4 Paws for Riley: 2008

Thursday, December 4, 2008

A big thank you to Sue Pankiw, Sarah Skinner, Amanda Kavanagh, Sylvia Brown for opening your homes to Host a Gold Canyon Party for Riley 4 Paws in November. And a big Thankyou to all those who placed an order. All the profits are donated to Help us reach our goal of 13,000 and for travel expenses for training. THANK YOU SO MUCH !!!

Rainbow Lake Craft Fair Table

We had a table at the Rainbow Lake School Christmas Craft fair this year for 4 Paws for Riley. We sold Doggie treats, candles, necklaces, epicure gift baskets. Grandma Van Vliet made the sweetest little hats and purses to sell. We had a wonderful response to our items and raised $623.00. Thank you to everyone who visted our table with out the support of the wonderful people in our community this would not be possible. Thanks so much !!!

Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Super Thanks to Christina Lennie for hosting an Epicure Party for Riley. The orders are coming in and looks like well over $100.00 profit will go to Help Riley recieve his dog. Thanks Again !!!

Friday, September 19, 2008

Big Thankyou to all of those who donated Bottles and cans to Riley. We sorted and took them to High Level for $480.00!! Woo Hoo !! If anyone else would like to donate bottles or cans just give us a call and we can pick them up.

Monday, August 18, 2008

New House

Well it has been a little crazy around our house lately.. We had to move to a new home last week and we are trying to settle in. We were afraid the move would be hard on Riley since our old home is the only place he has ever lived. But he took the move good and refuses to go back to the old house for anything. We are off to Edmonton for more appointment this week and to pick up Grandma Janny. So Riley is excitied to go. Hope to get some more fundraising going when we return.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Norwex & Epicure

All profits from my Norwex book party have been donated by Chantelle to help Riley obtain his dog. So anyone interested in placingan order for a good cause just let me know.

All profits from Epicure orders from now until our goals are met will go to help with the cost also.
Please let me know if you would like a catalog. They are having a sale right now getting ready for the catalog to come out. If you would like to host a party just let me know I am available for that too. And all of my profits go to Riley.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Riley at grad

I am so proud of Riley ! He is such a smart and wonderful little boy with so much potential. We are working hard to help him with his social and communcation skills. This dog will help him with those skills too. The dog will become a social topic for him to talk about with his peers and others.

Friday, July 18, 2008

We are planning to host a dinner and dance fundraiser for 4 Paws for Ability in September along with a silent auction or Raffle event. Please let Norman or Maggie know if you would like to help out in any way with this event or if you have any planing ideas. riley4paws@rocketmail.com

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

We are in the process of brainstorming for some fundraiser ideas and then we will submit them to 4 paws for approval and then get started. If anyone has an idea or wants to help out us out in planning or donating some time that would be great. Chantelle Bentley has been so generous in donating her sales profit from a Norwex party as well as helping me in a scrap a thon we are planning for the fall. So all you scrappers and card makers be on the look out for this fun event. I am busy sewing and crafting for the Christmas Craft show I am planning on having a table with all sales going to 4 Paws for Ability. If anyone is interested in donating any handmade items or anything else to the table that would be great. It makes us feel great knowing what wonderful friends and neighbors we have in Rainbow lake and elsewhere.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

4 Paws for Ability

Hello All!

As a father of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder, I have found it challenging as my son grows up to keep him safe. We have spent, and continue to spend, many many hours with flash cards, verbal and written cues, rewards, and pretty much everything you can think of to try to get Riley to understand what is a good choice and what is a bad choice. He does not understand how his actions may result in a safety related issue. Riley has gone out the back door in -20 degree weather with no coat or boots on, he has run out in the middle of the street many times without knowing if it was safe to do so, and will run away from me if he sees something cool at the mall. He is getting so big now that I can hardly pick him up to carry him anymore when he does these types of things. He is a big 5 year old boy and is about 65 pounds. Imagine trying to carry a boy like that who is trying to fight you to go someplace that he really wants to see!
Having a service dog in our family will help Riley so much. The dog will be trained to be not only Riley's little buddy, but will be able to help keep him calm, track him if he gets away from us, and keep him from getting into an unsafe situation. We can't wait until the dog comes! We just need to get the fundraising done before they will start to train the dog. We are tasked with fundraising $13,000 to get his dog going on training, so it will be a challenge. If you can find it in your heart to help us out in raising some funding for his dog, we would be forever greatful. We also appreciate any kind comments and thank you for your support.

