[ocgirl]

Here is an update as requested by SeaPines (I’m just the copier) This is her friend EasternShoreLady who recently had surgery for tos.
The website explaining about her work with service dogs is just wonderful.

She has taught her dogs to paint! Hopefully the video will come through ok and there is a newspaper article about it I think she said it was in the Washington Post.

What a wonderful sight to see these intelligent dogs that were once strays, that were abandoned or abused wagging their tails with such joy while they do their painting.

http://www.shoreservicedogs.com/index.shtml#Anchor-top

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q158S1T5pMw


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Puppy Picassos

Salisbury woman trains dogs to aid disabled and to create artwork

By Marlene Jensen

SALISBURY -- A sweep of green, a daub of purple, a bold flourish of yellow and the painting was finished.
The artist happily munched a cookie, bowed to his audience then stretched out on the floor in front of his masterpiece, the tip of his tail twitching ever so slightly.

This Advance is a dog -- a 4-year-old chocolate Lab named Major. Major and two of his pals, Kayne and Sammy, all paint and are having the first exhibit of their work now through June 22 at the Atrium Gallery in the Guerrieri University Center at Salisbury University.
All three have been rescued from abandonment or abusive situations and trained to be service dogs by Mary Stadelbacher, an SU graduate and founder of Shore Service Dogs, Inc. This means they assist people with limited mobility by doing such things as closing car doors, taking laundry out of the dryer, helping the person out of a chair, even putting their dirty dog dishes in the sink.
Stadelbacher, who studied at the Art Institute of Philadelphia, figured if the dogs could learn to do those complicated tasks, they might be able to learn to paint.
"I had seen elephants painting and dolphins. I wondered how well it would work with dogs," said Stadelbacher. She said she had read about other dogs painting by pawing the canvas, but she wanted to teach her dogs to hold the brush in their teeth.
It took her a couple of months to train her trio of doggy Degas to hold the brushes reliably, carry them back and forth and apply the paint to the canvas and not everything else. "They have a blast painting," Stadelbacher said. "Major got so excited recently he swept his tail across the paint so he's got a rainbow tail."
The resultant paintings are happy, free-spirited, color-splashed abstracts. Sammy's have definite up and down or side to side strokes. Kayne's are bold and minimalist. Major's are the busiest with lots of colorful brushwork.
Even better than looking at the paintings is watching the demonstrations the puppy Picassos are giving at 2 p.m. each Tuesday at the gallery during the exhibit.
This week was Major's turn in the spotlight.
Stadelbacher began by taping a sheet of paper to an easel and putting green paint on the brush, which she customized by adding a crosspiece of rubber chewy bone part way up the handle. This prevents the brush from sliding to the back of the dog's throat as he presses brush to canvas.
After placing the brush in Major's mouth, she closed her hand over his muzzle and said, "Go paint."
Major trotted toward the canvas, but with mischief in his brown eyes, veered toward the side of the room to try to socialize. This sometimes happens when he is not harnessed or in working mode.
"No visiting," Stadelbacher said firmly.
Major came back toward the canvas, circled, then swiped it with the brush.
"Do it again," Stadelbacher urged. "One more time," she said before calling Major to her so she could clean the brush and change colors.
Back and forth he went, wandering off course a couple of times, but getting back on task at Stadelbacher's command. At times it was tough to tell the brush strokes on the paper from those that strayed onto the white easel.
In between color changes, Major sat expectantly on plastic sheeting, his feet sometimes sliding comically on the slick surface.
After about 30 minutes, the painting was finished. The audience decided it should be called Purple Tulip because of the prominent tulip-shaped splotch of purple paint.
The paintings on exhibit, each "signed" with the artist dog's paw print, are available for a donation with proceeds going toward Shore Service Dogs' training and upkeep. One training trip on an airplane can cost $400.
"Major did really well for his first time," Stadelbacher said. Her foxhound-German shepherd mix Sammy did a demonstration last weekend at the Salisbury Zoo under more challenging circumstances. Major was there, too.
The demonstration area was next to the woods and "there was a chipmunk that had a death wish," Stadelbacher said. "The chipmunk would get within two feet of them. They wanted to go over to that chipmunk. I had no idea they would be tormented by a chipmunk the entire day. Plus there were kids all over the place who wanted to get next to the dogs."
Sammy did a striking painting featuring primary colors that will be auctioned to benefit the zoo and both dogs were well behaved. Good behavior is a must in their training as service dogs.
Stadelbacher, who has been working with animals for 32 years, explained that service dogs are not supposed to interact with others when they working. That's why you'll see some service dogs wearing bright vests when in public. They are trained and motivated with praise and affection to be focused, well-behaved and under control in any situation.
They have to be able to accompany their person to a restaurant without eating food from the floor, into a movie theater without being disruptive, in crowds without being distracted or frightened by sudden movement or noises and on all kinds of transportation -- subways, airplanes, trains and cars.
"I can't control anybody or anything else out there, but I can control how they (the dogs) deal with it and can give them the skills to be able to focus," Stadelbacher said.
When they are not harnessed and not working they love to play and all three also are therapy dogs.
Task training is demanding, repetitive and more involved than the usual fetch or roll over tricks. Stadelbacher estimated that a request for the dog to bring her a towel involves eight or nine separate steps that have to be accomplished before the job is complete.
The dogs can understand commands in English, German and hand signals. "Sometimes they won't respond to what I ask them in English, but if I use German, they'll do it," Stadelbacher said. "Maybe it's the sound of the words."
It takes two years to train a service dog. Stadelbacher has placed one dog. Sammy has another year of training. Major and Kayne, a Doberman, are retired and help Stadelbacher who has fibromyalgia and severe back problems and assist her in training other dogs.
All this is more remarkable when you realize that Stadelbacher's dogs are not hand-picked, pedigrees, but were starving, wounded or abused when she took them in.
Maybe that's why their paintings seem extra joyful.

[withmore]

That's an amazing story! Does she accept donations?

[DiMarie]

Thanks so very much for sharing OC girl !
I was so moved and excited reading this. I have to share it with a friend from work that is a doc lover.
She is a sherrif and has service dogs.

I have to go to the links now,
Di