Al Franken: comedian, Senator, and now dog admirer

Many people say the economy is the most pressing problem facing the country today, but Al Franken took the time to introduce a bill in Congress to help our country’s veterans heal from their war wounds by matching them with service dogs.

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Dogs Can Make Your Kids Healthy

OK, we all know there are many advantages to sharing your life with a dog, but how about this! The New York Times is reporting on a study being done by the the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, part of the National Institutes of Health, in cooperation with the Waltham Center for Pet Nutrition in England (part of the Mars candy and pet food company).
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Service Dog May Be Banned from Illinois Classroom

I’ve posted many times about service dogs, how expensive they are to train, and how valuable they are to the people they assist.   It’s inconceivable to me that a school district is now in front of the courts, trying to ban an assistance dog from attending school with his autistic charge, a six-year old boy.

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New Government Program Pairs Assistance Dogs with Injured Soldiers

The Associated Press reports today that a new program from the Veterans Administration takes dogs from animal shelters, trains them, and sends them home with soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan to help them in their recovery.

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Congratulations to the dog graduates!

My local paper had a nice piece today about service dogs. There is an organization here in Canton named Canines Helping Independent People (CHIP) that trains assistance dogs, and they just graduated a new class of dogs yesterday.

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Applause for Working Dogs

  For the 7th year in a row, Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio will sponsor an Applause for Working Paws Dog Walk on June 21st from 11:00 – 2:00 pm.  Although we won’t be able to attend this year, it has been a lot of fun in years past. 

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