Monday, September 8, 2014

10th Birthday Commentathon for K9s for Warriors

Thank you all for your birthday wishes yesterday!  I loved all your comments and I even received some special birthday cards which I will share during Wordless Wednesday.


I was happy to see that some of you were able to answer the Cairn Terrier Trivia yesterday.  For those of you who didn't know the answers, they are:

1) 10.5 years is the official age a Cairn Terrier is considered a senior dog (but I'm going with 10 years since my mustache and beard are all white now);
2) On the later episodes of I Love Lucy, Little Ricky had a dog named Fred and he was a Cairn Terrier; and
3) A Cairn Terrier can be any color but WHITE - as Whitley said, a white Cairn is a Westie!

I opened my gift from Ma and Daddy-dog yesterday and I was so happy to get some really stinky treats from The Honest Kitchen.  They are called Beams and they are dehydrated catfish skins...and oh dawg, are they yummy!


I wanted to do something nice for other doggies for this big birthday like donate to an animal organization.  Ma has always wanted to do something nice like donate to an organization that supports our returning military heroes.  We made what I think is an excellent decision to donate to an organization that works with both dogs and veterans.

You see, Granddog was a Marine and served two combat tours in Vietnam.  He was injured on his first tour, right before his 20th birthday, and suffered permanent nerve damage in his arms and hands. 


When he came home and returned to civilian life, he also suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and had some dog-awful night terrors.  He sought help from the VA and learned to cope with his PTSD - he was a strong Bulldog after all - though he suffered from night terrors for the rest of his life.  He died some years ago a week before his 59th birthday.  His birthday is two days before mine on September 5.

That is why today's birthday post is a Commentathon for K9sfor Warriors.  Our donation will be In Memory of Granddog.

Founded in 2011, K9s for Warriors is a not-for-profit organization committed to providing service dogs to wounded warriors suffering from PTSD or Traumatic Brain Injury as a result of military service.  K9s for Warriors trains the dogs and matches them with soldiers, who participate in a three-week residential training program to learn how to work with their service dog.

All images are the property of K9s for Warriors.  Used with permission.

What is especially touching is that K9s for Warriors' primary sources of dogs for the program  are rescues and shelters!  When a dog is first brought to K9s for Warriors attention, they learn as much as they can over the phone: vitals, history, sociability with people and other animals, etc.  Then one of their trainers evaluates the dog in person, for a hands-on assessment of the dog’s: personality, sociability, trainability, obedience knowledge, manners, etc.

K9s for Warriors is building a new Camp K9 that will include housing and a clubhouse for the warriors and kennel and training facility for the dogs.  I have been following the progress on their Facebook page since they are only about 4 hours North of where I live.  It is very exciting.

So, to help me make a donation to K9s for Warriors all you have to do is leave a comment on this post.  You have until 11:59 PM tonight to get your comment in and counted!  I hope you all will help me and support this great organization!

41 comments:

  1. Wow, dis are a pawsome thing to do Oz!

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  2. We agree a wonderful cause and a great thing to do. Have a marvellous Monday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  3. that is a wonderful thing to do - we too support military dogs...we are part of a group that raises funds to buy the doggies protective vests and we have just joined a group to get the rules changed about bringing military dogs home.

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  4. Our mom werkz at a VA, same one where her mom uze tue werk - our mom'z dad wuz retired Navy az well az our mom'z bruther an'hiz wife iz in the Reservez so we iz kind of an'military family; mom knowz what wunnerful thingz a woofie can due fur thoze ex-military soldierz who can benefit frum their aid. Thank-u fur duin'this.
    Shiloh-Lord of the Manor an'Diva Shasta

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  5. One of my favorite organizations! What a fantastic way to celebrate your birthday, Oz.

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  6. What a grreat organization! Helping dogs is of course very near and dear to my heart, and helping our returning soldiers is a responsibility we all share!

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  7. This is PAWsome Oz. What a great organization to support. Woofs to K9s for Warriors. Sending you and your family Golden LOVE <3

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  8. Oz, that's such a wonderful idea, I totally love it. we always send something to the military dogs on christmas, they deserve it the most, they risk their life everyday to protect us. Many thanks to you and your peeps for this fabulous idea! btw: how are the catfish skins? good? and how is the smell?

