Completely blown away!

Since I made Ice's fundraising page public a week ago a lot of amazing things have happened!  In one week we have raised $2,060.  WOW!  The breakdown of that:

$780 from GoFundMe
$250 from check donations

AND a wonderful, fantastic, there aren't enough words to describe their generosity, donor has pledged to match any donation I get for Ice up to $7,500.  That means if I raise $7,500, they will donate $7,500 and Ice will be fully sponsored.

I can't thank the people who have already donated enough.  I am completely blown away by your support.

A couple questions and comments I hope to clear up that I have heard from various people:

Question: Do I have to donate by GoFundMe or can I give you a check?
Answer: You are more than welcome to donate by check! Please make it payable to "My Angel With Paws" and either give it to me or send me an email at SarahHTownsend@gmail.com and I will tell you where to send it.

Question: I want to donate but can only give a small amount and feel silly doing that
Answer: Please don't feel silly.  A small amount is fantastic.  The fact that you want to donate at all is fantastic.  Plus your donation will automatically be doubled by the matching donor!

Question: I want to hug and kiss Ice before I donate.
Answer: He comes to Illinois at the end of April and is available for hugging and kissing.  If you are currently in Florida you can hug and kiss him (and his brother and sisters) at the MAWP facility.

Question: Is there really a donor that will match my donation?  
Answer: Yes there is!  I am not making it up.  I haven't confirmed with them if they want their name public so I am keeping it private at the moment.

If you have any other questions about Ice, service dogs or donating please ask!

Ice: 6 weeks old

Meet Ice!

 My new puppy trainee has been assigned to me!  His name is Ice and he is currently 5 weeks old.  Chris will be flying at the end of April with him.  It is going to be a long month and a half waiting for him... 

In the mean time, help me raise a full sponsorship for him!  I am trying to raise $15,000 (how much one of these dogs is worth at the end of training) for My Angel With Paws.  As a puppy raiser, I pay for all my puppy's needs for the first year and a half of his life.  This includes spaying or neutering, food, toys and treats.  I view it as my way to give back to the world.  I am trying to raise $15,000 so Ice is fully sponsored.  I will still donate my time and money to raise him so the money from the sponsorship that is usually reserved for the puppy raiser will go directly to My Angel With Paws to help with other things such as food for the dogs in advanced training, puppy birthing costs and hip x-rays.

The other part of the sponsorship will go to help with the final training and placement of Ice with his forever partner.  

Go to my GoFundMe page where you can make a one time donation or a monthly donation.  It is fully tax deductible and will be so greatly appreciated!

Darby Update

Heard about Darby today!

Chris said she has been worried because he has had a hard time transferring to other people.  This is mostly my fault because I am super excited and cheerful and am really high energy when rewarding something the dogs do.  Darby was used to that and when he didn't get the super high energy he didn't want to work.  I need to learn from this and remember to tone down my praise especially when the dogs get closer to going into final training.

A man who suffered a stroke came to MAWP to meet another dog and it went well but for shits and giggles Chris brought out Darby to meet him too.  Darby went nuts barking at the guy and was super freaked out at first.  He even tried to crawl into Chris's lap to "hide" from him.  Not how you want an introduction to go. Then Darby tentatively sniffed the guy and all of a sudden was the guy's best friend.  Complete 180 from how he was.

Chris tried a brace harness on Darby for the first time and even had the guy walk Darby and use the brace.  She said it went really well.  Then afterwards the dogs were all running around loose and Darby came over and lay down at the guy's feet.  This is a biggie!  If a dog chooses to be by a person when they could be running around with their friends it is a very good sign.

If Darby is going to be placed with this guy he has to NEVER pull EVER.  Chris is going to work with Darby and see how it goes.  The man will come out again at some point and they will see if Darby still likes him.  This is not final in anyway but I am just super excited that Darby got to meet a possible person.  The man and his brother who came with him thought Darby was awesome.  I am completely biased but I agree ;-).

Having a dog in final training is a completely new experience for me and a huge learning experience.  Chris has the extremely tough job of getting dogs with all different skills and personalities.  Sometimes, depending on their puppy raiser, the dog will have certain gaps in their training.  With Chris handling Darby she can tell me what his gaps are and I can work really hard to make those gaps not happen with the next dog.  So far I know I need to work on bringing down my energy level, not using the leash so much to correct the dog (put the leash in my pocket and let my body language to the job instead of my arms), and making sure each puppy I have gets a super solid base in obedience.  The last one I have known and thought I did that with Darby but I feel I can make it even better after raising Darby from a puppy and seeing what he grew up to act like.

In other news... MY PUPPY HAS BEEN PICKED!  The MAWP server is down so they haven't been able to send me pictures but I will let you all know as soon as I get pictures and we make it 'official'.

Family Photo back in October