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Spring is officially here! With the warm weather, we’ve had a full and exciting month. We’re thrilled that it’s puppy season and time to welcome some of our dogs into advanced training. This month, we’re sharing a few updates, changes, and puppy highlights—so pull up your camp chair and enjoy!
| | | | Three Cheers for Our Volunteers! | | |
We were delighted to host our second annual Volunteer Appreciation Picnic! This year, we welcomed over 25 volunteers to Paragon to celebrate an incredible over 70,000 hours of service. The day began with a scrumptious lunch, filled with conversation and shared stories. Each group of volunteers was recognized and received a special Paragon branded candle to celebrate the warmth and love they share with our dogs.
There were three major activities this year. First, we hosted a “So You Think You Can Do Agility?” activity in the play yard. Our volunteer coordinator, Chloe, brought weave poles and a few jumps to add to Paragon's equipment. She kicked things off with a demonstration from her own dogs, who gracefully cleared the jumps. Then it was our puppies’ turn! Gilligan stepped up first conquering the teeter totter, ramps, and steps, bravely weaving the poles and clearing the jumps. What a great first agility run for our little pup! Epic and Fortune were next up, both strutting their stuff through the course! It was a priceless moment as everyone cheered the dogs on as they completed each challenge.
Next was a craft station, where each dog created a pawprint in paint to form a flower. It was absolutely adorable to watch the puppies press their paws into the ink pad and onto paper, creating beautiful keepsakes for volunteers to take home.
Finally, we had a photo booth where dogs dressed up and posed for fun pictures. It was a joy to see both volunteers and dogs enjoying the moment and capturing memories. Three cheers to all the pups who struck a pose!
The event was an absolute delight. It means so much to celebrate our volunteers, who are truly the backbone of our mission. We couldn’t do any of this without them. To each and every volunteer—thank you!
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We were honored to be selected by the Rotary Club of Platteville-Mead as one of two beneficiaries of their First Annual Black Bandana Affair fundraiser. It was a pleasure to meet so many community members and share our mission with them.
Epic was a wonderful ambassador for the evening, demonstrating his sound alerts and showcasing just how incredible our dogs are. As the evening continued, we removed his service dog vest, so he could receive some well-earned affection with attendees—which he happily accepted!
Thank you to the Rotary Club of Platteville-Mead for this opportunity and selecting us as beneficiary. It is an honor to be chosen alongside like-minded individuals who are dedicated to breaking barriers and inspiring possibilities.
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Unfortunately, this month we had to bid farewell to Jack, our Director of Program Operations.
Jack is returning to Illinois to be close to his family. Although we all will miss him deeply, we support his move because he is so happy to be near family again!
Jack has been so important to so many of us over the last 6+ years. He has been a critical force in Paragon's evolution and growth. Consequently, we gathered at Paragon to celebrate Jack, thank him for all that he has given us, and send him off wrapped in love.
To honor Jack, the ultimate DeadHead, we chose, naturally, a Grateful Dead theme. Over 30 of us descended on Paragon dressed in our finest tie dye, adorned the place with tie dye decorations, and had Grateful Dead music playing through out 🤗 The Grateful Dead have a beautiful lyric.....
each guest painted a rock that represented something they treasured about Jack and as we placed our rock beneath the boughs of Jack's Pine Tree we shared our heartfelt experiences with and feelings for, Jack. From clients, volunteers....
We wish you boundless joy and contentment.
And......
Hey Chicago, Look Out! JACK is BACK!!!
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Welcoming a Familiar Face
We are so, so excited to welcome Brianne Corbet back as Director of Program Operations!
Over the past year, she has served as the Coordinator of Client Services.
Working remotely from North Carolina, Brianne supported clients through our application process, dog matching, team training, graduation and ongoing support of the team through the life of the match. Now Brianne is returning to Colorado and stepping into this new role.
Brianne brings nearly two decades of experience in all facets of the service dog industry....
Brianne brings tremendous expertise and sound leadership and we are thrilled to have her back in this role!
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Hi!
It has been such a busy month since I started advanced training. Right away, we had our volunteer appreciation picnic, where I got to try agility for the first time. Those weave poles were tricky, but with a little help, I made it through!
I’ve been visiting lots of new stores and parks with my trainers, and they say I’m doing great. My trainer also told me that my sound alerts are amazing! My nudge is very strong, and one day I’ll get to wake up my match for an alert.
Talk to you soon,
Fortune 🐾
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We’re so excited to welcome our new Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Henry— who's sponsor named after King Henry!
This adorable puppy has already headed off headed off to prison to begin training with Stephen, his inmate handler. The word is that Henry has taken the prison by storm! Only two weeks in and he already has an enormous fan club!!
For more puppy updates, be sure to follow us on social media so you don’t miss a moment of their journey.
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PAWS'abilities Graduates!
This month, we welcomed two PAWS'Abilities dogs - Fortune and Flap Jack - into advance training. Both dogs returned from the prison after spending over a year working with their inmates Handlers. These three wonderful handlers - Chris T, JJ, and Stephen - did a great job helping their pups develop strong confidence, conquer foundational skills, and build a repertoire of cues and sound alerts.
Since transitioning to advanced training, both dogs have been performing exceptionally well. Fortune has been especially impressive in public access work, maintaining strong focus around other dogs, people, and a variety of distractions. He has proven to be an absolute delight. FlapJack has also been shining, consistently demonstrating his learned cues along with his affectionate and gentle nature.
The love, patience, commitment, consistency and boundless dedication these guys have invested in these two dogs over the past year has been immense. Thank You so much Chris, Stephen and JJ for your amazing hearts and hard work!!!
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Thank you for Reading!
Thank you for joining us for a wonderfully busy month. We love having so many events to share stories about, and this month gave us even more to be grateful for. As the weather gets warmer, we’ll have more adventures to share, new puppies to welcome, and PAWS’abilities graduates to celebrate. Stay tuned!
With gratitude,
Paragon Service Dogs
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