Anybody interested?

Every spring, my service dog organization does a ‘dogs day off’ fundraiser.  Unfortunately, I’m really not up for it right now – I’m in too much pain, and too sick.  So I was thinking about it, and I had an idea for a fundraiser of my own, but I wasn’t sure if there would be much interest.

So here’s what I’m offering: for a $5 donation, you would get a picture of Hudson that no one but me has ever seen.  It could be him working, performing a service task, just chilling, at dog park,  at the lake or the beach.  For a $10 donation, you can specify what kind of picture you like – even a pose you want (or at least, I’ll TRY for requested poses).  No one else would get the picture you get.  It’d be a special thing just for you.

Would anyone be interested in that?  If I could sell 200 of the ‘basic’ pictures or 100 of the requested pictures, or some mix of the two that totaled $1,000, we could sponsor a puppy and name it!  If we get that far, the boyfriend and I have a list of names and everyone who donated, even if they didn’t donate enough to get a picture, would get to vote on the names.  The names, for reference, range from tremendously silly to respectable, most of them nicknames I used at one point or another for my dear Hudson.

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What I do need…

I figured that in addition to the donate button, I could put up a list of the things that I need right now for Hudson:

-Food and water bowls: 2 2-qt bowls in a raised feeder.
-Slicker brush
-Hair cutting scissors
-Book: Beyond Basic Dog Training by Diane Bauman
-Book: Hands on Dog Care by Sue Copeland and John Hamil
-DVD: CTS Click & Go by Deb Jones
-16′ flexi leash
-biogroom or R-7 liquid ear cleaner
-Doggie dental kit
-Metal tooth scaler (recommended – tarter scraper at http://www.kvvet.com)
-Dremel tool with sanding wheel (for grinding nails, because I don’t have the hand strength for clippers)
-1 container of Quick Stop styptic powder
-Miracle Coat or Biogroom shampoo
-Biogroom conditioner
-Leather cleaner (lexol recommended)
-Wolfpack vest for dog, with working dog patches
-bed (I like either the nesting style ones or the big square ones, must have cover that is removable and machine washable, preferably blue)

Just to give you an idea what kind of equipment I’m actually required by the service dog organization to get. I also have to agree to feed one of their ‘preferred’ foods – only a handful of them, like Show Bound, and they tend to be pricey.

It’s a very intimidating list, to be perfectly honest. I hardly know where to start on it. I’m astonished by the cost of many of these things. I mean, my family has owned dogs longer than I’ve been alive, but they’ve never been taken care of as exactingly as a service dog has to be. After all, Hudson has to be able to be at his best every day.

~Kali

Edited to add: This is our Amazon Wishlist! http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/P76OHAEC12Y5  (edited to provide correct list!)

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We didn’t need that

The boyfriend and I just got a hit of bad news that was mostly unexpected.

The guy is a graduate student, finishing up his PhD in mathematics. He had applied for jobs this year, and not getting one, he decided to spend another year on his PhD, try to publish it as an article, so on.

He’s been an instructor for his university for several years now. Matter of fact, he’s their most experienced grad student instructor, and very well liked by his students.

But his university’s general fund was hit very badly by the economic downturn, and like so many other people, they are not renewing his contract next year.

He may be able to get a tutoring position, but that would mean a pay cut of $2,000 per semester. $4,000 over the course of the year. Things have already been a little tight for us.

We knew this might happen, they warned the grad students a few weeks ago, but I honestly didn’t believe it would happen to him. He’s so good at what he does, and so passionate about it.

So now, we don’t really know what we’re going to do. There’s a fellowship that involves teaching at a local middleschool, but that would be up where he is – about 95 miles from me. It would make it very hard for him to come down and live with me, as we had planned.

That means a lot of things, but the one hitting me most immediately is that I would have to be able to do up the harness on Hudson every day – something I had hoped not to do, as some of my hardest hit joints are in my hands, wrists, and shoulders.

I guess when it rains, it pours. My car died, and the boyfriend’s contract wasn’t renewed…what next? I hope there’s not a ‘next’.

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Straight-up good news

So, there were two pieces of news I thought I would share with you all today –

First, we’ve raised $800. This means that we’re about a quarter of the way there! I…can’t find words to thank the people who have donated enough. I feel so very unworthy of this kind of help, and utterly humbled by the willingness of people to help a friend of a friend, a complete stranger.

Second, I’ve found out that I may be able to stay with a host family. I won’t know for certain until the end of the month, but this would reduce my costs dramatically! I wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel, and I might have the ability to cook myself dinner in their kitchen (though having the energy left to cook after a full day of training with Hudson is an iffy proposition).

Best,
~Kali

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Good news, but hard news

I got my package from the service dog organization yesterday.

It has really brought home to me that this is ‘real’ – that Hudson and I really are going to train together this summer, and I will have this furry friend around to help me.

At the same time, it is bringing something else home – the price tag.

When I applied for the service dog, I really only thought about the price of the dog – 10% of your income or $1,000, whichever was higher.  As I am a student, and have virtually no income, I will be paying $1,000.

There are so many things that thousand dollars doesn’t cover.  There’s 3 weeks of training, where I’ll need a place to stay (I’m estimating at $2,500).  $120 of mandatory fieldtrips.  Feeding myself for 3 weeks while staying in a hotel.  Hudson’s equipment, which will be customized to us.  Bedding and toys and food and grooming supplies.

All told, I expect this to cost over $4,000.

The real kicker is this: because I will be in training for 3 weeks right in the middle of the summer, I cannot take a summer job.  I will need a significant amount of time to recover after training, and besides that, Hudson and I will need to get used to working together.

Worse yet, this news comes just a few weeks after I had to pay $2,500 to have my car repaired.  It was, unfortunately, a repair that could not wait as it would only get worse.

I am…doing the only thing I can do now.  I’m asking for help.   Please, if you can help…getting a service dog means the world to me.

Every little bit helps.

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