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  9. Thanks for the kind words you left us, the support of the bloggie community is awesome,

    Mark (RARA's daddy)

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  10. You are such a sweetie Oz and that is such a great organization. Happy Birthday pal!

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  11. We had a cairn Niko, who lived til he was 20
    Snorts,
    Lily & Edward

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  12. Ringy Dingy Oz The Great and Powerful ~ Oh you have picked a most wonderful cause to donate to. The dogs help so much for PTSD. Having met a returning vet who had a dog and seeing in the furs how much companionship they bring plus all the other things they can do. Oz you are so intelligent picking this organization for your birthday pay it forward commentathon. And just think the dog gets rescued so he can be some ones life partner. Cheers to you Oz.
    Thanks for being my friend
    Sweet William The Scot

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  13. Oh and Oz I am sorry I missed your birthday but I want you to know I wish you one big Happy Birthday. Love You Oz.
    SWTS

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  14. K9s for Warriors is such a fantastic organization. I love everything they do to help support our military veterans, both two and four-legged. I'm so sorry I missed your birthday yesterday!! I hope you had a pawsome day :) Mauja and Atka hope you got lots of noms ;)

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  15. Oz first thank your angel Granddog for his service....men like him and all first responders protecting us are most special.
    K9s for Warriors is a wonderful organization.
    Happy day after your bark day
    Hugs madi your bfff

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  16. What a wonderful idea! K9s for Warriors sounds like a wonderful cause!!

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  17. You are one very thoughtful pup! Good luck on your commentathon!

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  18. What a wonderful cause Oz!!! We think you found just the right way to honor your Grand-dog!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  19. We think that is a great cause and hope you get lots of comments today.

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  20. Happy Birthday the Great Oz and what a great idea to pay it forward. Best Wishes.
    Bentley

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  21. What a wonderful organization this is! We hope you get lots of comments!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley
    Mayorz For All Paws
    POTP For Greta!!!

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  22. Happy Birthday Oz! You look fabulous! You're doing such a great thing for a wonderful cause!
    Your pals,
    Diane and Rocco

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  23. We are sorry we missed telling you Happy Happy Happy Birthday but our crazy yaptop is not working at home!!!
    stella rose

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  24. Happy Belated Birthday, Oz. This was a really interesting post. I learned a lot.

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  25. What a great way to celebrate! Sounds like a pawesome organization! And we learned something about Cairns in this post! Enjoy your Beams! (Rita loves Beams!!)

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  26. What a great idea, to help all the humans and dogs this way.

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  27. Hey Oz!
    Wow, I'm so sorry I missed this yesterday! OMD how cool that you are helping that amazing K9s for Warriors....dogs and vets are a wonderful combination!
    Grr and Woof,
    Sarge, Pol Comm

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  28. BTW: I'm adding this to the BCCalendar right away.
    BTW again: Those fishy treats are delish...I've had them and they are tasty. Congrats!

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  29. this is an amazing thing to do

    retro rover

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  30. First of all, happy birthday! Secondly, thanks for supporting such a great cause.

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  31. Way to give back, Oz! Oh, and happy, happy barkday to you!! Much love, The Scottie Mom.

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  32. Woops, I missed your birthday yesterday it's mom's fault. So Happy Birthday to you buddy, a day late.

    Aroo to you,
    Sully

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  33. Glad we can help support this cause! Hope you had a wonderful birthday!
    -Mister

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  34. Way to go, Oz. This is such an awesome thing to do, but hey, YOU are awesome. :)

    Happy Birthday, buddy!

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  35. What a great cause and such a nice thing for you to do. Hugs

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  36. Oh my!!!! I hope i'm not to late?!!! I am so sorry Oz!!!! Things have been so busy lately, I have been overwhelmed and had no idea! :(
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

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  37. That is a pawsome organisation to support Oz.
    Wally & Sammy

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  38. Oh no, I'm so sorry I missed this and your birthday! What a wonderful thing to do to celebrate it and honor your Granddog!
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

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  39. How nice of you to donate to such a great organization! Sorry to be late.

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  40. How super pawsome of you to help such a paw-worthy cause. High Paws!
    Hugs,
    Pepper

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Thank you for stopping by and leaving a pawprint. I enjoy reading each and every one!
Cairn cuddles,
Oz the Terrier