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If you are interested in joining our Paws On Therapy dog
teams or in volunteering in any way, please contact Patsy Swendson at |
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News and Publicity Discovery Health CME Program Pets and People: The power of the Health Connection - Watch a video about therapy dogs and Penny's From Heaven Foundation.
Power of Pets - Shane Parsons, the military liaison for Penny's From Heaven Foundation, attended the celebration of the Discovery Network's Power of Pets in New York City with Jeff Corwin, Niki Hilton, and other celebrities.
Rescue Dogs Bond With Autistic Kids - They're called man's best friend, but dogs may also hold the key to reaching children with autism. Ohio
Mom Raising
Money for Dogs in Iraq What do you get the son who has everything he needs? That’s the question Starline Nunley faced while looking for a birthday present for her son, Maj. Parker Frawley. Her solution made it a special day for the military working dogs around Frawley’s Mosul, Iraq, duty station. Nunley originally thought of buying her son, the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment’s planning officer, a cooling vest. They come with packs that start to cool after being dunked in water or placed in a refrigerator for a short time. "At home, if I put one in the shade in 85-degree weather it starts to turn white and you can feel it cooling,"" Nunley, of Springfield, Ohio, said in an e-mail. But Frawley thought changing the cooling packs would be too much trouble with all the gear he has to carry, and he thought the Army had already taken care of his other equipment needs. So his mother —– the proud owner of three Australian shepherds —– decided to help her son by providing for the dogs who work with the soldiers. "Most donations go to the soldiers. But who is finding the trip wires, the bomb-making materials, or the bombs; does the search and rescue; searches the vehicles while getting their paws burned on the hot asphalt; or cut up in the debris?"" Nunley asked. "Remember, they are working under the same extreme conditions as the soldiers are but without boots, hats, gloves, and they are wearing a fur coat all the time."" She and the Gem City Dog Obedience Club of Dayton, Ohio, of which she’s a member, had raffles, spoke to various groups and visited other dog clubs to raise the money. They soon had enough to outfit the 15 military working dogs at a kennel near Mosul with a cool vest, extra cool packs, a collapsible water bowl, a large toy, Mutt Luks (booties to protect the dog's feet) and "dog goggles. They outfitted 17 more dogs at a Baghdad kennel plus four dogs at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base that will soon be leaving for Iraq. They also sent over food containers to keep Iraqi rats out of the dog food. "One thing that has become apparent is that no matter how we feel about the war, either positive or negative, we all support our soldiers, both two- and four-legged,"" Nunley said. But the money kept coming in. So far the club has raised about $15,000, every bit of which has been used to help the dogs. Donations go to $300 kits that include $129 for a vest, $99 for a spare cooling pack, $22 for "doggles," and $52 for "Muttluk" boots. Nunely says she has applied for charity status and was told there should be no problem getting it. "(The project) has really taken off to a greater extent than I think she imagined,"" Frawley said. Iraq has 45 military working dog kennels, though, and Nunley wants to keep going until all 300-plus dogs have what they need. "They save our soldier’s lives every day,"" she said. "They deserve all they need to do the best job possible. Why should we expect them to do the best job possible without being properly equipped?" Donations may be made to Support Military Working Dogs: ‘Pet Therapists’ Enjoy Making People Smile - Hospice volunteers take dogs to local nursing homes. Therapy Dog Gracie makes new friends with members of the United States Army Drill Team and the Fife and Drum Corps after their performances at The Barracks at Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) - April 19, 2008.
Local Woman Overcomes Incredible Challenges - Click here to read the story. Click here to see the video.  Human-Canine Bond Can Change the Way We Live - By Dr. Schoen
The Penny’s from Heaven Foundation is the brainchild of Patsy Swendson. She should be a familiar name and voice to San Antonians – she was on KENS television and radio for twenty years and has written 49 cookbooks. Today, she also owns and operates Cook’s Cottage, a bed-and-breakfast in Fredericksburg, but her passion is working with and promoting therapy dogs. It was Swendson’s veteran therapy dog, golden retriever Penny, who inspired her book, “Penny’s From Heaven: Stories of Healing.” Swendson founded the group in 2006 to “honor America’s fallen heroes by providing support and encouragement to our service men and women in rehabilitation, through pet-assisted therapy, offering hope and inspiration to them, as well as their families – nurturing, training and caring for the special dogs that provide therapy or services.” She stresses that the dogs in the program aren’t just the “meet and greet” dogs that you might see in hospital or school settings, though those dogs certainly have a special place. “We are different because we are utilizing the sensitivity and intuitive nature of the dogs as a modality to reach specific goals and expectations with the patients/clients.” The dogs and their owner/handlers work with patients at HealthSouth Rehabilitation Institute of San Antonio (RIOSA), Fisher House and The Barracks at Brook Army Medical Center (BAMC). Currently, there are ten volunteer teams who make up Paws on Therapy. Among them are Staff Sgt. Nathan Combs and his dog Bak, a drug detection dog at Randolph AFB; and Pastor Barbara Galloway Edgar of Coker United Methodist Church and her dog, Gracie. These teams work with church and hospital settings. “We work with the staff who let us know what the patient’s goals are,” Swendson says. For example stroke patients might need help working with their hands, and that’s when it would be beneficial to brush a therapy dog. Patients with depression or in need of other physical therapy after surgery also find help working with the dogs. Their work with injured servicemen has been praised by animal and veterans’ organizations, and best of all by the soldiers themselves. “We even have prescription cards we made that remind a patient who the dog was they worked with and ask them to (for instance) remember the dog’s name,” which is a good memory exercise, Swendson adds. In addition to their work with live dogs in therapy settings, the foundation is hard at work providing stuffed animal toys for children in war torn Iraq. Operation Puppy Love sends toys that soldiers on patrol give to children in schools, on the street or in the hospital. The organization also sends K9 comfort packages to military dogs hard at work in Iraq and Afghanistan. Donations are accepted from around the country and sent to military bases. From Scene in SA Dogs Used In Unique Therapy for Wounded Soldiers - A rare look inside the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Dogs are being used as a unique form of therapy for wounded service members.Therapy Dogs In Hospitals - Video news clip from CBS 11, KTVT, Dallas-Fort Worth.CNN did a number of news articles during Nov 07. Below are links to some of those articles.
(Leland A. Outz/Special to the
Express-News)
A Hero Enjoys Holiday Parade
- THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO SERVE... (News 4 WOAI).
Click HERE to see short video of this news story.
Fostoria veteran finds saving grace in therapy dog
If there's one Fostorian who needs a little
grace right now, it's wounded Iraq veteran Shane Parsons.
Fortunately, that's just what he got this summer, thanks to Patsy
Swendson. Actually he got Gracie, a therapy dog with the Penny's
from Heaven Foundation, which provides therapy dogs to wounded
soldiers. |
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