[nagdu] Dog Therapy and Paws that Heal

Haben Girma habnkid at aol.com
Wed Feb 11 01:13:13 UTC 2009


Thanks for the articles, Linda!

I identify as female, born in California with family from Eritrea, East 
Africa. Haben is actually a gender neutral name in Eritrea, so it's a 
legitimate question all around. I like the ambiguity, especially when 
filling out applications for various things.

best,
Haben

lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com wrote:
> Hi Haben,
> Attached are a couple of articles and a flyer aboout the Paws That 
> Heal program. One article and the flyer are in PDF files and the other 
> article is in a work doc.
>
> I can't tell from your name if you are a male or female - I just like 
> to know what I'm talking to! (grin).  What nationality is your name?  
> I'm half Polish. It took me an age to find out that Marion Gwizdala is 
> a man!
>
> Enjoy the articles.
>
> Regards,
>
> Linda and Landon
>
> PS:  Your home e-mail didn't work so this is on the list.
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Haben Girma" <habnkid at aol.com>
> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Monday, February 09, 2009 7:03 PM
> Subject: [nagdu] Dog Therapy and Paws that Heal
>
>
>> Linda, I am absolutely intrigued! That is such a lovely program! I 
>> really hope I can find something like that in the Portland, Oregon 
>> area. I am a college student currently taking an anthropology class 
>> that requires students to go out and do fieldwork. I am considering 
>> doing something with Guide Dogs for the Blind in Boring, Oregon. 
>> Right now I'm going to search the Internet for a dog therapy program 
>> in Portland. Thanks for sharing LInda!
>>
>> Haben
>>
>> lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com wrote:
>>> Hi Haben,
>>> There is no web page for Paws That Heal.  We are a 3 year old 
>>> program that is run out of the Health & Wellness Department for the 
>>> Naval Medical Center of San Diego.  The program manager is their 
>>> Diabetes Instructor. She is visually impaired with a guide dog and 
>>> she started the program after an encounter in the elevator with a 
>>> Wounded Warrior in her building.  The servicemember had a profound 
>>> stutter and it took him five minutes to stutter out, "May I pet your 
>>> dog?"  My friend - the instructor - allowed him to pet her dog and 
>>> the stutter went away just like that!  He then shared his war 
>>> experiences with her - the servicemember was wounded in Iraq.
>>>
>>> Anyway, the Diabetes instructor happens to have been a friend of 
>>> mine for years.  She also knows several of the other guide dog users 
>>> in the San Diego area who already had a program with the local blind 
>>> center where we bring our dogs to an outdoor, fenced in dog park to 
>>> allow the guide dogs play time together.  We had exclusive use of 
>>> one of the fenced in areas for two hours once a month.  The friend 
>>> of mine worked with us and her chain of command at the hospital and 
>>> permission was granted to bring several wounded servicemembers to 
>>> the park to play with our dogs - and Paws That Heal was born.  We 
>>> also have a portion of the program where we go to the locked mental 
>>> health ward to work with the servicemembers with PTSD and 
>>> depression. More great stuff happened as well.
>>>
>>> I do have a flyer for the program but it is in a PDF file and turned 
>>> sideways - don't know if a screen reader can desipher it!
>>>
>>> The program manager has written to Marion Gwizdala and he in turn 
>>> had her contact Mike Hingson about the program. We are looking for 
>>> some new teams to work with us who live in the San Diego area.  The 
>>> Paws program happens three times a month at the hospital so we need 
>>> people who can get there, can commit the time, and pass the 
>>> interviewing process - both human and dog.
>>>
>>> I forgot, where do you live?
>>>
>>> HTH
>>>
>>> Linda and Landon
>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Haben Girma" <habnkid at aol.com>
>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
>>> <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2009 1:13 AM
>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Welcome Haben
>>>
>>>
>>>> Linda, those volunteer programs sound awesome! Would you send me 
>>>> the web address for Paws that Heal? I'd love to read more about it.
>>>>
>>>> thanks,
>>>> Haben
>>>>
>>>> lindagwizdak at peoplepc.com wrote:
>>>>> Welcome to the list, Haben.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm Linda and I live in San Diego - soon to move to Vermont.  
>>>>> Landon is my 3 year old red Lab/Golden cross from The Seeing Eye.  
>>>>> I got him in the October 2007 class. I am 58 years young and have 
>>>>> not had a paid job in eons. I've done lots of volunteer jobs to 
>>>>> get experience to put on a resume!  Right now, Landon and I work 
>>>>> at two pet therapy programs.  One for the Humane Society where we 
>>>>> visit various facilities for disabled kids and adults. Landon is 
>>>>> certified by the AKC's Canine Good Citizenship Test.  Landon is 
>>>>> their program's first actual working assistance dog they've had.  
>>>>> Lots of guide dog and service dog pups, but we are their first 
>>>>> working team to be in the program.  The other one is a program 
>>>>> called Paws That Heal that is at the Naval Medical Center of SD.  
>>>>> Both Landon and I had to pass a series of interviews for this.  We 
>>>>> do a combo pet therapy, socialization, and reintegration work with 
>>>>> our Wounded Warriors from Iraq and Afghanistan.  We work mainly 
>>>>> with the patients on the mental health ward.
>>>>>
>>>>> Haben, you'll enjoy this list - it's alot of fun.
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>
>>>>> Linda and Landon
>>>>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Haben Girma" <habnkid at aol.com>
>>>>> To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog 
>>>>> Users" <nagdu at nfbnet.org>
>>>>> Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 9:27 PM
>>>>> Subject: Re: [nagdu] Welcome Haben
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi Mardi, thanks for the explanations. I love the names of your 
>>>>>> dogs. I actually don't have a dog, I'm in the application process 
>>>>>> for a Seeing Eye dog right now. So, I'm patiently waiting to 
>>>>>> learn my fate.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>> Haben
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Mardi Hadfield wrote:
>>>>>>>  Hi every one,     Welcome Haben.   No, I don't live in Alaska.  
>>>>>>> My Huskies
>>>>>>> are "south paws"  We live in Tucson, Arizona.  When I first 
>>>>>>> needed a guide
>>>>>>> dog, I was told that the schools did not train for wheelchair 
>>>>>>> users.Since I
>>>>>>> already had a service dog, who was a husky, I hired a trainer to 
>>>>>>> help me
>>>>>>> train Lily  to guide me. I had to retire her at age 8 as she had 
>>>>>>> health
>>>>>>> issues and she died month later, leaving me with out a guide 
>>>>>>> dog.  I tried
>>>>>>> out a border collie and he did not work out as he had been 
>>>>>>> abused before I
>>>>>>> got him and he could not handle being out in public. Then I got 
>>>>>>> another
>>>>>>> husky, Nala,who was a fantastic guide. She will soon be 10 years 
>>>>>>> old and has
>>>>>>> health issues now.She has guided me for 8 years and it has been 
>>>>>>> hard to
>>>>>>> retire her as she does not want to retire. When she sees me 
>>>>>>> getting ready to
>>>>>>> go out, she brings me her harness and get all excited. She 
>>>>>>> started picking
>>>>>>> fights with Wanagi, the dog that I was training to take over for 
>>>>>>> Nala. She
>>>>>>> is a lot happier now that she is working again part time. Wanagi 
>>>>>>> came up
>>>>>>> lame with a hip problem, so she was  career changed. I am 
>>>>>>> keeping her as a
>>>>>>> pet. I have been looking for a dog to take over as my new guide 
>>>>>>> for over 10
>>>>>>> months. I think I have finally found a dog.I would love to get a 
>>>>>>> dog from
>>>>>>> Fidelco,but when I asked about it ,I was told that they don't 
>>>>>>> train for
>>>>>>> wheelchair users.I would have to pay my way to and from South 
>>>>>>> Eastern Guide
>>>>>>> Dogs, which I could not afford, and really can't be away that 
>>>>>>> long. Guide
>>>>>>> Dogs for the Blind would take me ,but again, I can't be away  
>>>>>>> from my home
>>>>>>> and business that long. So I guess I will just continue to train 
>>>>>>> my own
>>>>>>> guides with the help of my trainer.  Haben, do you have a guide 
>>>>>>> dog? If so ,
>>>>>>> what breed is it? I love hearing from others and about their 
>>>>>>> dogs. Have a
>>>>>>> great day,  Mardi and Nala,semi-retired, and Shaman , possible 
>>>>>>> trainee.
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>>
>>>>>>
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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