There's still time for Military Working Dog and Handler Care Packages - Update and More Suggestions

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving was delicious and spent with loved ones nearby.  We were lucky enough to have tickets to the Dallas / Miami game at Cowboys Stadium.  What an experience!  Yesterday we had our traditional turkey feast and each of us took turns giving thanks.  We three shared thankfulness for being together.  So much changes from year to year - kids grow up, people move, humans and their dogs age.  So for this moment, for this one blink in time, we are thankful.

If you read my last blog post, you know that I'm going to be sending care packages to military working dogs and their handlers in Kabul, Afghanistan.  These men and women, far from home and family, need all the support we can offer.  They're risking their lives each day, while caring for and working with their dogs, just hoping to make it back to their families intact.  Please consider them while shopping over the next week.  Along with the stress and uncertainty of living in a merciless and unfriendly environment, these handlers and their dogs deal with boredom and homesickness.  If you choose to send a package, I have the original Facebook post (with item suggestions and direct APO address) for care packages here, OR - Matt's software company, Webldr, has graciously offered the use of their PO Box:
Webldr LLC.

Grace Foley (K9 Package)

PO Box 631508

Irving, Texas 75063
I'll be sending all the items I receive at this PO Box during the week of Dec 5-9.  You still have time!

Here's another list of suggestions I found from a care package sending website of what soldiers commonly request:
  Baby Wipes
  Phone Cards
  Magazines
  Books
  Movies
  Hand Warmers
  Foot Warmers
  Tooth Brushes
  Mouthwash
  Febreeze
  Body Wash
  Body Spray
  Pringles
  Crackers 
  Cookies
  Beef Jerkey
  Comic Books
  Travel Size Games (chess, checkers)
  Deck of Cards
  Memory Cards (i.e. PSP's)
  Memory Sticks
  Suntan Lotion
  Non Carbonated Drinks (Propel)
  Uniform T-shirts (which can either be ordered on line 
     from AAFES or bought at the PX)
  Underwear
  Pictures From Home
  Thumb Tack (to hang the pictures) 
  Hard Candy
  Blue and Black Pens
  Notebooks
  Evelopes
  Fly Paper (some areas where the soldiers live have lots of flies)
  A multi-tool or really good folding knife
  Sun Glasses
  Digital or Disposable Cameras
  Travel Size Packets of Laundry Detergent
  Powdered Drinks, especially Gatorade
  Blank Writable CD's
  Crossword Puzzles, Word Searches, Soduku, 
  Sports themed things - football, baseball, etc


And for the Military Working Dogs:


Collapsible nylon water and food bowls
Doggles
paw pad salve
Durable rope toys
Durable chew toys like Kongs/ Nylabones
K9 ear and eye wash
Dog beds - orthopedic
Fast drying bath chamois
Hand towels, washcloths for paws
Grooming items - brushes, K9 shampoo, K9 toothbrush/ paste
Treats and chews


Please, please, please - remember to send a note for the soldier.  This will allow them to reconnect with home and the reasons why they're over there.  Many soldiers say these letters and notes from home are what keep them going over the many months of their deployment.  

"Can we send them tennis balls, Mom?  I have some to share!"

Let's Spread Some Holiday Cheer to Military K9's and Their Handlers!

Recently on Facebook, there was a post by a German Shepherd group that I belong to, German Shepherd Tips that really tugged on my heart strings.  This holiday season, as with each one in years past, there will be men and women serving in the military far from home and away from their friends and family.  I know we haven't even hit Thanksgiving yet, this might be a good way to get in the spirit of giving!

I can't begin to imagine the sacrifice these handlers are prepared to make each day.  I'm the person that starts crying like a baby when I know an animal in a movie is about to die.  Not only do these handlers risk themselves personally, they are also responsible for their ever-loyal partners, too.  Nobody can work side by side with these dogs daily and not become firmly attached to them.

I'm hoping some of you might consider participating in donating to a care package.  I think we might run the risk of making an overseas, deployed holiday, a bit less horrible for a few K9 Handlers and their dogs.  Here's the original post:

I know there are some enormous hearts out there in blogville.  Do you think we could gather supplies for these handlers and their dogs?  The list above is a great start - anything you add to it would surely be appreciated.  I was thinking - tennis balls, rope toys - the kinds of things that wouldn't be standard military issue.  For the Handlers - digital cameras, stationary, pens, jump drives (do they have computer access?).
Medical supplies for both handlers and their dogs aren't needed as they're provided for by the military.

