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Bears,
dogs and kids have a good time for good causes
Teddy
Bear Day September 8, 2012 Story and Photos By Bette Sharpe Glendale Daily
Planet
Arizona Search
Dogs search demonstrations was one of many events held on Saturday Sept.
8, 2012. Free events included
creating a chocolate bear at Cerreta’s, bear coloring at Papa Ed’s,
make-and-take bear bracelets at Pink House and decorating teddy bear
cookies at Shelley’s Specialty Desserts.
Visitors were
urged to first visit the Glendale Visitor Center, 5800 W. Glenn Drive,
Suite 140 where they can pick up a map of participating merchants, coupons
and a gift bag. The Visitor Center collected donated teddy bears and other
stuffed animals for the Glendale Fire Department Trauma Teddy Program, the
Glendale Crisis Response Team and United Way.
The teddy bears and animals provide comfort to young children who
have been affected by a traumatic event.
Those who knew the value of a cuddly animal donated their bears.
Some of these bears had been with their original owners for a very
long time.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4716.
Glendale CVB
Manager Lorraine Pino is surrounded by donated stuffed bears and other
critters during this year’s Teddy Bear Day.
The stuffed toys will be given to Glendale Fire Department Trauma
Teddy Program, the Glendale Crisis Response Team and the United Way to
comfort young children who have been affected by a traumatic event.
By 2 o’clock Saturday afternoon, the Visitor Center had filled 3
truck loads of stuffed toys. This
year’s donation donation total looks as though it will surpass last
year’s total of 1,600. The collection of teddy bears on Teddy Bear Day is an
important part of the unique Glendale event.
The majority of the donated are ready for new homes. The bears and other critters will be welcomed by children
across the valley.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4726.
Judith
Grant of Glendale, AZ donates the bears
that were in her family for a very long time.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4680.
Quaid
Lackey brought 5 bears from home to donate to the
City of Glendale’s Teddy Bear Day teddy bear drive.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4724.
Amanda Zimmerman
and Delaney Wood at the Glendale Visitors Center.
Saturday was the first time the girls attend a Teddy Bear Day.
Bette Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4709
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4710.
Avery
and Gracie Richmond each color a bear for a chance of ice cream as part of
Papa Ed’s Ice Cream.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4706.
Hand
colored art works are on display in the Papa Ed’s court yard.
Participants
five and under received a kids cone when they finished their art.
Ages 6 to 9 and 10 – 12 each could receive a 4 pack single scoop
ice cream cone certificate if their work was selected by an independent
judge. The use of color and
neatness were two areas of consideration for the prizes.
Winners will be notified Monday
evening.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4727.
This
little baby, Milia Munn who is 10 months, might want a dog of her own
someday. Mom Teri and Brady
are proud parents. John
Dean/Lead Trainer, Arizona Search Dogs is hold onto Ben.
Captain John Dean was one of 60 area firefighters who went to New
York City after September 11, 2001.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4700.
PD’s
handler Rob Bolvin gives him a command.
PD is practicing his job skills, but really for him it is all just
play. Ladders and tunnels and
narrow walkways are not a natural path for a dog.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4701.
PD
quickly and confidently walks over the narrow and wobbly wooden
“bridge”.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4663.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4662.
Tonka
is the newest dog on the team. He
joined the Arizona Search Dog team about two months ago.
He came to Arizona from Montana.
He waits, patiently but focused, for Mike Guffney’s command to
take the duck. Training wise,
Tonka is in pre-school. Saturday’s
events provided opportunities for socialization and physical and mental
skill building via the obstacle course.
The course included tunnels and wobbly walkways that are inherently
worrisome for dogs. Conquering
their fears and moving through the tunnel and across the wobbly surfaces
and up the ladders is part of their training.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet No. 4653.
Desoto
and Dana Medline and Samia Elliott play tug.
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet No. 4654.
Desoto
and Dana Medline and Samia Elliott play tug.
Adam
Skiver with Desoto, Mike Guffney with Tonka, Dana Medlin and Jessi with
Hoss, Rob Bolvin with PD, Rogue and Guny are with Tim Steckler in front of
Bears & More in Glendale.
Search
and Rescue Dog Teams
-Each
canine and handler team must be certified through FEMA in search and
rescue.
-For
the handler, certification includes written and verbal testing regarding
search-and rescue strategies, briefing skills, and canine handling skills.
-For
the search-and-rescue canine, certification includes proper command
control, overcome innate fears of tunnels and wobbly surfaces under the
guidance of the handler.
-Certification
for each Canine Search Specialist Team (Dog and Handler) requires the
canine and handler to pass a FEMA sanctioned evaluation process
administered with rostered USAR evaluators.
-Currently
there are less than 200 such certified teams throughout the United States
(from:
http://www.arizonasearchdogs.com/aboutus.htm,
September
9, 2012, 4:24 p. m.)
Bette
Sharpe/Glendale Daily Planet no. 4648.
Hoss,
an Arizona Search and Rescue canine, takes on the tunnel challenge with
ease. Traveling through a
tunnel is not what a dog would normally do.
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