Hope for Dudley

This handsome boy was born deaf and blind in one eye. He is a

beautiful, eight month old, purebred Australian Shepherd and was

released to WAG by a woman who adopted him from a breeder.

She was aware that he was deaf but thought she would be able to

handle his training.

As he got older

she realized that his

energy level was

too much to handle

and she did not have

the patience or

knowledge to do

what was right for

him.

She surrendered

him to WAG so he

could get the train-

ing necessary for

him to be a part of

an active family. Dudley is now at Clallam Bay Corrections Cen-

ter (CBCC) where he began his basic obedience training.

Training a deaf dog requires a major commitment and lots of

patience. With research and talking to our trainer, Judith Bell,

WAG invested in a vibrating collar for Dudley to assist in getting

his attention through vibration since he can’t hear the tone of

your voice. He has to look at your face and hands to get his in-

structions. He is learning typical hand signs we use in the dog

program, along with a few other signs. To signal “good dog”, his

trainer uses the simple “thumbs up” sign every time Dudley does

something correctly, along with a very animated oral expression

of “what a great dog”, and, of course, an immediate reward of a

treat.

Dudley is learning to focus on his handler. Because he is visu-

ally oriented, visual cues must be used. One advantage is that he

will not be distracted by noise or other sounds.

Since deaf dogs cannot hear people or animals approach them,

they can get startled more often. So not to be started, Dudley will

be conditioned to wake easily in response to a gentle touch or to

being touched unexpectedly. As he matures, he will gain self-

confidence and experience in a wide variety of situations. (continued on Page 2)

Welfare for Animals Guild

A Local Dog Rescue

W.A.G. Summer 2015

Serving the Community

since 2001

Home Environment

Staffed entirely by

dedicated volunteers

David and

Dash By Judy Stirton

David called

WAG and asked if

we had a little dog

for him. He was

l one so me an d

needed a buddy. I

just happened to have a little Chihuahua named

Dash that was quite the character but nobody ever

shown interest in him. He was just a brown little

dog in the photos on Petfinder, but Dash is a fun,

sweet little guy in real life.

I have adopted dogs to many seniors, so David

was no exception except that he was a man. Most

of my senior adopters are women, but over the

past few years, I have had four adoptions to men,

two of those dogs to men that were lonesome.

In fact, another little dog by the name of Brody,

that came in with Dash, was adopted to another

senior man last year, and is now his constant com-

panion. He is a veteran, was so depressed, and was

told that he could not have a dog in his apartment

complex. I talked to him about contacting his doc-

tor for a letter recommending a companion dog.

Two months later he called me excited that the

apartment manager had read the letter from the

doctor and gave him permission to have a little

dog. You may have seen Bill and Brody (another

Chihuahua mix), walking all over town in Port

Angeles.

David met Dash last month and they bonded

instantly. What a win-win! Dash needed a loving

home and David needed something to love. David

said, “Dash is such a wonderful dog and I love

him so much. I missed my other little dog so (continued on Page 3)

P.O. Box 3966, Sequim, WA 98382 Message Phone 360-460-6258

W A G P.O. Box 3966

Sequim, WA 98382

Message phone

360-460-6258

Website welfare4animalsguild.org

Email welfare4animals@hotmail.com

Officers/Board of Directors

President: Judy Stirton

Vice President:

Nancy McLaughlin

Secretary: Linda James

Treasurer: Mary Ann Langan

Director: Joyce Blankenship

Director: Barb Brabant

Director: Melanie Marshall

Page 2

PLEASE JOIN US Saturday, August 29, 7:00pm Olympic Cellars Summer Concert

presents Creme Tangerine Supporting the Welfare for Animals Guild

Enjoy the great music and wine under the stars

Concert Starts at 7:00pm. Doors open at 6:00pm, and we suggest you bring lawn chairs. Family Venue. Local restaurants or catering companies will be onsite with food available for purchase. Creme Tangerine do Beatles songs. Faithful versions but not carbon copies. Don't expect Beatles tribute band clones. But do expect all your fav Beatles songs, the hits, the B sides And you won't find any more nicer lads. No Musician Ego Trips here. Just Magical Mystery Tours. Tickets Online: $14.00/person. Go to: www.olympiccellars.com/events Tickets at the Door: $17.00/person

Address: 255410 Hwy 101, Port Angeles, WA 98362— (360) 452-0160

The Sequim Education Founda-

tion's 10th Annual Film Festival was held in April and this year added a new

Community Service category to its prizes.

Matthew Schock and Sebastian Goettling,

who have been volunteers and foster

helpers for WAG for over a year, wanted to

enter a film depicting the great

work that WAG does.

