A Place of our Own…One Tile at a Time

We have a lot to be proud of at Austin Dog Alliance.  In two years time we’ve found homes for hundreds of dogs, taught Dog Safety classes in our local schools and through the K9 Kids programs we’ve touched the lives of over 200 children.  Our pet therapy volunteers and their dogs have worked thousands of hours in hospitals, nursing homes, libraries and schools.  And now that we are partnering with Paws for Alert, we’re impacting children in the deaf community by creating opportunities for deaf kids to develop socialization skills by partnering with hearing kids to train hearing ear dogs.  We have you to thank for these accomplishments, because you’ve supported us every step of the way.

What we’ve discovered in these two years, however, is that for every dog that we place, another adoptable dog is waiting for a forever home.  For every pet therapy team that we train, two more are needed.  And for every kid that works with a Bow Wow Reading Dog and learns that reading is fun and that he or she can do well in school, there are far too many others that lack the confidence and the skill to meet their full potential.

The single most limiting factor to the Austin Dog Alliance’s ability to have a greater impact in our community is that we do not have a dedicated facility.  We’re changing that.  We need your help to do it.

Join us today in kicking off our campaign to raise money for the Austin Dog Alliance Community Center.  We’ve set our goal high -- $40,000 – to create a facility that will be the hub of our organization featuring training classes of all kinds, tutoring for kids, a library, as well as a retail outlet in 2009.

You can literally help us build the Center by buying a tile, customized with your name, your company’s name, or in memorial to a beloved pet that will be displayed as you walk into the building.  Tile purchases include a one year membership in the Center and are tax deductible.  Check out the details at www.austindogalliance.org.

Honor your child, your best friend, or anyone you love with an engraved tile laid in the Austin Dog Alliance Community Center foyer, a permanent reminder that dogs create positive change in our lives, especially in the lives of children.

Meet Sam – 100% American Mixtel

A favorite game played in dog parks everywhere doesn’t involve a ball or a Frisbee.  It doesn’t even require that you have a dog.  It’s played among dog lovers and is called, “What kind of dog is that?”  It’s not all that different from identifying the qualities in a fine wine.  But instead of hints of black cherry and oak, we’re looking for traces of Golden, Lab, or maybe something more elusive like Shiba Inu or Pomeranian.

Meet Sam, one of our foster dogs.  He’s the perfect dog to play this game with.  Although we can’t be certain what breed Sam may be, we know for sure that he’s the kind of dog you keep around.  The kind that’s always up to play ball, the kind that’s good to hang with other dogs and the kids, and the kind that’s good to love.  That’s a game we can win.

K9Kids After-School Program

Is your kid fascinated by Animal Planet?  Does he or she want to be an animal cop when they grow up?  If your child is in the 4th or 5th grade, wants to own a dog, loves dogs, and loves everything dog related, then have we got the after school program for you!

Austin Dog Alliance K9 Kids Club is a six week program that takes place one afternoon a week.  We bring in experts in AKC Agility and Rally, Search and Rescue, grooming, and more, giving participants a close up experience with professionals who have made a career out of working with dogs.

Your child will be inspired to work hard in school while developing self-esteem doing what they love: working hands-on with dogs.  It’s so much fun that parents want to come too.  This is one of our most popular programs at Austin Dog Alliance and sells out quickly, so make sure you register early.

New classes start September 30.

Register today!

Paws for Alert Partners with Austin Dog Alliance

One day not too long ago Debi Krakar from Austin Dog Alliance and Carolyn Honish from Paws for Alert sat down to talk about their programs and realized that these two groups belong together.  Since that day a partnership has been formed that serves both the deaf and hearing communities in the Austin area.

Paws for Alert serves the deaf in two ways.  The first is by training hearing dogs to assist deaf persons living in a hearing world.  The second, by using the training process itself as an opportunity to develop communication strategies between deaf and hearing students.

Paws for Alert training sessions offer a fun, social, extra-curricular activity that brings together deaf students and their hearing peers in a way that builds mutual respect and creates a much needed result – trained service dogs for the deaf.

The new service dogs are rescued from local shelters and fostered by Austin Dog Alliance volunteers until they are fully trained and ready to work one-on-one with a deaf person.

When the doors to the new center open, we will be able to expand our hearing service dog program to include more student training teams from all over the Austin area as well as by offering dog training programs in sign language to deaf and hard of hearing adults. After all, why should kids have all the fun!

Pet Therapy Program –New Classes Start in September

Did you know that Austin Dog Alliance has a pet therapy program where dogs and their owners are trained to work in hospitals and nursing homes?  Our therapy teams visit Dell Children's Medical Center, Texas Home Health Hospice and Odyssey Health Care of Austin on an ongoing basis.

You’ll also see our dogs at schools and libraries where children develop their reading skills and confidence by reading to, you guessed it, a dog!  But not just any dog, a Reading Education Assistance Dog (R.E.A.D.).

Every day we have to turn down requests for our therapy teams because there just aren’t enough to go around.

We require all of our therapy teams to pass a Delta Society Pet Partners Evaluation.  Admittedly, our standards are high, but we have the training classes to help you be a success.

Three hour Pet Therapy Seminars are held every other month to introduce teams to the Delta Society evaluation process.  If you need more training before the evaluation, we offer six week classes taught by local trainers and experienced volunteers to get you ready.  Online registration begins August 15th for the six-week class.

What it Takes to be a Foster
by Kaalah Manongdo, 14 years old

Recently my family and I started fostering rescued dogs through the Austin Dog Alliance.  As a foster family, our goals are to teach the dogs manners so they can become a polite household pet, to help advertise the dogs for adoption, and to match each dog with a forever home who will properly care for them for the rest of the dog's life.

My favorite thing about fostering dogs is knowing that I'm helping to save a dog's life.  Most of the dogs that we foster were out of time and scheduled to be euthanized.  Rescuing and fostering them is giving them the opportunity to find a family and have a happy life.

Fostering is an ongoing learning experience.  Our first dog (pictured here, Oreo) was matched quickly with her forever home.  Other dogs are sick and need to be nurtured and worked with before they are ready to be matched up.  I have learned that every dog is different.  Certain lifestyles go well with certain dogs, and it's our job to match those together.  Every dog deserves a chance, and through fostering, we are giving them just that.

For more information about fostering, please contact our Rescue Coordinator at Carol@AustinDogAlliance.org.  Our next FREE seminar on Fostering a Shelter Dog will be held on Saturday, August 23 from 1 -3 at Romp N’ Run Ranch in Leander.  Sign up today.

New Board Members

Austin Dog Alliance is pleased to announce the addition of several new members to our board of directors.  Together they help us achieve our rescue, pet therapy, and outreach goals.  Our current board includes.

Debi Krakar, Executive Director and Board Member
Jessica Harrison, Trainer, Delta Society Advisor and Board Member
Catherine Sanchez, Marketing Director and Board Member
Carolyn Honish, Paws for Alert Program Director and Board Member
Carol Wright, Rescue Coordinator and Board Member
Karen McGarity, MPS, ATR Advisory Board Member
Nikki Wilikinson, Advisory Board Member
Ellen Mahanay, Advisory Board Member
Mari Sharma, Advisory Board Member
Mary Coco, Advisory Board Member