Most importantly, please include a little note or letter with a few kind words.  I know if I was overseas away from home, reading a letter from someone that cared enough to think of me would mean a ton.  You can send the package yourself, or you can mail it to me and I will send a group package.  If you send your package directly, please keep in mind that it takes about 2 weeks to arrive and you must have a soldier's name (in this case - Clint Reynolds, Program Manager K9 Unit APO AE 09321 - see in letter above) or your package won't make it there.  I'm aiming to send a group package around the first week of December.  If you have any questions, please e-mail me at forpetssake2@yahoo.com , or you can send your package and letter to me directly at Webldr LLC, my hubby's software company that's graciously donated the temporary use of their PO box!

Webldr LLC.

Grace Foley (K9 Package)

PO Box 631508

Irving, Texas 75063

Nyxie dreaming of all her military cousins serving  abroad

Celebrate

Frost stretched across the clearing behind our home this morning, and true mist hovered just above the stream.  The mist stretched across the clearing, obscuring the far side.  I imagined coyotes stealing away a few more undetected minutes before the sun rose, watching us, watching for them.

Fall is brief in northern Texas, but it's my favorite season.  There's a feeling, an essence to each season that sets the tone for the days ahead.  Winter is a time of rest, of survival.  We dig deep and layer, holding close to those we love.  Spring reminds us that life weathers on, regardless of winter, regardless of pale legs.  Summer days and nights have an air of electricity, of life, of having reached a pinnacle of sorts.  Our weary, sunburned shoulders testament to how hard and long we played in the sun.  When we lived in Maine, spring was like an oasis in the drought of winter.  We were moles, ascending from our caves into the bright sunlight.  Pale skin and sunglasses on, we ventured out to see the neighbors that we scurried past all winter, back and forth into our respective warm homes.

The seasons define the cycle of growth, life, death and rebirth.  We lose sight of this fundamental cycle in a world of iPads, highways, and work schedules.  There's a disconnect there.  Sadly, I think we all feel it, and to get us back on track, we need holidays.  I'm not referring to the commercialized urge to shop, to decorate and to guilt ourselves out of our honest-earned income.  I'm referring to the essence of the holidays themselves.  Each one, starting with Halloween, gives us the opportunity to stop and think, to catch our collective breath and think about the greater picture.

Halloween is the direct descendant of the Celtic celebration of Samhain (pronounced sow-in).  Samhain marked "summer's end", and was the time the ancient Celts believed ushered out the "light half" and ushered in the "dark half" of the year.  Also referred to as the Celtic New Year, this was a time when the veil between the world of the living and the dead was thin.  Both good and bad spirits could pass through more easily.  Family and friends now deceased were honored, while bad entities were warded off with masks and costumes.

There are many people that get sucked into the chaos of each holiday, but like all life's lessons, dogs seem to have it sorted out long before we've considered it.  When a member of a pack dies, the survivors mourn.  When the pack is reunited, they celebrate.  Dogs don't need a certain time of the year to be reminded of the gift of life.  When they wake, they bound about, licking faces, rejoicing in seeing it through to a new day.  They don't set aside a day to be thankful for their life as we do.  They thank us continually with muzzle licks, cuddles and tail wags.

Why am I posting this today?  Two nights ago, I had an awful scare from Arwen.  She ate her chicken and Honest Kitchen blend and promptly began vomiting.  Arwen never gets sick- not really, at least.  She's got an iron stomach and a tough girl's attitude.  She horked up three times in 30 min, driving me to panic.   As many of you know, we feed raw, and with raw there are certain risks.  I suspected that a bone had become lodged in her throat, or further along, and she was in dire straits.  I started imagining myself calling her Dr, my boss and friend at home, then rushing her to the emergency clinic.  I imagined her deteriorating and losing consciousness.  I imagined the enormous vet bill and racked my brain devising financially creative schemes to cover the expenses.

During a break in the vomiting, I saw she still looked uncomfortable so I did the one thing I knew would change her demeanor if at all possible.  I leashed her up, and along with Matt (not leashed), took her for a walk.  Slow at first, gaining momentum and speed, she finally raised her enormous plume flag of a tail and dove headlong into the walk.  She would be OK.  No more vomit.  No more panic.  I put my cell phone away and realized how thankful I was of having this amazing animal in my life.  I was thankful for my Matt, who indulges me through thick and thin.  We should never wait to celebrate life.  It's fleeting and precious.  Remember those that are gone and celebrate the sweetness of each moment.  Dogs do it with or without pumpkins or costumes.  In fact, they strongly discourage costumes!