Brandy and Val

All the dog lovers I know eagerly await watching the Westminster Dog Show each year at New York City’s Madison Square Garden.  I am no exception.  Last year my husband and I went and we had a blast.  The most fun was meeting the dogs in back and watching them get primped and primed before their showings.  Oh the tortures many of those poor things go through!  Blow dryers, flat irons, curlers, sprays, gels, rubber bands galore are just of a few of the necessities that the groomers use to prepare the pup to perfection. It was also really fun to see the breeds’ personalities come to light when the dogs are all gathered in their “best of breed” rings.  For example, those ever-friendly Labs (Labrador Retriever rescue) always seem to have their tails wagging whether they are waiting to be judged or not.  The Mastiffs (Mastiff rescue), known to be rather lazy, are all lying down and falling asleep when they’re not “on” while the Viszlas (Viszla rescue)all seem to be bouncing in place doing their best to contain their energy but rarely sitting still.  The movie, BEST IN SHOW, is probably one of the best-known and funniest movies spoofing the whole dog show process.  For those who have not seen it yet, it’s a must.

Yesterday’s, New York Times had a cover story in their business section by David Segal: “Best P.R. in Show” describing the not-so-wonderful side of making a dog a star.  It was disheartening to read that, much like movies studios and the Oscars, ads are taken out in trade papers and magazines extolling the virtues of a dog to be shown in hopes of garnering a few votes and good-will from the judges.   The article goes on saying how much it costs to make these dogs stars:  easily 6 figures and that many of the dogs are now “owned” by several people to help defray the costs involved for traveling to shows; handling; training; placing ads, etc.  Hard to envision our loveable pets as commodities considering how much our dogs mean to us as integral parts of our families.

Nevertheless, we love to see the pups looking their best and we love to see all the different breeds.   This year, three new ones have been accepted to the competition:  The Norwegian buhund, the Pyrenean shepherd and the Irish red and white setter.   Who will turn out to be this year’s star and capture the “Best in Show” ribbon at the 134th Westminster?  Brandy, Val and I will be watching.

IF YOU LIVE IN CHICAGO YOU MUST VISIT OPEN BOOKS.  This past weekend we were excited to be a part of the opening weekend festivities at Open Books Bookstore, an arm of Open Books whose mission it is to promote literacy programs for adults and children throughout the Chicago area.  This amazing organization has amassed a collection, through donations, of over 175,000 books!  The store is bright, cheerful and inviting and the electricity and enthusiasm of the staff is highly contagious.  Brandy, Val and I were thrilled to have been given the opportunity to be on hand where I read our books while Brandy and Val worked the crowd (I believe someone called them charming!).   The staff is so erudite and literate, I’m intimidated to continue writing…..

But I will because there is so much good stuff going on there that everyone needs to know and get involved.  With 20% of adults being unable to read above the 5th grade level, and with minority high school dropout rates on the rise, we have a national crisis on our hands and the tide must be stemmed.   Open Books’ programs include buddy reading with elementary school children, creative and professional writing workshops for children and adults and they even have a virtual writing program where students and volunteers coordinate their writing efforts online.  Volunteering opportunities abound throughout the City either on a regular or event only basis.  They have even partnered up with a popular program that involves bringing dogs to school.  Brandy and Val have experience with that —  surely 2 thumbs up if they had thumbs.    Having been involved with reading, literacy and tutor/mentoring programs for over 20 years, I don’t know I missed hearing about Open Books until now.  I can’t wait to start volunteering with them in some way.

OH, and they have T-shirts in great colors.

Brandy, Val and I were privileged to have been recently interviewed by ABC7 Chicago’s Karen Meyer, a feature reporter focusing on disability issues.  Karen contacted me after having seen our mention in Chicago Special Parent Magazine this past summer.  Brandy and Val books and toys are intended for  children 3 and over and the books also have special needs appeal–a feature that I am pleased is receiving some recognition.  The sturdy tabbed pages enable little fingers, children with motor-skill deficits and mild learning disabilities to turn the pages more easily than with traditional board books and the colored rings that bind the pages allow them to grab hold of the books for easier carrying.   Being able to perform these simple tasks helps foster a sense of independence in a child who otherwise is dependent on others.   The simple themes in the books can be opened up to a myriad of social development topics; brightly colored pages facilitate the learning of colors and simple page layouts enable the learning of shapes.   View the interview and meet us!

In that same vein,  on Tuesday night we were invited to introduce our books to NTDSE (Niles Township District for Special Education) where I spoke with the parents who attended and then brought Brandy and Val over to meet and greet the children who were there.   Social workers and teacher’s aides from the special education school that some of the children go to were also there.  The meeting was held at the Skokie Library and moderated by the Come On In! coordinator, Holly Jin.  Holly and the library staff has made their Youth Services section a very special and inviting place for children with disabilities.  The Come On In! Program has been nationally recognized for its’ excellence and is one that I hope libraries across the country are paying close attention to and thinking of emulating.  We are grateful for the invitation and hope that in the future we are invited back to do a pet therapy program in some capacity.

Another youth disability program of note that we will be participating in is the Easter Seals Book Fair at the Lily Garden Child Development Center in Villa Park, IL on December 10.  Our books will be on sale for the entire event but on that day, Brandy, Val and I will be in the classrooms meeting with the kids and reading the books.

In addition to having all children enjoy our Brandy and Val books and toys,  a future goal is to have them be incorporated as an educational tool for use by schools and pedi -OTs.

Welcome to the first posting of Brandy and Val’s blog where we’ll keep you up-to-date on the pups’ news and events!  We’re excited to announce that Brandy and Val books and toys will be making their debut in the D.C. area at the Washington, D.C., JCC blood drive and emergency preparedness day.  The blood drive runs from 4:30 – 8:30 p.m.   A portion of our sales from the event will help support the JCC. Emergency preparedness is near and dear to our hearts since Val is a Hurricane Katrina dog and he most likely lost his family when they had to evacuate New Orleans and was forced to leave him behind.  Why was he abandoned, you might ask?  Because there was no evacuation plan that provided for pets! Since then, the Government has thankfully enacted the Pet Evacuation and Transportation Standards Act (PETS).   www.avma.org/disaster/petsact_faq.asp We hope Bo, the first dog, helps out with the enforcement of this important provision.