May 21, 2013
David Rozelle and his Service Dog Domi
The fourth annual Warrior Games just finished up five days ago, and I’m still a little tired. And I was just watching, plus I live here. I can’t imagine what it’s like for the athletes, coming here from all over (including the UK this year), competing, doing interviews, going to meetings, just trying to find time to eat – and all at 6000+ feet altitude, which most of them aren’t used to.
I’ve been to all four and written here about the previous … Read More
May 4, 2013
Canine Companions for Independence Facility Dog Waffle – Denver VAMC
I haven’t posted here for a long time, and I may have more to say about that in the future, but for right now I just want to share this great new picture with you.
Canine Companions for Independence Facility Dog Waffle, who’s been working at the Denver VA Medical Center since February, received her official photo yesterday.
I’ve talked a lot about Facility Dogs, and, sadly, there are very few in military or VA medical facilities. We need many … Read More
Dec 7, 2012
Every so often I get to do something that’s just too good not to talk about here, and yesterday was one of those times – I finally got to meet Medal of Honor recipient Sal Giunta at his book signing at Peterson Air Force Base.
I say “finally” because we have mutual friends who I’ve been hearing about him from for a long time, I saw him light the torch at the 2011 Warrior Games Opening Ceremony, he lives here in Colorado, and so on, but our paths have just … Read More
Nov 28, 2012
“The Hard Road Back: Learning to Accept, and Master, a $110,000 Mechanical Arm”
Very interesting NY Times article yesterday about a subject you don’t often see discussed, but that my good friend Sam Cila educated me about a long time ago.
“Of the more than 1,570 American service members who have had arms, legs, feet, or hands amputated because of injuries in Afghanistan or Iraq, fewer than 280 have lost upper limbs. Their struggles to use prosthetic limbs are in many ways far greater than for their lower-limb brethren.”
The … Read More
Nov 27, 2012
No secret that Dean Koontz is a huge Canine Companions for Independence supporter. I was flipping channels a couple nights ago and bumped into him doing this excellent recent interview on EWTN (aka The Catholic Channel – that’s what I call it, anyway). News to me – I hadn’t heard about the interview before, so thought it might be news to others as well, and so I’m posting it here.
The interview is an hour long and he mostly talks about things he’s discussed many times … Read More
Nov 23, 2012
I started reading an outstanding blog recently that others had already discovered and I want to let you know about, too: Help On Four Legs.
Alex Wegman is a young Canine Companions for Independence graduate who went through Team Training at the Northeast Regional Center on Long Island in November 2011 where she was matched with her service dog Bright.
I always like reading CCI graduate blogs, but, understandably, even they don’t always address some of the things Alex does, and her writing stands out even among that crowd. … Read More
Nov 21, 2012
“The class of 2013 continues to grow, we have seen 2500 dogs to find the 9 we have so far!”
I was glad to see the above post a few days ago from Texas Hearing and Service Dogs on their Facebook page, because it puts some hard numbers you rarely see to a somewhat controversial subject that I’ve talked about a little in the past and about which there are some misconceptions.
Namely, Canine Companions for Independence and other organizations who breed some or all of their dogs take a … Read More
Nov 1, 2012
“Philanthropy Friday: Canine Companions” by Nick George, The Columbus Foundation
Canine Companions for Independence National Graduation Day is a week from tomorrow – next Friday, November 9th.
That’s significant, first, because all five regional centers will hold their graduations on the same day, which is unusual to begin with – sometimes they are a week apart or on the same weekend with some on Friday and some on Saturday.
Even more significant, though, is that CCI will graduate its 4000th assistance dog team.
My understanding is there won’t be a … Read More
Oct 28, 2012
No particular reason for this one today – another that I could post any day.
One of my favorite Sam Cila quotes, something that, like with most things, he’s said more than once, but that was captured in this article back in March (“Riverhead says thank you to Middle East war veterans”):
Cila called on civilians, elected officials in particular, to provide opportunities for returning military men and women.
“It’s time to give back to them. Let’s give these men and women the opportunities they need so they
Oct 22, 2012
Mike Chasse is a Canine Companions for Independence graduate in Maine I’ve mentioned before (“The Super Dog Is… Caleb!”) who makes a tremendous point today – in his usual funny way by telling a story about an encounter with a little girl in the grocery store – about the “huge responsibility of being a handy-capable person with a service dog” (“Caleb the Seeing Eye dog… Say Wha?“):
I think all of us who benefit from this tremendous bond, the companionship of these animals that
I'm very active with Canine Companions for Independence as a volunteer, to include being a past member of the Veterans Task Force and puppy raiser. Retired as a US Air Force Chief Master Sergeant after a 20-year career as an airborne Russian and Vietnamese linguist with my last assignments at the Air Force Academy as Fourth Group Sergeant Major and Dean of Faculty Superintendent. Actively looking for a paid position performing these functions or other similar meaningful work. More...
