President – Richard Holt

Vice President – Marjory Adkins

Secretary – Helen Fuller

Treasurer – Rob Fuller

Trainers – Marion Adil & Kimberley Payard

Committee members :

Helen Holt, Pam Hall, Maxine Mullen,

Vince Mullen, Sandra Hammond and

Vicki Pfeiffer.

puppies are 2 wks old

THE PUPPY CARERS ROLE

This is one of the most important volunteer roles connected to our organisation.

The puppy carer needs to be a person who is willing to take a puppy into their home for 12 to 15 months

so, the puppy carer has to take the puppy with an open heart and give it lots of love and care.

People need to make sure all members of the family are happy with the puppy coming to live with you.

We need people living in and around Cairns and the Tablelands areas.

 We don’t need people who work full-time as puppies should not be left by themselves for more than 2 hours initially.

Puppy carers need to be prepared to attend puppy training sessions

Puppy carers also need to be able to spend time with their puppy, training and taking it for short walks.

The puppy needs a secure yard, preferably with a safe dog friendly garden.

The puppy carer also needs to be actively involved in socialising the puppy as much as possible.

During the first twelve months the puppy carers and their puppies will:

• ·         Attend training sessions in their local area
• ·         Go to shopping centres, malls, cafes and restaurants.
• ·         Have regular car travel.
• ·         Travel on public transport at an early age.
• ·         Socialise with other dogs and people – say at a local dog park.
• ·         Be exposed to a range of people and children of varying ages.   (If there are no children in your home, discuss this with the trainers and we could make arrangements for the puppy to go to a pre-school etc.)
• ·         The puppy is expected to be on best behaviour when it is out in public.
• ·         Always take a “doggy bag” whenever you are out in public in case of a mishap!
• ·         The puppy carer will have an ID card and the puppy will have a jacket to be worn in public.

All veterinary bills and equipment expenses will be paid by the Association.   The puppy will be issued with a crate and bedding to take home and will be crate-trained immediately.   The puppy will also have a collar, lead, halti and car harness issued.   When any of these items get too small, (or damaged beyond repair!) advise the trainer and a new item will be supplied and the old ones returned to us.

When it is time to say goodbye to your puppy, which is when your puppy is a trained well behaved little dog, it will be difficult to part with it, but you will know that you have contributed in the training of an assistance dog for a person who has a disability.   Once you have seen the results of your good work, you my even wish to become a puppy carer for another puppy.

Mrs. M. Mullen

Mrs. L. Smith

 TOWNSVILLE COMMITTEEMrs. L. Basham 

Ms. N. McMillan

Mrs. H. Kaesehagen

Mr. B. Kaesehagen

BRISBANE

REPRESENTATIVE        Miss K. Bauer

ROCKHAMPTON

REPRESENTATIVE      Mrs. K. Woollett

VICTORIAN

REPRESENTATIVE      Ms. M. Juniper

Richard Holt – President

Marjory Adkins – Vice President

Helen Fuller – Secretary

Maxine Mullen – Treasurer

Mr. Rob Fuller – Assistant Treasurer

Trainers – Mrs. Marion Adil

Mrs. Gail Kruyssen

Assistant Trainer – Mrs. Pam Hall

Committee Members : Mrs. Helen Holt

Mr. Vince Mullen’

Townsville Representatives: Hiroko Kaesehagen

Ben Kaesehagen

Larraine Basham

Our Association has had to make a regrettable decision which is to restrict the allocation of assistance dogs to an area from Mackay north and west to Mt Isa in Qld.   We did  not decide on this action lightly but find it is necessary due to the logistics of distance.”

Max

Let us introduce you to Max, a yellow Labrador with extraordinary talents.  Max has several jobs at all of which he excels.  Firstly he is a PR dog for ASDOGS.      He goes on Community Education trips and demonstrates his skills that assist people with disabilities.  He takes shoes and socks off, he opens and closes doors, he turns light switches on and off  and he will put a card into an ATM and then collect the money    -      (no— he doesn’t punch in the numbers!) 

He plays to the audience and loves applause—His nickname is “HOLLYWOOD”.

Secondly, just so Max won’t have a chance to get bored, he spends two days per week in the Multi Learning Centre at Mareeba State High School and two days per week at the Mareeba State Primary School Student Support Services Department.

Max helps the children in all sorts of subtle ways.   He’s just a big, warm, cuddly, trusting, uncritical friend to all the children and the teachers are amazed at the positive results they are getting.  Every school should have a Max!  Just make sure you turn any electric doors off because it only took Max a day or two to work out exactly where to sit to make the door open, and then he could go and visit ALL the children at  School—not just the ones in the Multi Learning Centre.

Jason with Max

Turning 11 in Nov., 2005, Jason had an early birthday present in the form of Assistance Dog, Max, a chocolate brown Labrador, who had spent the previous two years in training to help people like Jason, with special needs.

 Born with Sturge- Weber Syndrome, a rare syndrome that affects h is brain, causing  seizures and mild paralysis to his left side, the Year 5 Heatley PrImary school student has been what his grandmother describes as a “real battler”.   He also  has glaucoma and has had a number of operations to help reduce damage to his sight.

 Jason is just so tickled to have  the dog especially when Max plays tugger and ball with him and his brother, Brandon.

When Max has his jacket on he knows he’s working and he has his own seatbelt, so he can go out in public with his master.

 He will pick up things for Jason, carry them for him and he can take Jason’s shoes and socks off for him.   Also, Max can help Jason to climb up and down stairs and by now Jason and Max would have developed a strong bond between them, so that Jason depends on Max to be his constant companion.

It was love at first sight when Jason and Max met – Max had no qualms in discarding his old family for his new one and there was an immediate bond between the two.    This looks like a lifelong team!!!!!

William and Dan

Dan came to join our household in January 2005. William has a severe form of epilepsy  which impacts him  both physically and mentally.

Dan, usually called “My Dam “ is William’s constant companion and   his right hand man as the family now have a dairy farm so most days Will can be seen on his quad bike with Dan running alongside getting the cows in.

He has also become, over the years, a family dog and is much loved by William’s younger sister, Sophia and the rest of the family but it is William who feeds him and takes responsibility for his wellbeing.

William is very proud of his dog and introduces him to visitors, even if he is sometimes muddy! Dan lives on the fat of the land and enjoys lots of milk so that his coat is always shiny. He is the focal point of William’s life and has brought about a special calming influence.

We are grateful to ASDOGS ((NQ) for their tremendous input into the training of Dan and their ongoing support.

Ivan, Shelly, Chelsea, William and Sophia W.

Taine and Dusty

“My Dog, My Hero!” is what I tell Dusty.    I am not an only child any more because Dusty is like having a brother.   He sleeps on my bed, helps me get dressed and encourages me to do things that might make me angry or frightened.  I tell him stories and my problems and he doesn’t judge me when I make mistakes.   I don’t like having Down Syndrome but Dusty makes me feel confident and valued.  Everywhere we go people smile and come to talk to us even if they are having a bad day.  I am so proud that we make others in our community happy.

I had to work very, very hard to get Dusty.   Mum said I could only get a dog when I was fully toilet trained for two years and I did it!   I have had to learn obedience commands, training procedures and even how to feed him and get him a drink of water and put his “going out gear” on. 

Dusty has changed my life and i am so grateful to Asdogs.