Their film, entitled, "WAG" won second place in the

Community Service category at the festival. It increased com-

munity awareness and

interest from people

who want to help, and

had amazing support

from the WAG volun-

teers who turned out to

c h e e r t h e m

on. Because of their

film, the Sequim Sun-

rise Rotary (sponsor of the Community Service Award) came

t h r o u g h w i t h s o me mu c h n e e d e d p o we r

equipment to help install some fencing at WAG’s new facility,

Half Way Home Ranch (see story on Page 3).

The film can be viewed from the WAG webpage or from

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C83OBbjyD70

(DUDLEY -continued from Page 1)

Dudley has bonded with his handler and has re-

sponded remarkably well to the positive reinforcement

training. The agility course at CBCC is another learn-

ing source and exercise. He’s extremely smart and

affectionate and wants so badly to please his human.

We are confident with his training that he will gradu-

ate with honors.

We are grateful to CBCC being supportive of this

new training technique and for their willingness to

help WAG help Dudley become a fully functional

family dog. After

training, Dudley

will be looking for

his forever home

with a loving fam-

ily.

Special Note—Judith

Bell named Dudley

after the Angel in the

movie, the Bishop’s

Wife, starring Cary

Grant.

Dudley with handler

at CBCC

Page 3

(DAVID AND DASH—continued from

Page 1)

much after having him for over 12

years. I was so lonesome, it’s been

really hard. I never thought I would

find another dog that I could love as

much as Buddy, but then I found

Dash. He has really changed my life.

I’m so happy and we are a great

team”.

Dog rescue is not only finding a

great home for the dog, it’s changing

human lives, one dog at a time!

The “C” Pups WAG received a call from a rescue

group in Idaho that there were three beauti-

ful puppies scheduled to be euthanized in a

few days. We agreed to take them and

scheduled to meet and pick up the little yel-

low puppies that were scared, under weight

and filthy. After a quick bath, flea treat-

ment and food in their tummies, they be-

came very affectionate, playful and fun

little pups with absolutely no indoor manners. Their names are Cassidy, Ca-

sino and Carrie and they all look alike.

It was decided they needed help of our training program at Clallam Bay

Corrections Center where they are enrolled in our puppy preschool and good

citizenship training. All three are doing remarkably well. They are very smart,

love people and really enjoy play time in the yard with the other dogs. They

are soon to graduate with flying colors and will be placed in their forever

homes.

One of our biggest hurdles as a rescue group is finding fosters to help with

these kinds of situations. We are looking forward to finishing the work re-

quired to open up our new facility, Half Way Home Ranch, so that we can

come to the aid of these types of rescues. We can’t do it without our volun-

teers, community and the financial support of folks with a large heart and

willingness to help.

These pups and more like them thank you!

Royal Princess Amanda Amanda Sanders was selected Princess at the 2015

Irrigation Festival Royalty Pageant on Saturday, Feb-

ruary 14, 2015. As a Royal, Amanda hopes to raise

money, food, supplies and awareness for WAG.

Since she has fostered and volunteered for WAG for

several years, she enjoys meeting people that have

the same love for animals and volunteering. She

plans to show the Royalty the love of WAG.

The four Royals will be “ambassadors” and promote

Sequim while donating hundreds of community ser-

vice hours. Congratulations Amanda and thank you

for all your support!

Sequim Sunrise Rotary gave WAG much

needed help installing posts, fencing and gates to enclose the

front and some wood panels in the back at Half Way Home

Ranch. One of the County requirements is to have the entire

perimeter of the property fenced and we needed the fence to be

up before our annual Garage Sale Fundraiser which was fast

approaching.

The Sunrise Rotary came to our rescue with their knowledge

in construction of a fence, the manpower, and the equipment

their members have available. It was impressive how quickly

they were able to install the fence and the front gates. We are

very grateful for their help, plus it was a lot of fun. A really

great group to work with!

Thank you for your support

We’re raising funds to complete the Large Dog Bunkhouse and other projects at the

Ranch so we can open the Ranch and help more dogs.

Please put “Ranch” on the memo line of your check. Thank you.

Please make checks to WAG , envelope provided.

Your generous contribution is tax deductible. Non-profit # 91-2132797

Your Help is Needed

Thank you for your support

Your contribution for food, spay/neuter, toys, treats,

vaccinations and medical care.

We have no paid positions, all of our funds go to the support

the dogs.

501(c)3 non-profit organization since 2001

Staffed entirely by volunteers

Your Contribution for Half Way Home Ranch ….

Check out our WEBSITE @ www.wagsequimwa.org News, Photos, Events. PayPal available