Autism Assistance Dog

What's all the bally who about?

Autographed dog bowls and a Broadway experience was the buzz on Charity Buzz's Valentines auction.

Paws & Effect posted two dog bowls with a Broadway experience package (tickets and a back stage pass) for two phenomenal shows. One successful bidder received a bowl signed by the cast and crew of Broadway's Spring Awakening and the other successful bidder won a bowl signed by the cast of the On-Broadway performance of South Pacific in New York City.

How exciting! Now I want to go seem them both again! Maybe I should have placed a couple bids before it was too late.

Congratulations to the winning bids, ENJOY the experience! And a special thanks to Todd and Angie who provided Paws & Effect the opportunity to receive their generosity through time and a commitment to the puppy they raised on the road.

Frog & Toad

Another magical experience with the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. The event was a family series performance of the Frog and Toad. They had several learning stations throughout the facility and had sold 1,700 tickets! What a fantastic event! Paws & Effect was invited into a reading session with the Des Moines Public library as one of the learning stations. The pictures don't tell the whole story. Kids were eager to learn and listen and pet the dogs and for those Pet Partners and their pets they handled the chaos with precision. Kudos to the Civic Center for a successful event and applause to our volunteers who brought our area of learning together.

Winter Classic 2010 - Dog Agility Trial

One easy Keeper!

Why sit in your warm, comfy home when you can venture out into this lovely Iowa winter?

Well, you see, we had a little educating to do, and oh did the results ever warm our hearts. We began our adventure at Costco where Keeper experienced his first evening training session in public. He remained focused amidst freezer doors opening and closing, large boxes being dropped behind him, and the beeping forklift they use for restocking. It was very sweet to hear a couple little girls comment, "Look at the puppy Daddy, he's so cute, but we can't pet him because he is working." And working quite well at that. He didn't even fuss or whine when he realized that Costco doesn't offer samples in the evening.

But our night didn't end at Costco. He had done so well, we figured it was time for a little AP puppy training, and where better to go for a little higher education than our local school. After tackling dark stairwells, and mastering overpasses.

Now it was time to hit the gymnasium with a single bound! We'll let the pictures tell the story...one "click" at a time.

"As you can tell by my tail, I am one happy Keeper!"

"Wow, I really get clicked and rewarded for this? Puppy life is good!"

"This is a piece of cake. You mind if we go all the way to the top? I hear you can see better from there!"

"Does this school offer puppy PAWdicures?"

"Boy howdy...I don't think I'm going to like the down part of this one bit...hey, by the way...WHERE DID MY HUMAN GO!?!"

By the time we finished with the bleachers, the entire adult volleyball game had stopped to cheer him on. Well done little boy, you sure are a KEEPER!!!

We didn't stop there. We even practiced the echoey concrete stairs and the bridge that goes over nothing! What a grand experience.