This summer was a very busy one for North Star, as we are in the midst of creating six new placements. Five of these are from pups from Suzy’s recent litter (Echo, Nomar, Shiloh, Kelly and Rita), and one is a black lab donated by Guiding Eyes for the Blind’s excellent breeding program (Castle). All of these placements are with children on the autism spectrum, and each are working on different ways to meet the children’s social, emotional, educational and safety goals.

Caleb & Shiloh

Caleb is a young boy who is paired with a very intelligent and social puppy named Shiloh. They will be attending school together this year to help increase Caleb’s socialization opportunities while decreasing his anxiety. Castle is being trained to help keep track of a young boy named Jason, who has a tendency to take flight. She is being trained to shadow her young charge, and to cut him off at the pass if he begins to bolt when out in public. Nomar is also being trained to keep track of his boy, Jake…he has been successful on several occasions in performing this important task. Echo is paired with a young girl named Diana; she is being trained to use a "warning box" that will alert her parents if she tries to manipulate the lock on her backyard gate. Kelly is being paired with a young boy named Matthew who has a tendency to throw long and difficult tantrums. Kelly has had great success already in helping to sidetrack these tantrums, and to keep Matthew focused as he moves throughout the course of his day.

In addition to putting the finishing touches on these placements, we also took the time to visit some great campers at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp this summer. Buddy and Nomar both enjoy visiting this camp with children in a huge and freshly constructed treehouse; children who were homesick were happy to meet with us and share stories with us of beloved animals left at home.

This summer also brought us a bit of disappointment, as Juliet failed to conceive the CCI litter that we attempted to create last spring. This was one of the few moments I’ve had since founding North Star where I wished I ran a hardware store instead of a foundation so I could put in an order for a box of nails and expect delivery by a scheduled date. Nature has a mind of her own, but so do we at North Star. We have already made arrangements to try again with the assistance of CCI’s excellent tempered dog Omsi, and we hope to have some better news by the time our next newsletter is written.

Our next placement will be between a North Star dog named Emma who has been raised by a shepherd who has taught Emma to round up her two year-old son, Alex, as well as her flock. Footage of these training techniques as well as methods that can be used to train a dog to alert to wandering children will be included in my new tape "Training Your North Star," which is now available upon any size donation to North Star Foundation. Please refer to the BOOK & TAPE LIBRARY icon for details on how to order this video, along with "Northern Lights," which focuses on incorporating North Star dogs into children with developmental disabilities’ therapeutic programs. My book THE GOLDEN BRIDGE is also available both in hardcopy as well as contained on a CD-ROM.

Currently on our waiting list are several children in foster care as well as children dealing with the challenge of developmental disabilities and difficult life circumstances. We have made 22 placements to date, and I want to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support. We could not be helping these children without you. Together, we are making an important difference in the lives of some truly terrific kids through the use of specially bred and trained Assistance Dogs.

Warm regards,

Patty Dobbs Gross, Director

North Star Foundation

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