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He's the Dude!
Therapy Puppy in Training has Joined the Adventures Team!
Benefits of canine assisted therapy are vast and well documented, including everything from lessening depression and anxiety to encouraging communication and socialization. Dude will be providing these benefits, and many more as he grows and is able to spend more time in the Adventures Program.
At the moment, he's three and a half months old and only in Zelienople twice a week, learning how to behave in large groups of children, around animals, in gardens, and generally providing brief mental health visits for staff across campus. As his learning increases, his time on campus will also increase and eventually, after therapy dog certification, Dude will be available for off campus visits and programs.
Dude is owned by Julie Wahlenmayer, the Director of Adventures, so that he has a loving and consistent home to keep him well trained for therapeutic interactions.
He is a Vizsla, a breed dubbed as the "velcro dogs" for their desire to be close to people. Broodstock for Weimaraners, the breeds are very similar, and both have unusually soulful and expressive eyes. Known for their high levels of affection and ease of training, Vizslas are consistently rated as excellent therapy dogs. Dude's super short (and super soft) hair coat also makes him as close to hypoallergenic as a dog can get without actually being hypoallergenic. The added benefit of not having your pants covered in dog hair with all the snuggles he gives is great too.
We'll be sure to keep you updated on Dude's growth and change as he learns new skills and meets new folks. As with all babies, it will undoubtedly be a fast and bumpy road, full of romps and zonks. He will grow to be about 70 pounds by his first birthday, so be sure to stop by and see him while he's still small so you can say, "I knew him when..."!
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Meet Ashley Gigliotti 
Our Newest Adventures Staff!
We are growing again! On this very exciting note, we have hired Ashley Gigliotti to join our Adventures team and provide therapeutic riding lessons. Ashley comes to us with 25 years of horse experience. Over the past 25 years Ashley has continued to take
and teach lessons as well as
owned and
shown her
horse. She has her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and her Masters in School Counseling. She is a nationally certified counselor and has spent the last 7 years as a school counselor in a local elementary school. She has lots of experience working with children on the autism spectrum and is excited to get started.
Ashley will take on Wednesday evening and Saturday afternoon lessons.
On some fun side notes, we nearly hired Ashley 8 years ago before she decided to head back to school for her Masters! She also comes highly recommended
by long term
Glade Run staff and sister-in-law, Maria Gigliotti (and we all know you are not required to say nice things about your sister-in-law, so she must be good)!
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School Based Selfies
Glade Run's School Based Teams Visit Adventures
It's not every workplace that provides time devoted to
relaxing
with horses as a part of their year end wrap up! On
June 13th, around 30 members of the school based team, who are now in 21 different schools providing mental health support, were invited to experience some of what Adventures has to offer.
Many staff enjoyed the sensory offerings of both aromatherapy and the barn as well as taking selfies with the horses
to get the summer off to a good start!
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Pittsburgh Cares... A Lot!
Inspiring Student Service of All Ages
In July, both middle school students from a variety of Pittsburgh schools and Pitt University students devoted a big chunk of their time to helping out in Adventures.
Pittsburgh Cares, a local volunteer organization, rallied over 40 middle school aged youth in an effort to inspire volunteerism from an early age. The kids helped clean the outdoor classroom and trails as well as painting our new grooming stall and
weeding the gardens.
College students
involved in
PittServes at the University of Pittsburgh
also showed
up, eager to complete the herculean
task of moving the
chicken coop. Students of both ages impressed us with their commitment to give back to their communities and their willing
attitudes.
We love volunteer groups; the more we get, the more we can do! Thanks Pittsburgh!
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Sensory Playground is Open
And featured in the Post Gazette!
The playground is just one more thing that makes Glade Run special - and wow, is it super special! There was a great article about the playground's grand opening, which you can read at this post gazette link if you'd like. It mentions the blueberries which surround the playground. The first week of camp, we realized that the blueberries were a major feature of the environment, one that we hadn't even considered as a social tool in our tool kits. Campers worked together to pick berries and make jam to share during the grand opening and with their families. They were seen dragging their siblings up to pick handfuls of delicious fruit during the final day of camp and even made plans with each other to return next year when the berries are ripe again. You just never know what will be "the thing" that helps kids to make friends, but thanks to Glade Run, we can provide a great array of possibilities!
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Days of Joy
Summer Camp Kids Thrive!
We wish that we could bottle it, the pure joy on kids faces, it looks
like a smile that starts in your gut. Our first session of camp is complete and our second session is about to begin. It's not just the kids eating up the days of joy; camp staff commented time and time again how this first session was one of the best ever! The addition of new summer staff Miss Tiffany,who works during the school year at St. Stephen's North in Sharon, brought an influx of new camp crafts and a sense
of calmness to each day. The old saying
is true that time flies when you are having fun,
we can't believe summer is more than half over already!
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Update on Snowdrop (Lola)
Our Baby Cow is Someone Else's Baby Now!
It's hard to say goodbye to animals, even when you know they are going to a good home. Luckily, we have been keeping in touch with Stephanie Rowe and her husband, who purchased Bobbi Sox's calf and a
Woody as a
companion sheep
from Adventures last December.
We knew her as Snowdrop, but her new name is Lola and she appears more spoiled than even we could manage! Stephanie and her husband live in North Carolina and built special accommodations for their new barnyard family. We've been sent Lola's birthday party photos, pics of Lola with their grandchildren, and photos of their beautiful new barn. We are so happy that Lola has such a great home and is providing the therapeutic interactions she was born to provide!
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