Happy Holidays! The past 6 months have been very busy for Circle Tail. We have had an all time high of 52 dogs in the system with 22 actually on site. We have had many successful adopt-a-thons, increased number of applicants for assistance dogs, and started training another type of assistance dog. We began a liason with an additional correctional institution and had numerous public appearances. One of our canine/human teams won a regional award from a national organization. Our website is becoming more dynamic and we are receiving more and more phone calls for information about our organization. Growth requires time, hard work, financial support and occasional pains. I’d like to extend a warm thank you to all the board members, volunteers, foster families and contributors whose support is helping Circle Tail help people and animals! Marlys

New foster families and pups:

Louise Kockritz - Jet
Lori Staley & Matt Hennessey - Laika
Chris & Phyllis Frebis (2^nd time) - Tesla

Jas and Zena returned this fall to continue final training. Jas was fostered by Jaime Evans and Zena was fostered by Chris and Phyllis Frebis. Jas is being trained as a signal dog and Zena is being trained for service work. Both dogs should be placed with their new partners within the next 4 months.

During September, service dog Holly, was partnered with Tom Fogarty from Trotwood, Ohio. Holly is a yellow lab who was donated by John and Marion Sullivan last December. Holly stayed at Circle Tail for several months where she received basic and advanced obedience training and the beginning of service work. She then went to the Chillicothe Correctional Institution where she continued her advanced training. She returned to Circle Tail this summer for final training before being placed with Tom. Holly works for Tom by retrieving dropped objects, opening doors and carrying items in her back pack. She is now accompanying Tom in public and even goes to Hockey games! Tom and Holly will work together for 6 months to a year and then take their Assistance Dog Public Access Certification Test. Congratulations Tom and Holly!

The second half of 1999 was busier than the first half for adoptions. Circle Tail was able to find loving homes for 34 dogs (for a year to date total of 54), 16 cats and 2 rabbits.

Dogs adopted during this time period were:

Nancy Stanley continues to spearhead the Pet Assisted Therapy Program with the United Cerebral Palsy Center in Cincinnati. Nancy takes a variety of animals to visit consumers every other Thursday. In November, Marlys Staley, Janet Kempner and Lynn Ruby provided a short lecture and demonstration on assistance dogs at the Warren County Senior Citizens Center in Lebanon, OH. The group of dogs, Abby, Doc and Tess, were well received and plans were made to make visits to the senior center on a monthly basis beginning in January.

In September, Circle Tail teamed up with the Lebanon Correctional Institution for the care and training of both assistance and shelter dogs. The dogs will be located in the minimum security camp. So far, Lebanon has accepted 2 dogs at a time with plans to increase that number to 4. We are happy to have a facility close to Circle Tail so that the dogs in the assistance dog program can be readily available for socialization and Pet Assisted Therapy outings.

Congratulations to Angie DelGreco and her signal dog Sydney for winning the Central Region Service Dog of the Year Award from the Delta Society. The Delta Society is a national organization that promotes the human-animal bond by providing education and information on Pet Assisted Therapy and Service Dogs. This year the Delta Society held their annual conference in October in Cincinnati. Angie and Syd were selected from all applicants from the Central Region to win this award. We had the opportunity to congratulate Angie and Syd at the awards banquet where they received a framed certificate and medallion for recognition of their success as a great working team!

Daniel Acree, a young man from Springboro, OH, chose Circle Tail as the organization that would benefit from his Eagle Scout project. Dan was given a list of projects that would help Circle Tail and he chose to design and fabricate several pieces of agility equipment for the dogs. Agility equipment provides the dogs with an exciting and fun means to exercise, as well as to build self-confidence. The ability to negotiate the equipment in a confident manner helps the dogs learn about challenges and attempting tasks that are new. This will help build self-esteem in both the assistance and shelter dogs. Dan is expecting the equipment to be completed sometime in December. We are all very excited that Dan chose Circle Tail to be the beneficiary of such a worthy project. Thanks Dan!!

Circle Tail representatives have been busy in the community sharing information about assistance dogs and the services Circle Tail offers. Multiple programs were provided to local groups this past 6 months including the boy scouts, Warren County 4-H group in Lebanon, Montgomery Community Baptist Church singles group, and the Warren County Senior Citizens Center. We participated in the "Dog Days of Summer" festivities at Parky’s Farm, the rehab reunion at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton and had booths at both the Warren County fair and Delta Society national meeting. Anne Grime participated in a radio talk show and Tracy Desch and Marlys appeared on cable access TV to talk about assistance dogs.

