Pine Tree Guide Dog Users

Opening Doors to Independence and Opportunity
Monthly News Update April 2022

Welcome to Pine Tree Guide Dog User’s monthly news update. To offer submissions or feedback, please email news@PineTreeGuideDogUsers.org.

PTGDU Community Connect

This section features PTGDU Board and committee updates.

-Looking for tips on exploring unfamiliar places? Join PTGDU’s annual spring membership meeting via Zoom to hear The Seeing Eye’s certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist and Guide Dog Mobility Instructor, Kristen Oplinger and Outreach Specialist and guide dog handler, Chelsea White as they share tips and strategies for effectively navigating inside places like stores, restaurants, medical offices, and more. The presentation will begin at 7:00 PM followed by PTGDU’s quarterly business meeting at 8:00 PM on May 4^th. Watch for more details!

-Save the date! The Iris Network has invited PTGDU to be the Grand Marshall for this year’s White Cane Walk for Independence. The event will take place in Portland on Saturday, October 8^th from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM. After the walk, food trucks will be available for lunch.

– Many thanks to PTGDU member Steve Lambert for arranging to have the PTGDU logo updated by Art Director Sara Wichtendahl and her students in the Hive Design Group at Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio. The new logo shows the profile of a yellow Lab in harness against a green silhouette of the state of Maine. Over the image are the words Pine Tree Guide Dog Users and under the image it says the same thing in a print image of Grade II Braille. The design is similar to the old logo but with a few artistic changes, it now has a bright new look! PTGDU sent the students a box of Maine-made whoopie pies as a token of appreciation.

-PTGDU is teaming up with ACB Maine for this year’s fall convention! The event will take place in Portland during the first or second weekend of November. Plans are well under way so please reach out to PTGDU member Brad Strause if you have any suggestions for the event.

Advocacy Matters

This section features news on access and legislative issues.

-Guide Dogs for the Blind has launched a short, animated video to educate transit agencies, operators, and the general public about creating a more respectful, safe and inclusive transportation experience for guide dog teams. Watch the GDB video about transportation tips and etiquette.

Tips for Living & Working with a Guide Dog

This section offers practical tips and tricks for life with a guide dog.

Tired of the clothes in your suitcase smelling like dog food? What about the inside of your purse or backpack? One easy fix is to use odor-proof plastic bags to store your dog’s food. These types of bags come in all different sizes and are often used by campers to prevent bears and other wild animals from finding their food stash. For a trip, simply pre-measure your dog’s food into meal size portions, seal in regular sandwich bags, and then store in a large odor-proof bag. After emptying a meal bag, just return it to the larger bag for use on another trip. Odor-proof bags also come in smaller sizes if you wish to carry dog treats or an emergency serving of dog food on a regular basis.

Gear, Supplies and Dog Toys

This section features a brief description of one or more items favored by guide dog teams but is not intended as an endorsement of the actual products.

Tough, durable and nearly indestructible Dog Toys

Submitted by PTGDU member Brad Strause

Here’s two favorite toy recommendations from the dogs in our household. The first is VanFine’s rugged squeaky toys. They’re made of all natural non-toxic rubber material similar to the infamous Kong. The “squeakers” are simply holes in the ends of the various shaped toys. Our dogs have chewed relentlessly on the cube for 2 years without damage. Recently we purchased the football and the stick which appear to be just as rugged as the cube.

Another Strause dog favorite comes from a small Montana company. West Paw’s Zogoflex toys are made of a somewhat squishy nontoxic material and they even float. Our dogs have enjoyed the Bumi tug toy and the Hurley dog bone for years and not one has even a tooth mark in it despite hours of determined chewing and pretty rough play. The toys are a bit pricey but unless you lose them you shouldn’t ever have to replace one.

PTGDU Recipe of the Month

This section features a favorite recipe from the guide dog community.

Stout’s Basic Dog Biscuit Recipe

For a special treat, make your dog homemade biscuits. They’re much less expensive than commercial treats and your pup may even like them more just because you made ‘em.

1 cup hot water

1 tsp. Beef or chicken Bouillon granules

3 cups whole wheat flour (substitute regular flour if your dog is sensitive to wheat)

1 egg

Optional add-ins: Add variety with just a tablespoon or two of things like liver powder, wheat germ, shredded cheese, bacon bits, peanut butter, or oats.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve bouillon in the hot water (You may also substitute the bullion & hot water with 1 cup beef or chicken broth/stock.) Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and knead until a dough forms. The dough should be slightly dry. If the dough is sticky, just add a little more flour. Next, roll the dough about 1/8 or ¼ inch thick. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters and place on a lightly greased cookie sheet. Bake 30 minutes, turn off oven and leave biscuits inside until cooled (this will make the biscuits extra dry and crunchy).

Note. For a quick and easy way to shape biscuits into squares, roll the dough 1/8 or ¼ inch thick on top of a large piece of parchment paper. Then grease the oven rack, or other type rack with non-stick spray and press it firmly into the rolled dough. Lift up the rack carefully and gently press back any part of the dough that sticks. This will leave lines of scoring in the dough. Turn the rack 90 degrees and repeat. This will then score the dough into perfect squares. Lift the scored dough with the parchment paper and set the whole thing on a cookie sheet. Bake as directed. When cooled and dried the dough will snap apart easily along the scored lines into nice square biscuits. The size of the biscuits will depend on the spacing of the rack wires.

About Us

This monthly news update is a publication of Pine Tree Guide Dog Users (PTGDU). The organization is a registered nonprofit under IRS section 501(c)(3). Founded in 1997, PTGDU’s mission is to promote complete acceptance of guide dog teams in all aspects of life. For more information, please visit www.PineTreeGuideDogUsers.org.

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