The Buddy Files

Everyone loves a good mystery, and when that mystery includes a Golden Retriever named Buddy as the lead detective you are bound to be led on a grand adventure.

We recently won The Buddy Files book series in a giveaway from All Things Dog Blog.  The mom was very excited to win this series since we homeschool our human children (ages 5-13) and are actively involved in therapy dog reading programs at schools and libraries.

Our nine year old human has been kind of a late reader.  Due to a speech impediment, learning phonics was difficult for Isaac in the early years of his education.  Isaac being our number one Golden Retriever lover (behind mom and dad, of course), he was the most excited about receiving this set.  Not one to sit and read chapter books with more than a hundred pages, we all wondered how he'd fare....

Isaac sat and read the first book in the series: The Case of the Lost Boy in a matter of hours!!!  As soon as he finished it, he moved on to the second book, and his big sister started the first one.  Jaden doesn't mind reading them out of order, so he started with the third book.  Each of the children are enjoying them on a different level.  And one thing mom loves?  There are coloring pages and a teaching guide available through the publishers site.  Does it get any better?

One tradition in our home is to read together before bedtime.  Even though the three oldest children have already started the books, they have been eager to read them as a family each night too.

We look forward to continuing to grow this series in our families library.  What a great way to draw children into reading and what better subject for a dog loving family to enjoy reading together!

Thanks, All Things Dog Blog for hosting this giveaway!

One Happy Camper

One last post about camp from Mom this time. 

So last March I was asked to be education director for our animal rescue league. Having no idea what that entailed, I just knew I wanted to work directly with kids and dogs. At the beginning of June (2010) I went to our board president and said, “I had this idea for a summer camp. We’d have to plan it for next summer though cause there isn’t time to put it together this year.” She said, “Nope, put it together and do it this year.”  In five weeks, I pulled it off. It was not nearly as grand as this year, but was still great given the short notice.

We live in the “Bible belt” and our BARL president is a Christian, so I was given permission to put a Christian twist on the camp. Our theme this year was D.O.G.- depend on God and our camp song was GoD and DoG by Wendy Francisco.  I was able to look each child in the eyes and tell them that God made them special and that He and I love them and were always there for them. As simple as that sounds I hope and pray that I sowed seeds into the lives of these precious children that will reap a harvest in their lives in the years to come.

It is my desire that this thing will grow and be bigger and better each year. I also want to pursue other outlets to make the lessons we’re teaching in the camp available to more children. As I shared with media last week: “Education is key to preventing children from being dog attack victims. If they knew how to react in that situation, they’d be less likely to be injured badly. And if we can teach the kids responsible ownership, we are training the next generation to have reliable canine companions that will be an asset to our communities rather than a threat.”

And so my heart is being turned again - in addition to continuing therapy work with children and adults, education has now become a strong heart's desire.  With that I am hoping to turn some of the lessons we have started teaching into a children's book series featuring Boondocks and The Love Shack Pack.  I have no idea how to begin but am pursuing all avenues to see this through.  I'm excited to see where God is leading and to continue following the path He's set before us.

For your viewing entertainment, I leave you with a video montage from our camp week featuring three of our favorite dog songs.