced in back yard. Billy is a Explosive Detector Dog (EDD). He has not done any explosive detection in over 6 months since he was approved to be adopted.

He passed his adoption bite video with flying colors. I tried everything to get him to be aggressive and he wasn’t interested.As long as there is no bite equipment
around, Billy is your average playful “old man.”

We had one person call us back who was a retired handler. The thing that kept us from giving Billy to him was he lived in a assisted living home and was partially disabled. Because of Billy’s aggression training we need him to be in a home with someone that can handle him. Just as long as they have handled or had experience with dogs who have been aggression trained. We haven’t done any bite work with Billy in over 2 years to help prepare him for retirement. He is a good dog. Loves his toys and loves to be loved. Billy has been neutered as well to prepare him for retirement.”

Please consider supporting this retired Veteran.

If you’d like more information, please contact:
via email: Charles.Dahlberg@buckley.af.mil or via phone 720-847-3647, 720-847-3645

Fakiing ItAs many of you know, the actor Muse Watson is near and dear to my heart. He’s been very supportive of requests from MWDTSA for his time. If any of you are NCIS fans, please enjoy his reprised role of Mike Franks this coming Tuesday, February 10th, in an episode called “Deliverance”. And be sure to let CBS know how much you enjoy seeing a seasoned, strong man pursuing the bad guys and keeping us safe. As one of my Navy buddies once said to me regarding Mike Franks, “Now, that’s old school NCIS. He gets the job done.”

NCIS Season 6 Episode 15 Deliverance airs Tuesday February 10 at 8/7c on CBS.

GIBBS MUST FACE DEMONS FROM HIS PAST WHEN HE FINDS A CRYPTIC MESSAGE AWAITING HIM AT THE SCENE OF A CRIME, ON “NCIS,” TUESDAY, FEB. 10

Muse Watson (“Prison Break”) Reprises His Role As Gibbs’s Mentor, Mike Franks”Deliverance” – While investigating the death of a Marine, the team finds themselves intertwined in an inner city gang war, on NCIS, Tuesday, Feb. 10 (8:00-9:00 PM,ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.”

Note from Muse:

…and if you are a fan of Mike Franks because you like his skill with a Glock….you won’t be disappointed.” Muse Watson

Sabine with Jodie and Fabio Sabine with plaque and flagSome of our very first and most consistent supporters are the owners, staff and customers of a local country store called, T C Country. Located in the Macedonia community, between Canton and Cumming, this store offers the animal lovers of Cherokee County a place to purchase feed and tack for horses, feed for other farm animals and the dogs and cats that most people in the area cherish. Some of their customers have been so incredibly supportive with multiple donations of in kind products or financial donations. We just want to stop for a moment and thank them again for their ongoing support. We could never be where we are without your help.

Ruby Wins  Chris out flatTraining military working dog, Ruby, in Iraq.

These are some scenes from a recent training session of MWD, Ruby. One photo shows Ruby stopping the “bad guy” and the second shows Ruby providing backup while her handler checks out the prostrated “bad guy”.

We know you are really a stand up guy, Chris. Thanks for sharing the photos.