• Due to multiple requests in the community, Circle Tail has begun to train dogs for people who have seizures. The dogs will be trained to respond to a seizure in the manner the person prefers. Some dogs will pull a lifeline switch, summon family members or even just lay quietly with the person during the seizure and assist him/her to stand up afterwards. Although dogs can not be trained to alert a person to an oncoming seizure, some dogs develop this skill after being partnered with a person for some time.
• If you would like to be a short term foster family/parent, contact Circle Tail. We will be bringing the service dogs in training back from the prisons more frequently and need homes to keep the dogs for a weekend or a week. This will help us evaluate how their socialization and training is progressing and provide the dog with varied experiences. Call us at 513-877-3325 or visit our website at www.circletail.org if you would like to help.
• Garnet and Joey, two of our Akbash dogs who were unable to complete service dog training, were adopted into loving homes. Garnet is now residing in North Carolina and Joey in Cincinnati.
• Link, a 1 year old Akbash who has been living and learning at the Chillicothe Correctional Institution, has been placed as a "resident dog" at the Lannfair Retirement Community here in Cincinnati. Link has his own room but loves to wander the halls looking for pets and treats. He likes to sleep in the front foyer so guests to Lannfair sometimes have to step over or sidestep his large white body. He is adjusting nicely to his new environment and the staff and residents of Lannfair are happy to share their home with him.
• Doc, a Lab/Hound mix who has been with Circle Tail for a year, is going to have a permanent home. Doc will be trained for a small child who has seizures and some balance problems. Doc will alert the young boy’s mother when he is having a seizure, especially at night. He will also assist him if he falls and carry objects for him in a backpack. We are all very excited for Doc and he is adapting to his new training regime with great speed and excitement.
• Make sure you check out our website. We now have the shelter dogs listed with some pictures and will soon have information on the assistance dogs. You can check out when we will be at PETsMART for adopt-a-thons or if we are having any special events. You can get all the information about Circle Tail at: www.circletail.org

Circle Tail is in need of the many items some of which are listed below. If you can donate any of these items, please call for directions to CT or for a volunteer to pick them up at your home.

Circle Tail operates on a totally volunteer basis. Supporters of the organization have donated numerous hours of their time to get us to where we are today. Estimates place the cost of raising, training and partnering a service dog with a recipient at $8,000 to $12,000. In order to expand the CT efforts, funds are needed to help this most worthy cause. Donations to Circle Tail are fully tax deductible as allowed by Uncle Sam and most appreciated by the animals. Please consider making your end of the year charitable donation to Circle Tail, Inc.

Circle Tail has received donations from many people and organizations over the past six months. Only with the continued support of these donors and others like them will Circle Tail be able to carry on its Mission. Contributors from July through November 1999 are listed below in alphabetical order. To each and everyone of them we express our sincerest appreciation with a great big THANKS! (We try to be as accurate as possible, and we would appreciate any omissions or corrections brought to our attention.)

Tracy Desch
Karen Dieme
Anne & Keith Grime
Janet & Bruce Kempner
Deborah & Michael Minor
Arlene Pansiera
Meredith & Sandy Pugh
Wendy & Charles P. Shanesy, III
Ray & Ann Shoopman
Larry & Pat Staley

John Archiable
Irma Bolen
William Cullen
Billie Lou Williamson 

Cincinnati Animal Medical Center, Jeffery Werwa, DVM
Dallas Veterinary Clinic, Lori Staley, DVM & Matt Hennessey, DVM
The Hartz Mountain Corporation
The Iams Company
PETsMART
The Procter & Gamble Company
Trainers Choice

Volunteers are the backbone of most non-profit organizations. At Circle Tail, volunteers are invaluable to exercise, groom and socialize the dogs, assist with adoption weekends at PETsMART, write grants, assist with raising puppies and needed funds, acquire necessary items for the dogs and to transport dogs to and from the prisons and veterinary office. Listed below are volunteers, other than board members, who have helped Circle Tail grow this past 6 months by sharing their time, energy, and resources.