Smooth and stylish (though perhaps still a little lacking in the rhythm department), four beautiful Labradors have arrived at PADS from Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, California yesterday. Two handsome yellow brothers Duke and Miles, a black male Coltrane and a petite, red little girl named Ella (giving Melissa a pat above).Volunteer Mike Swindells, with the help of girlfriend (and PADS Special Events Coordinator) Melissa Slade, came up with the Jazz Greats theme, naming the group of pups after Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Ella Fitzgerald.
It was a great theme for two reasons:
One:
It was a perfect opportunity to name a puppy Duke (below) in honour of Past President Rick Russell. Duke was his brother’s nickname growing up and he thought it would be a fine name for a pup...we agree wholeheartedly! More importantly if the handsome and sturdy little Duke grows up to make as much of a difference in his world as Rick, his client will be very blessed indeed.
Two:
Though I won’t make any claims to being an expert on Jazz, I know that two of the things I love about it are the improvisation and syncopation. Today as I watched Duke, Miles (yellow male below), Coltrane (black male below) and Ella play then later caught glimpses of new client and service dog teams bonding and working hard in team training this seems especially fitting. Like a beautiful melody they work together – improvising sounds like compromising, but it isn’t. It’s the beautiful thing that happens when something is done differently and yet with style. Syncopation is when a note of music that is supposed to be stressed is unstressed instead. What better way to describe what these lovely hopefuls will do for a client someday.
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