Back to School

Earl spent the summer vacation going to the beach, fishing and swimming...And being at the library listening to kids read books to him!

Now that school is back in session, we have a regular morning scheduled with the kids. He seems to enjoy being there with them. Throughout the semester the guys will read, and we keep a tally of the pages. It will improve their reading and communication skills. This type of therapy provides a relaxed nonjudgemental environment, that hopefully gets the kids excited about reading! Earl makes reading "fun"!

http://www.caninesforservice.org/Canines_for_Literacy.html

Earl's Calling

Earl is now an official Therapy Dog! He and I have taken and passed the Good Citizen Test and the training for the therapy program. The Canines for Therapy program trains owners and their dogs to provide animal-assisted visitations in hospitals, nursing homes, schools, group homes and treatment facilities. He had his first visit to a retirement community and was so sweet and calm with the residents.
I have observed a team with the Canines for Literacy Program and hope to be added to the elementary school schedule in the fall.
http://www.caninesforservice.org
We are fortunate to have this program right here in our town. The folks that trained us are compassionate and extremely knowledgeable about dogs and their behaviors.

waiting for permission

Earl doesn't take a toy away from Princess.
He waits for permission. She has taught him
to be a good dog.

"Earl, have you been in the trash can..?"

walk for CCFA

.....................................................................................We participated in a walk around Greenfield Lake to raise awareness to the little known inflammatory bowel diseases of Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's. Go to CCFA to learn more. OR click on the title above.

Mamaw boards a boat to Masonboro Island

Right as we got to the pier to board the boat, Ella ran down the gangplank and stopped on the edge of the dock! Everyone said "Whew, thought she was going in the water..!" And then she - Jumped off the dock into the water and sank like a rock! Keith yanked her into the boat and she obediently sat still for the rest of the ride over to the island!








Ella dragged Mamaw to the surf...







Earl "fished" most of the time, while Ella attempted to swim out to some surfers.

They named me Earl

a little video made in 2009, when Earl was 2 months old....

Happy Tails

Hurricane Irene

When we are under a hurricane warning, we head to Pappy and Mamaw's house on the other side of the waterway.
























And after the storm passes, we do some debris clean-up....

too hot to go outside

Ella and Pappy

Hoops From Helen

This spring Hank helped
organize Hoops From Helen,
a basketball tourny
that raises funds for a local charity, "Hope From Helen".
http://www.hopefromhelen.com
Families facing expenses
incurred due to an illness, are the receipients.
If you would like more info,
please click on the title for this blog
entry and find out more!

the Mastiff puppy

At six months she is almost as big as Earl. He weighs more now, but she may be 30 pounds more that he when full grown. She is a Neopolitan Mastiff, and she is a sweet girl.

new girl friend

Sydney is the new puppy on the block. She's 6 months old, and this was her first boat ride. I showed her how to eat jelly fish and run in the water.

Training update

Hank has been training me to retrieve. After he showed me how -
I did in fact retrieve a duck.

last sunset of summer

cruisin'

cruisin' with the big sister

last of the summer evening cruises

swimming the channel

Following beside Hank, Dad and I swim over to the island.



going back for Dad

the passing storm

Our Earl is a strong yet gentle and obedient animal. When we heard that this storm was named "Earl" everyone made mention that with a name like that it would be too laid back to do any damage. For the most part Hurricane Earl was a lot like salty dawg Earl...




As it turned out, the hurricane, pronounced "hairikun", just passed us by. We didn't get but a few drops of rain. Still, I did my annual "storm cleaning", not to be confused with spring cleaning. And we went through the drill of moving all the porch furniture in, and anything else that could go airborne in a tropical breeze.







Hank took these photos Thursday 2 September.
Almost as many people came to see the ocean, as they do on a bright sunny day. There was a traffic jam heading off the island at sunset.

Hurricane Earl

since Earl has come to live with us, this is the first storm threat we've had.
...and it's moinker is "Earl". The most laid-back gentle labrador, now has a storm named after him.
Last hurricane season produced nothing that headed toward our coast.

As of now (2 Sept) this a strong storm.
Hopefully that northerly turn will happen soon.

on a boat with Ella

Earl is a greeting card

http://www.bonairdaydreams.com/index.html
(or click on the above title)

A neighbor has a greeting card line and has chosen Earl to be her newest design!
His card number on her website is c385.


I took this picture to reproduce the photo that is on the greeting card.

sprinkler joy