What's unique about Shelby?
Well for one she's a chocolate Labrador, in PADS' history we've had less than 20 chocolates, they just aren't as common, and currently we don't have any dogs with chocolate in our breeding program.
Rather than coming from our breeding program, she was also donated to PADS by long time supporter Terray Boomir at Terrarust Labradors. Terray has been donating dogs to us for a very long time...and currently we have over 14 of Terray's puppies at various stages of training and many more working with clients (so maybe Shelby isn't THAT unique on that front...)
But what makes this tiny adorable Chocolate Labrador unique other than her spirited, playful personality is that she marks a milestone in PADS' history.
She is our 500th puppy to enter training.
22 years, 500 dogs...a lot of history, a lot of lives changed. Who we are doesn't begin and end with puppies though....it starts with our wonderful clients. They are as diverse as our dogs: coming from all walks of life, with their own stories, their own victories, and their own desire for a new kind of freedom. Freedom that for many comes in the form of a faithful, and highly skilled dog like Shelby will be one day.
So, friends, supporters, volunteers -- congratulations, 500 is a big number, we couldn't have gotten here without you...and we can't keep moving forward without you either.
Here's some interesting statistics about those 500 dogs from Jackie Clark, our Director of Canine Programs:
• Labrador Retrievers - 207 (Yellow 105, Black 87, Chocolate 17)
• Golden Retrievers - 90
• Smooth Fox Terriers - 21
• Lab X Goldens - 19
• Schipperkes - 12
• Shetland Sheepdogs - 11
• Standard Poodles - 10
• Labradoodles - 8 (Standard 7, Miniature 1)
• Smooth Collies - 6
• Australian Shepherds - 5
• Lab X Border Collies - 5
• American Eskimos - 4
• Bernese Mountain Dogs - 4
• Chesapeake Bay Retrievers - 3
• Miniature Goldendoodles - 3
Other breeds: Basenjis, Tahltan Bear Dog, Soft-Coated Wheaten Terrier, Papillon, Miniature Poodle, Lab X German Shepherd, Karelian Bear Dog, Irish Setter, Miniature Schnauzer, various other crosses.
Posts
Are most of the non lab/golden dogs donated litters?
ReplyDeleteYes, in fact our breeding program currently only includes Black and Yellow Labradors though we would very much like to find some high quality Golden Retrievers to add to our breeding colony. Though in the past a wide variety of breeds have made their way into the program, only a small percentage on non-lab/goldens graduated with clients. As a result PADS now uses only Labs, Golden Retrievers, and when donated, Labradors crossed w/Golden Retrievers for it's service dog program (this combo has proven highly successful at larger schools in the US).
ReplyDeleteOur hearing dog program still uses a wider variety of smaller breed dogs, and currently relies entirely on donations from reputable breeders for it's puppies.