4 Paws For Ability

Autism Assistance Dog
from Website of 4 Paws for Ability http://www.4pawsforability.org/

4 Paws was the first agency to begin placing skilled Autism Assistance Dogs and continues to be the largest organization in the United States and the only organization placing in other Countries Autism Assistance Dogs with tracking. Having placed well over100 Autism Assistance Dogs to date, this type of dog continues to be the most requested and most often placed dog of all of our services. As the founding agency of Autism Assistance Dogs with tracking 4 Paws for Ability continues to provide the highest quality of dogs to every child that applies. 4 Paws, unlike almost every other agency does not pick and choose whose child will get a dog. As long as the child's physician approves the dog and it is safe to place a dog in the home, no family is turned away. We continue our services with no long waiting lists and continue as always to "partner" with our families to provide the dog their child needs.
Behavior Disruption - Touch
Another skill that is sometimes requested by parents with children who have Autism, is the ability to have their child walking in front of them rather than their having to have their hand on the child at all times. In these instances, a longer leash is used by the parent, which allows them to be in total control of the dog while they are teaching their child a new routine holding a second, shorter leash as they walk beside their new partners. As they approach the street, the 4 Paws dog is trained to stop and sit any time the parent requests them to and it is hoped that when the dog stops to sit the child will also stop, even if for a minute, giving the parent the time to catch up to the child and assist them in crossing the street safely. It is also possible for families to actually tether their child to the dog from the dogs harness to the child's belt loop. The parents maintain the child's safety by holding a leash attached to the dog to easily stop the dog using basic obedience commands. In this manner, parents may engage in such tasks as writing a check for their groceries without the fear their child will disappear in the few moments it takes to look at the check as you write it. Parents can ask the dog to either "stop" momentarily or "stop and sit/down" when more time is needed.
Behavior Disruption - Lap
The mission of 4 Paws Autism Assistance Dog Program is to provide friendship, companionship, unconventional, and unconditional love for the child. A source of comfort and consistency when environments change and anxiety might be high, to help the children with Autism and the other family members find a higher quality of life and bring a more independent life to the child and the support to encounter problems and obstacles set in front of them by Autism and overcome any challenges that they are confronted by.
It is also the hope of 4 Paws to provide a dog that will be the child's best friend and buddy, so that the child will relate to the dog on a higher social level than they ever experienced before, and transfer these accomplishments to the humans which also live within their home and/or school environment.With the number of children currently being diagnosed with disabilities falling in the Autism spectrum, at an increasingly higher frequency and at much younger ages that ever before; the need for Autism Service Dogs is on the rise. 4 Paws is proud to be the Autism Assistance Dog Program most recognized by national Autism organizations. We seek every day to develop more ways in which our dogs can help families with children that have Autism. We encourage parents to ask us about any situation, no matter how silly it may seem to them, which they hope a dog could help with; if it can be done and completed in such a fashion as to not effect safety issues for either the child or the dog, we will give it our best shot.
All over the country teachers and therapists have found that including therapy dogs or service dogs placed with children, into their therapy sessions, shows a marked increase in the child's participation and functional level.
Unique Challenges for Parents
Children with disabilities present a unique challenge to parents. Autism presents even more unique challenges than other more prevalent disabilities. The child with Autism does not connect well with his or her environment. Autism manifests itself most strikingly as impairments in communication and in the formation of social relationships. Children with Autism are often nonverbal, or when they are verbal they usually do not use the skill to actively communicate with other people in their environment.
Many children with this disability have a strong need for a structured, routine environment; change creates feelings or fear and/or anxiety. Some children even exhibit serious behavioral changes including, at times, self-injury.
Wandering
Another behavior common to Autism is a tendency to wander away. Parents often refer to their children as "Houdini," stating they are able to escape from even the most secured environment and the family usually has multiple locks on every door and window in the home. When this happens, the child may be in a life-threatening situation, especially if they are already out of the physical sight of their caregiver. Children with Autism often don't respond to their names consistently, if they respond at all. They rarely understand the many dangers in their environment; an approaching car; a stranger with ill intentions; an aggressive dog separated from the child by nothing more than a gate, which is quite easily opened. Many parents report that their greatest fears center around their child being missing or when out with their child that they might look away only for a minute and turn to find their child gone or darting out into the path of an oncoming car.
At 4 Paws, we understand the unique challenges for children with Autism.
We are the home of the first Autism Assistance Dog with Tracking (Search and Rescue). Recommended by top Autism organizations, Jane Pauley, and Ladies Home Journal. 4 Paws laid the ground work for Autism Dogs in the United States and Autism Dogs with Tracking skills, internationally! We have placed well over 230 dogs since opening our doors with the majority being Autism Assistance Dogs. Currently 90% of all applicants and families working towards getting their dogs are families with children with Autism. 4 Paws, unlike some newer agencies, is a nonprofit, 501c3 organization whose mission is to place quality service dogs. No one profits from our services except the families receiving our dogs.

4 Paws for Riley