The Running of the Chihuahuas

It has been a very hectic week for the Goodwill Assistance Dog Academy! On Friday, Jerry and Eddie visited Lookout Mountain Elementary and performed disability awareness presentations for the entire school. They were able to tell all the kids THANK YOU for donating the most items to Goodwill during Smile Week! On Monday, Eddie met the Hamilton County Superintendent Dr. Scales and the Student Advisory Council, and again, it gave us an opportunity to thank them for their TREMENDOUS effort to raise the money last year to sponsor a service dog. On Wednesday, Jerry ran over to the Running of the Chihuahuas after our volunteer course at Unum. Unfortunately, we missed the races with over 100 dogs participating, but Jerry did meet some wonderful new friends! What an AWESOME week!

8-week-old Eddie did his first school visit

Imagine 8-week-old service puppy Eddie and 60 first-graders...that was our morning! We were very proud of Eddie, who performed in his first disability awareness education program today at Birchwood Elementary. Eddie showed off some basic obedience commands and helped to teach the first grade about people with disabilities and service dogs. Eddie got to see a big gym for the first time and loved seeing all the kids!

Have dinner with spokesdog Jerry on Sat, May 1st

Please join the Goodwill Assistance Dog Academy on Saturday, May 1st at 8:30 p.m. at Mudpie Restaurant (12 Frazier Ave Chattanooga 423-267-9043 www.mudpierestaurant.com) and have dinner with our spokesdog Jerry. GADA will also hold a $1 raffle ticket sale to support our new service-dog-in-training 7-week-old Eddie. The prize giveaways begin at 10:00 p.m. and include many gift cards such as $50 Crystyal Dawn Photography, $35 Goodwill stores, $12 Chattanooga Cupcakes, $10 Belk, $10 gas card, $10 i-tunes just to name a few....
For more information, please e-mail Ramona Nichols at ramona.nichols@goodwillchatt.org. Thank you for helping to make life more independent for people with disabilities.

Eddie met his Unum family this morning

Eddie spent the morning at the Unum Chattanooga campus. He met some of his wonderful volunteers, who participate in the Dog at Your Desk program, and he got to see what an office environment is all about. It was a wonderful morning!

Eddie came home!

Our newest service puppy is named Eddie (after Goodwill founder Edgar Helms). We picked him up on Monday morning, and he is absolutely adorable! This is a picture of Eddie upon his homecoming with his new Daddy and Goodwill volunteer Tim. We are very excited to begin this exciting adventure with a wonderful baby boy!

We tested a wonderful litter of Golden puppies today belonging to Robin Bowen of Prism Goldens and chose a gorgeous and smart male puppy to join the program on Monday! We cannot wait to bring him home and begin his journey to become a lifelong canine partner!

Special thanks to Pisa Pizza and Owner Scott Courter and special thanks to Amanda Wojtalik-Courter, DVM for hosting and sponsoring Pisa Pizza and Pups, which was held on Tuesday, April 13, 2010. It was a wonderful evening with forty participants and their pets! $561 was raised to support the Goodwill Assistance Dog Academy! Thank you to everyone who came out and made a difference to our cause!
We would also like to thank Eileen Fogo and Ken DeFoors for donating parking during the event!