Carnival of the Animals

Paws & Effect volunteer, Michelle, and her therapy dog Lizzie spent time with the kids at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines family series event - "Carnival of the Animals".

The kids got to listen to the stories while enjoying the presence of the therapy dogs. As you can see in the images, everyone enjoyed the interactions.

Look who's ready to trial.

My goodness, he's cute. Service dog Schuyler (pronounced Sky-Ler) is ready for Paws & Effect's 2013 Winter Classic NADAC dog agility trial.

He, Schuylur, had a couple "first" experiences. One with the barn cat and the other with the horses. Both experiences went as well.

We look forward to a great trial.

See you there.

Magic at St Luke's - Cedar Rapids

We really never thought we'd ever fill our Pet Partner workshop which we set a general limit of 20 participants.

Well, we just taught a class of 28 individuals who are passionate about Animal Assisted Therapy.

Thanks to St. Luke's Hospital and Chris Montross for fostering and promoting such a positive relationship with the community.

This is a top-notch program and we are looking forward to teaching our next workshop.

Here to serve.

A man and his orders, a dog and his. Roo, a Paws & Effect facility dog is on orders to make smiles happen.

Sure looks like he's doing his job.

Get Comfortable Cadence.

Cadence is one of the nicest Pet Partner's to read with the kids at Catterell Elementary School in Des Moines.

She sure knows how to make reading comfortable for everyone.

The most wonderful time of the year.

What could be more exciting then going shopping at Christmas time?

Only one thing comes to mind for us here at Paws & Effect, and that would be heading to the mall for service dog training!

Oh, the sites and sounds, the hustle and bustle, the chaos abound.

And for the most thrilling of ALL, the annual photo with Santa.

He's a good old chap for letting us take over and settle in for a few minutes.

Thanks to ONE and ALL who made it out for the training.

3 Dog Night

  

Evie Johnson, puppy raiser and Rotary Club member, brought The Rotary Club of Des Moines and Paws & Effect together for an evening event at Jasper Winery in Des Moines. 

The event showcased a presentation by Executive Director - Nicole Shumate and plenty of service dogs and puppies in training along with their handlers to meet and great those who braved the elements of the evening. 

Iowa's first snow storm loomed on the day of the event but
the spirirts were high, the fire was warm and the snow began to fall. 

It couldn't have been a more perfect evening out. 

Thank you to The Rotary Club of Des Moines, Iowa and
The Rotary Club of Des Moines Foundation for being a part of this great evening.

Magical Experience

Thanks to all those who attended this once in a lifetime gathering.

Paws & Effect's Executive Director - Nicole Shumate, brought together a little magic to celebrate the human-animal bond. 

To set the stage, 

War Horse is a Broadway show, movie, and book based on a horse that goes to war during WW I, and a young boy's quest to find his beloved companion who has been sold into service.

Several members of the War Horse cast of the Broadway show came out to Camp Dodge to read related stories and to entertain through song. And entertain, they did.

Thanks again to the cast of War Horse, we were delighted with what you brought to life that day.

Read a full story on the event at Red Bull Rising.

More images on Paws & Effect's Facebook page.