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Congratulations to our new teams!
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Congratulations to the newest three PAALS teams! Sarge, Flossy, and Bonnie are moving on up in the world, and have been paired with their partners in life. Sarge will be working as a facility dog assisting a speech language therapist. Flossy is our first ever Crisis Intervention dog working with the Department of Corrections. Bonnie has been paired with a local veteran. Congrats on your new jobs, everyone!
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| The Cheerful Giver Helps Build Foundation at PAALS |
This past December, PAALS received an extra special Christmas gift in the form of a $10,000 donation from The Cheerful Giver of the Central Carolina Community Foundation. With these funds, PAALS has been able to build the foundation for future service dogs by purchasing 13 new puppies so far in 2018, with more to come. The only way PAALS can meet the demands for our services is to build our breeding program, and PAALS also recently hosted a mother and her 6 puppies as part of an international breeding co-op, which allows PAALS to keep half of the litter. These opportunities for building sustainability wouldn't have been possible without the support from The Cheerful Giver.
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Of course, this foundation could also not be possible without their fantastic vet sponsor. Mom and pups have been doing great, thanks to the wonderful care of Dr. Laabs at Chapin Veterinary Care Center. Thanks so much for giving them a fabulous start to life!
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PAALS Celebrates Another
Canine Good Citizen Completer
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Congratulations to our sweet Duda for passing her Canine Good Citizens test this past month. The test focuses on nine different components, including allowing someone to examine paws and ears and walking by another strange dog without being distracted. Duda aced her test and is now one step closer to service dog work.
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A New Camp for Summer PAALS!
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Summer PAALS has already begun! Summer PAALS Junior Reading camp focuses on making reading fun again. This canine assisted learning program is the first of its kind in the country. Reading specialists, special education instructors, and PAALS staff and volunteers are working together to make reading champions out of 8-10 year olds. Campers are playing vocabulary soccer with service dogs in training and multiple-meaning word retrieval games with dogs. Every day canine reading buddies also team up for one-on-one reading time with books about dogs. PAALS service dog training camps are about to begin in July. For more information about volunteering, call 803-788-7063 or visit
www.paals.org/summer-paals
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PAALS Pups are Moving on Up!
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Our pups are growing fast! With the school year coming to a close and summer vacation starting, many of our pups have graduated from their current grade to move on up. Whether they are starting college, high school, middle school, elementary school, or kindergarten, we wish them the best of luck in their new grades!
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On June 2nd, PAALS was invited to a unique fundraiser. Pirouettes for PAALS, hosted by Purple Legs UP at the Dance Lab in West Ashley, Charleston, helped client-in-waiting Marka raise over $2500 for PAALS! A big thank you to everyone involved in this awesome fundraiser!
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Welcome to our New Valued Vet Sponsor!
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PAALS is overjoyed to welcome Seven Oaks Animal Hospital to our wonderful family of Valued Vet Sponsors! Located close by at 591 St. Andrews Road, Columbia, SC, Dr. Liz Cuttino and Dr. Will Basinger run a pet-centered animal hospital, where they believe your pet deserves the best in medical and surgical care. Seven Oaks Animal Hospital will also be sponsoring a PAALS service dog candidate in training from our newest litter.
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Eye Exams were a Success!
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May was National Service Dog Eye Exam month! All service dogs and service dogs in training can have an eye exam at no cost to the owner. PAALS caravanned up to Greenville with all our pups and multiple volunteers to visit the ophthalmologist. Thanks so much to Upstate Veterinary Specialists for hosting all twenty-two pups in training and giving them such great care!
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Welcome our Summer Interns
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Along with the new puppies, PAALS is also welcoming three fantastic summer interns! Andrea will be returning for another summer at PAALS, while Cameron and Danielle are brand new to PAALS. They will be helping out this summer with our programs, as well as learning hands-on skills with service pups in training. Welcome to the PAALS family, ladies!
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About PAALS
PAALS is South Carolina 501(c)(3) non-profit organization committed to enriching and empowering children and adults with physical disabilities and social needs by training service dogs and providing animal assisted educational and recreational activities. PAALS relies on a network of volunteers and private donations to perform this mission. PAALS does not receive any government funding. PAALS is the only Assistance Dog International (ADI) accredited program based in South Carolina.
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