Volunteering
American Poodles At Work
is a Massachusetts-based program which breeds, raises, trains, and
places Standard Poodles as assistance dogs. We are dedicated to
providing well-trained, intelligent, healthy Poodles who enjoy working
for their partners, fulfilling the assistance dogs' purpose as an
unobtrusive helpmate.
Our Wish List
There are many specific goods and services we are seeking. Some are needed on an ongoing basis.
Goods Sought
- Play Structures - Little Tykes plastic slides & tunnels, indestructable gym equipment
- Crates - Plastic (Vari, SkyKennel, etc.) suitable in size for a Standard Poodle (400-500, intermediate/large)
- Scales - one to weigh puppies (per ounce, up to 7 pounds) and one to weigh adult dogs (up to 100 pounds).
- Whelping Box - for large dogs; needs to be safe, cleanable and reusable
- Crutches/Canes/Walkers - for socialization and training sessions
- Sound makers - horns, wireless doorbells, 'Easy' button from Staples for training purposes
- Grooming equipment - towels, tools (slicker brushes, combs, A5 clippers/blades, fragrance-free shampoo)
- Quickie Wheelchair - folds down quickly to be light and portable
- Power Wheelchair - With a recharger, mostly for training work.
- Vacuum Cleaner - we are looking for a high quality vacuum cleaner (Dyson, for example) so might not accept lesser quality on this item.
- Bedding - washable blankets and comforters. It does not matter if they are torn, since puppies go through these pretty quickly.
- Signage - large banner signs, weatherproof preferred, for shows and community outreach
- Refrigerator -- efficient (less than 10 years old) refrigerator or refrigerator/freezer. We could use both a dormitory size and a regular one.
Services Sought
- Blade sharpening - We go through a lot of grooming blades
- Tailoring - We would like someone to help up make service dog capes
- Artistic - We could use help devising a quality logo we can use
- Layout - We could use help arranging our brochure to be more eye-catching
- Woodworking -- We could use a large format painted wood sign for our building
Long Term Planning
Some items are more significant, but it never hurts to pass the word along.
| Honda Element | Currently APAW does not have any vehicle of its own (we are indebted to our sister organization, Wow Take A Bow Boarding and Grooming, for use of their car meanwhile). The Honda Element is extremely well-regarded by dog enthusiasts. Purple, if possible. |
In general, Service Dogs should start training and socialization by 8 weeks of age. In programs that breed their own dogs, training can begin as early as 3 weeks with astounding results.
