Honoring Steve Layton and Liberty

Tomorrow, a man who honored fallen Soldiers will himself be honored at the Freedom Center.  Steve Layton, a bagpiper for many local military funerals, passed away suddenly this week.  Here he is pictured with Paws & Effect Liberty at Joint Force Headquarters.

You may read more about Mr. Layton here.

Silver ADDY® Award

Nothing goes with a nice Chardonnay like a Silver ADDY® Award.

Paws & Effect received their Silver ADDY® at the AAF (American Advertising Federation) luncheon today at Jasper Winery.

The depth competition in District 9 was amazing and we are honored to accept this prize for our public service announcements (click on the Public Service Announcement tab to see what all the hallaballoo is all about)

We again want to thank all of our volunteers, sponsors, and creative team for putting together an incredibly moving message.

Statistically speaking, of course.

It cost an average of $1010.12 per puppy in the Military Litter to have them spayed or neutered, microchipped and updated on their vaccinations (let us not overlook the cost of the surgical removal of one squeaker....)  We aren't quite done purchasing Heartguard for the year.

Thankfully, the insurance will cover some of the costs....

To Serve and Deliver

I will openly admit here that Velo did not learn the following skill through Paws & Effect.  Mike has been working diligently to expand Velo's skill set and we are all impressed with the results.

MG Orr welcomes Ryder to Joint Force Headquarters

Liberty and the Kernel.

Liberty, one of the service puppies from the military litter, got several opportunities to 'do the town' this weekend. Her performance was exemplary in every one of the public settings.

Liberty and the Kernel.
It should be no surprise that the floors of many restaurants have morsels of goodness sprinkled and spread throughout. As was the case this morning when Liberty spotted a single kernel of corn that was left over from a previous patron but Liberty did the right thing and kept her distance.

Shortly there after she was on her side dreaming of great days ahead.

After a long morning of work Liberty was rewarded to an afternoon in the backyard playing with all the pet dogs.

Now that's a dogs life.

We all know deep inside she was 'willing' that kernel to come to her but that wasn't going to work out that way. This experience shows that she's has been exposed to similar situations and her restraint proves that she's on track to be a great service dog.

Who's Ready for the Red Bulls?!?

Here at Canine Craze, we are nearly set!  We're bringing both the Military Litter and the Red Bull Litter together for a proper send off as the new ones go to their puppy raisers.  We've got food, toys, crates...all we're missing is....PUPPIES!

Thank you PepsiCo and Quaker!

A huge THANK YOU to Cedar Rapids VALOR and EnAble for their support and donations.  The $5,500 they raised offset the cost of acquiring the five puppies in the Red Bull Litter, purchasing health insurance, dog food, toys and all the extras that come along with the new additions.

Guess who won a 2011 PRIME Award?!

Paws & Effect took home a PRIME Award for our "We Serve with Honor" campaign. PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) hosts the prime awards every year to celebrate the best PR and corporate communications work in the community.

Not to be out done by our winning an award, 9 week old Archer stole the show. However he quickly became a 15 pound sack of potatoes and fell fast asleep by the end of the presentation. Tonight was Archers' first public appearance and he enjoyed wearing his Propper MultiCam (camouflage) service dog vest.

What a great night for Paws & Effect and for all our volunteers and supporters.

We know what it takes to make a difference.

Hooah, Paws & Effect!