April 2023 Newsletter

Message from the Executive Director

We are so excited to be this year’s charity of choice for the Charley’s Sports Grill Golf Tournament on Saturday, April 15. There are still a few spots open so please sign up to play if you are available (flyer link attached). Raffle items include:

Annual-Charity-Golf-Tournament-

-A round of golf for 4 at The Lakes Golf Course in Westbrook Village
-Winner’s choice of a Swarovski-embellished dog collar with leash
-Bottle of Le Padrino tequila
-Titleist Pro V1 golf balls
-Free first acupuncture session from Modern Acupuncture
-50-minute Custom Facial from Trinity Aesthetics
-Van’s Golf Pro Shop gift cards
-Free Supreme car wash from Cobblestone Auto Spa
-Taylor Made 5 golf balls.
-And more….

And if you can’t be with us to golf, join us for live music with Nashville Recording Artist Rob West & Band beginning at 7pm at Charley’s. We’d love to see you there at both events supporting our work in providing “A New Leash on Life” to individuals and their canine partners.

Karen

Wellness Tip

Spring has arrived which means that venomous critters will come out of hibernation. The most dangerous time of year to be bitten by a venomous snake is Spring, as the snakes are dehydrated, and this means that the venom is more concentrated. Remember to take the following steps to protect your dog:

Remove rock or wood piles where snakes can hide.
Keep your dog away from bushes where snakes may lurk.
Check your yard before allowing your dog to go outside to play.
Look both ways outside before letting your dog out to potty.
Stay on walkways and avoid areas with tall grass when outdoors.

If you reside in an area where rattlesnake bites are common, speak with your veterinarian about the rattlesnake vaccine. To ensure can control your dog in the face of a venomous critter, make certain you brush up on basic obedience skills including:

leave it.
down from a distance
recall

Good obedience training can save lives in cases where you become aware of an imminent danger in the environment.

Classroom news

March was a wonderful month with lots of field trips and desensitization practice!

FSDS was chosen as charity of choice this year for Armed Forces Support Group in March and our teams did fabulous at this outing and performed so well with sitting nicely for petting along with working on some obedience training around distractions of the golfers and their golf carts.

The teams took a field trip to Rio Vista Community Park for World Down Syndrome Day this past month as well and it was such a wonderful outing! The dogs performed different behaviors with distractions present including people and other dogs. We worked on basic manners, leave it training, maintaining focus, place command, retrieving items, and practiced some DPT (deep pressure therapy). We also worked on practicing duration stays and impulse control. All teams exceeded expectations and it was a phenomenal outing for all. We are so proud of the team’s progress.

This month the advanced class and beginning class will be taking their first field trip to the Sky Harbor Airport. We will be taking the light-rail to the sky-train that will take us to the airport where we will be able to walk through TSA for practice training for when the dogs must fly on a plane and go through security. During this trip we will work on confidence building around baggage claim, maintaining focus throughout the airport, leave it training, crowd control training, picking up dropped items, center command and much more!

Advanced Class Highlights

Tom/Sharon & Ruby – Ruby’s performance is greatly improved with “picking up” dropped items along with her “touch” command with a lid on the wall.

Charlotte & Luna – Luna has been excelling with “applying deep pressure” to Charlotte without being cued to do so. She is also doing wonderfully with “retrieving” pill bottles.

Kerry/Jase & Sadie – Sadie has been doing a phenomenal job with her “opening and closing” a cabinet on command with “retrieving” an item inside to give back to her handler.

Scott & Luna – Luna has been great with “interrupting” behavior and “applying pressure” to Scott. She also has been making progress with her “retrieving” items.

Beginner Class Highlights

Shriji & Elfo – Elfo is doing a terrific job with his “center” command, along with building confidence in new environments.

Tori & Colson – Colson is performing very well with him “holding” items and “carrying” them in his mouth for a short period of time.

Kevin & Daisy – Daisy is fantastic with her “emergency stop” command along with her being cued from a distance to either “sit” or “down.”

Willie & Otis – Otis performs very well with his “off lead” training while remaining “at heel” side for a short period of time. He also has been doing wonderfully with “center.”

Kyla & Koda – Koda has mastered his “emergency stop” command and will go into a “down” position. He also is performing very well with “delivering” items

Mason & Nebbie – Nebbie has been doing amazingly well her “distance” commands and “applying “deep pressure” therapy in different environments.