By Carolyn Peters Let’s start spring by celebrating the birthdays of our trio of brother service dogs in training: Born on March 22, 2022. Sundance and Mac (also known as “officer friendly”) have been training for a year and are ready for placement. Both have responded well to our process�
I hope you enjoy the articles found here in our 2024 Q1 newsletter! You’ll find an interview with our co-founder, Charli King; updates from each of our programs; and other tidbits. In other news, the Board of Directors welcomed Jim Wegerbauer as a new Board member and our Treasurer at…
by Jean Gertmenian Charli King, with co-founder, Carol Davis, and one golden retriever puppy, launched Pawsitive Teams in 1997. Since that modest beginning more than a quarter of a century ago, it would be impossible to calculate how many thousands of lives in San Diego County have been touched by�
by Mary Skrabucha In our last newsletter, we reported on the graduation of five new facility dogs, two of whom were owner-trained. We are pleased to let you know that these five teams are all doing well at their sites. We know this because part of our program involves weekly,…
Jim Hodgdon Each month, depending on the season, we make any number of presentations about Pawsitive Teams and the varied roles of dogs that help people. During these events, our volunteer teams bring their dogs and demonstrate the skills they have for the role they play. On September 24,2023
Pawsitive Teams recently opened its Therapy Dog Prep School for 2025. And yes, January & April classes are already full! We will be starting our April 2024 term in a few weeks, with most of our trainers in tow at some point during the six-week term (Carol Davis, Charli King,…
It has been an exciting year for our Therapy Dog Program. Our therapy teams have grown as we certified 20 teams this year! This is great news for our program as we need these certified teams to continue and expand our goal-directed therapy work in the community. A couple of…
Like pebbles thrown into still water, Pawsitive Teams’ dogs spread comfort—ripples in a pond. In each newsletter we share one of their stories In all my years associated with Pawsitive Teams, I have never seen a more extraordinary human/dog partnership than Judy Fridono and Ricochet. In t
Wilson (13 months), Sundance, and Mac (both 20 months) continue to excel in their training. They are now focusing on retrieving various items in many different environments and, of course, taking their adventures outdoors. In late October, we brought Sundance and Mac’s brother Whiskey into o
When we last updated you, the Facility Dogs in our new Academy program were deep into their training. Since then, all completed their coursework and passed their exams. Their graduation in October was a huge success. We had almost 50 people in attendance including several Board members, Bear�
This time of the year always seems to be something of a hustle-bustle, right? As I put away the Halloween décor, I’ve noticed that some on my street already have their holiday lights going. As I write this in early November, I’m left with thinking about the events in between…
The following web post was written by the team at the American Veterinary Medical Association and reminds us about keeping our pets safe during the holidays! Pass it on! Nothing can spoil holiday cheer like an emergency visit to a veterinary clinic. These seven tips can help prevent a…
A therapy dog/human partnership is special. Can we carry on with another when our dog becomes too old for therapy visits? Yes, because succeeding generations learn from the ones before them. As Therapy Dog Program Manager Barbara McKown relates, when she got Gill (3), her therapy dog Bailey (8) was�
Hi! I’m Jim Hodgdon. My job with Pawsitive Teams as the Educational Outreach Coordinator is to put together and execute presentations describing Pawsitive Teams and the work that we do. Most of these presentations are solicited by requests on-line through our web site. Requests come from a variety
In addition to our three Service Dogs in Training, Mac, Sundance, and Wilson, we currently have five Facility Dog Teams in transition training. Three teams are Pawsitive Teams career change dogs, and two teams are personally-owned dogs going through our new Facility Dog Academy. Here they are! Bear