Howdy, we got to Sonoma State yesterday and found that their were 8 ADI Social/Therapy dogs in attendance.

A councilor at the college had pictures of her dogs on her desk and in her cubicle and when she would meet with different students they would always talk about how much they missed their dogs they had to leave at home. About a year ago she asked the school if she could find a responsible group that would bring trained dogs to the school to help the students, would that be OK. It took a year for the school to approve it but they finally did.

We set up shop in one of the grassy commons in the student housing area, lots of shade and easy access for the students. Sonoma State asked the students to sign a waiver before they could pet the dogs. It was very warm yesterday so we were relieved that we had so much shade. We brought the "communal water bowl" and the 5 gallon water jug in Shelby's wagon.

Conservatively I would say 150 to 200 students came by and they just "loved up" all the dogs, they petted, hugged, kissed, took pictures, gave treats, asked questions and told us about their dogs at home. It was a HUGE success. Everywhere I looked I saw smiles, both from the people and the dogs. There were little lap dogs to big Goldens so there was a size that everyone could relate to.  

Some of the dogs had their own "trading cards" from ADI and they passed those out, so within the next week or two we'll be ordering cards for Penny and Shelby, they are a great way to leave good thoughts with folks.  

It was a fun way to spend part of a Saturday and I hope we did some good.