The Archives

•  Wednesday, July 16, 2008
    a crisis response dog

•  Tuesday, July 15, 2008
    Griffy Girls

•  Tuesday, July 15, 2008
    Clifford - Big Red Dog

•  Tuesday, July 15, 2008
    Shadow’s trick

•  Tuesday, July 15, 2008
    guest post from Flo

•  Wednesday, July 09, 2008
    11:00 am Storytime

•  Tuesday, January 15, 2008
    Shriners Hospital

•  Tuesday, August 14, 2007
    Restaurant Critic?

•  Thursday, June 21, 2007
    A Campin’ We Will Go

•  Sunday, May 06, 2007
    The ''Hobby Hopper''

•  Thursday, April 12, 2007
    Lisa Engaged By ETV

"Word of Mouth"

Hi everyone,

Welcome to my blog, “Word of Mouth.” I’ll share my thoughts with you about my life, my family, friends, issues relating to children’s lifestyle and the varied experiences related to parenting, and even the world at large.

The thoughts, emotions and energy that we send out into the world create our experience. I’ll share mine, and will hopefully educate and inspire you – or at least give you a chuckle. I might post daily, or maybe weekly, or monthly, or just whenever the mood hits me.

Love, Lisa

Visit Lisa's Photo Galleries

7/16/2008

'Riley’ the therapy dog

Another therapy dog we love is ‘Riley,’ who comes to our events with his human, Dennis Cajili. Dennis is the Paws 4 Healing LA Chapter Coordinator. ‘Riley’ is a cool guy, with his special doggie shades. They are special sunglasses for dogs and are not just for show. ‘Riley’ likes to have his head out the window in the car, and the shades keep debris out of his eyes and protect them from the sun’s UV rays. They also protect his eyes from getting poked by children’s fingers.

Dennis and ‘Riley’ belong to HOPE Animal Assisted Crisis Response (www.hopeaacr.org) and visited Red Cross evacuation shelters and the fire camps where the first responders (fire department, law enforcement, etc.) were based while fighting Southern California’s wildfires last fall.

Have you ever seen a dog wearing sunglasses? Where was it? Did it surprise you?

7/15/2008

The Griffy Girls, therapy dogs

Therapy dogs come in all shapes and sizes, as we have discovered. When Lisa did her research at Childrens Hospital in Los Angeles, she followed a large standard poodle named Jet on her rounds. However, the smallest therapy dogs we’ve met are the Griffy Girls, two little bundles of energy who belong to Judith Bin-Nun, Ph.D., a UCLA psychologist and a bundle of energy herself. The three Griffy Girls – Ketzel, Raizel, and Zeesee, are adorable Brussels Griffons. They are certified Delta Society® Pet Partners® (www.deltasociety.org) and AKC Good Citizens. They work at UCLA in many different departments, and bring their ‘puppy love’ to senior daycare, nursing homes, and VA psychiatric wards.

Raizel, an AKC Novice Agility Jumper, and Ketzel participate in weekly agility classes and do many tricks. They have been filmed for several TV shows.

You can see pictures of the Griffy Girls in Lisa’s album Personal Appearances under Chevalier Books

Do you know any therapy dogs? Tell us about them.

7/15/2008

Shadow’s friend Clifford reads to children

‘Shadow’ has a friend named ‘Clifford the Big Red Dog.’ Clifford’s owner-handler is Diane’s friend Claudine. They all came to a party that Lisa gave last year when her book came out, and captivated every single person there. Clifford is also a Golden Retriever and is a Paws 4 Healing therapy dog and a Reading Education Assistance Dog®. The R.E.A.D. ® Program, started in 1999 by Intermountain Therapy Animals (www.therapyanimals.org), has helped hundreds of children discover the joys of books and reading and improve their reading skill. Sometimes children feel more comfortable reading to dogs than to adults or other children.

Some children actually read Lisa’s book DR. DUNCAN DOG ON DUTY to the therapy dogs. Do you think the therapy dog likes to hear a story about another therapy dog?

Do you know any children who have experienced the joy of reading to a therapy dog?