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        GOOD  PEOPLE  COMING TO AID NEWBORNS

Al McFadden, Peggy Wallace, Lin Hawkyard,  Lynn & Norm Wolter, Sharon Roberton, Megan Groves and Kelly Ryan.

Shelley Camm reports that when her girl needed a c-section on Boxing Day, she put out a call for all available help.  She knew that her bitch had a large litter on board, and there would only be one vet tech on call. This fine group have made the Spotlight for lending much needed helpful hands to assist, resulting in  8 puppies in what was probably the easiest  c-section ever!  

Shelley expresses MANY THANKS  to these angels that deserve to be recognized for their nice deed.

Photograpy At Dog Shows

I love hearing from readers.  I don't care if you agree with what I have written or have an opposing viewpoint, I am always open to everything the readers have to say.    I heard from Chantal 

Velleneuve of DogsInDesign, Professional Photographer.  You will see Chantal at many of Ontario's dog shows and you have probably been her customer at some point.

She must have had time on her hands one day and was reading through my blog when she found the piece I did about the Professional Photographers having run-ins with spectators and exhibitors that were taking candid shots in the ring.  

Before, I start hearing from people all over Canada, let me say that what I'm about to talk about is unique to Ontario.  There is a valuable lesson to be learned from this for all those outside of Ontario. So this should be interesting to most everyone.

Chantal called me because she wanted to be sure that I understood how the photographers in Ontario get the dog show business and how this method of awarding some of the dog show business to the professional photographer began. 

According to Chantal, some years back, two Ontario professional photographers, each wanting more of the dog show pie, starting offering rebates to the Kennel Clubs.  The rebates were based on number of photos taken.  The Kennel Clubs needless to say are always looking for ways to keep money in their coffers, so the rebate program was well received.  Why shouldn't it be?  Well, over the course of time, it got to be where the Kennel Clubs sent out invitations to pretty much bid on the photography at their shows.  It got more and more competitive and now it is becoming off the chart expensive for many of the photographers.

Chantal broke it down for me like this:

The Photographer still pays for their booth:  Anywhere from $500 to $1500 per show.
The Photographer pays extra staff
The Photographer must pay for the staff meals and hotel
The Photographer has the expense of the equipment: (cameras equipment, backdrops, winning slide boards, decorations, computers, printers, banking machines.)
The Photographer will buy ads in the show catalog
The Photographer will sponsor awards
The Photographer will pay the Kennel Club the rebate which is a dollar amount per picture.

Chantal explained how it is hard to know all the variables:

What if the weather turns bad and the exhibitor attendance is really down
What if there is a judge change and exhibitors pull their entries.

For Chantal, she uses a motorhome bus to travel and work from at the shows.  Many may think that is an extravagance, but she explains it is cheaper for her to house and feed everyone over the weekend from the motorhome than eating out and hotels.    When the weather turns off really unexpectably bad in the winter, her cost goes up because she can't use the motorhome, she now must use the more expensive hotels and restaurants.  

She has explained that there can actually be times that the Photographer won't break even, due to the rebate and the other variables.  Chantal believes that if the shows keep having fewer exhibitors and some clubs cancel their shows, the Professional Photographer may be out of business.

My question is...do the dog food booths pay a rebate based on how many bags of food they sell? What about the food vendors?  If they are not paying a rebate, and the photographers are paying the same for their booths plus the rebate, then this rebate needs to be eliminated.  Take the rebate the photographers are paying and prorate that amount as an increase in booth space to all vendors.

She expressed that it doesn't bother her for exhibitors and spectators to shoot photos ringside as long as they are not selling the photos.  She also wants everyone to know, that if they want candid shots done by her team, just check in with her with the time you will be in the ring and she will try to accommodate you.  

Folks, I am a believer that we are all in this sport together.  We need to have an understanding of what it takes to continue our sport.  We need to be level headed in all things and do our part to make it successful for all of us.  I hope this information that Chantal shared with me, gives you a better understanding of what is going on in the background.  

Zachary's Paws For Healing is working very hard to get started at Juravinski Cancer Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario.  We have been so fortunate to have so much support at the hospital, taking this initiative and making it come to fruition. Social Services, nurses, doctors, infection control, policy writers, unit managers, directors of nursing, patient care services, housekeeping have all been involved in getting approvals and making Zachary's wishes come true.

There have been many meetings, emails, policies written and rewritten, research and promotion done.  We have another meeting on May 7th which includes  representatives from many hospital departments.  At this meeting, we are hopeful that we have the final approval to start our Pilot Program.  

The Pilot Program will be used to prove that we have the proper policies in place and that we will be making a huge difference in patient care.  Let me explain what Zachary's Paw's For Healing is.

Zachary's Paw's For Healing will offer patients that have beloved pet companion dogs and/or cats visits with them while they are in-patients at Juravinski Hospital.  We will take care of all the necessary paperwork to get the pet approved for the visit and coordinating the visit with the patient. Our volunteers will meet the pet to determine that it's temperament is such that will make for a successful visit and won't be too much stress for the pet.  Our volunteers will escort the pet to the patient's room and will stay during the visit to be sure all infectious control procedures are being maintained.  Our volunteers are wanting to provide the best visit possible and they will remain in the background in an unobtrusive manner.

Juravinski Hospital and Zachary's Paws For Healing understands from much research that pet companion visits can improve the patient's  vital signs and patient communication with health care givers, reminds them that there is a reason to get well and return home, shortens hospital stays, gives unconditional love and comfort and eases the stress of extended illness and hospitalization. Juravinski Hospital is a state-of-art health care facility and they believe in caring for the entire patient, not just a disease.  

Zachary had wonderful care at Juravinski during his fight with cancer.  Visits with his dogs was a tremendous mental health boost for him and helped him shorten his stay in ICU.  He understood the need for pet visits to patients.  He knew that even though Therapy Dogs fill a niche, they were no substitute for your own beloved pet companion.  His dying wish was to make sure every patient at Juravinski that wants to see their pet, gets that visit.

You can help us by donating to  gofund.me/Zachary-039-sPaws
and by volunteering your time to be a visit facilitator.  If you wish to volunteer, please contact me at djenkins@rogers.com.  We still need money to pay legal fees to file for our non-profit status.  Even with our wonderful lawyers giving us a very generous discount, it will still costs around  $8,000.  

We will be looking for various equipment donations.  Presently, we are asking for someone to donate the following items:

Great Dane size crate that can have wheels added.  The crate will be used to transport some dogs to the patient's room.  

We also need someone to donate dog kerchiefs in various sizes that can be used to identify the dog as a patient visitor.  Preferably,  we would like all the kerchiefs to be the same color and pattern.

We need someone that can sew to make the cover for the transport crate.  

We need someone that can embroider our name on the crate cover.

Please contact me if you can help with any of our present needs: djenkins@rogers.com

So, this is where we are.  We have come a long way since Zachary's death five months ago.  We couldn't do this without all you wonderful folks.  

Thank you so much.

Remember to check out Canuck Dogs.com for all the latest Dog Fancy Results, Upcoming Events and Ads.  Canuck Dogs is volunteer based and relies on your advertising to operate.  All ads are very reasonable and reach Canada-wide.  www.canuckdogs.com

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