Scooter the Dog

I've been doing this blog for several years now and it just occurred to me that not once have I ever given a pitch about my beloved dog Scooter!  Now just wait, before you go judging me about this being a "school" blog and I'm posting about my dog, I promise there is an academic undertone to this post...so stay with me.

First, if you haven't already, check out my pup Scooter on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  You will not be disappointed, I promise (at the very least, it's always fun to look at his pics for a good laugh, especially on Mondays).

I have been blessed with the most patient dog in the entire world.  Seriously.  Here's a few pics to prove it to you:

So it's obvious I like capturing images (hence most of my blog posts include some sort of picture or video), and hopefully by seeing those pics it's really obvious to you that I love taking pictures of my dog (and son) posing for all sorts of pictures.

After having tons and tons of "Scooter pictures" at my disposal, I decided to actually do something with them (this is where the academic part comes in!).  I've written 3 "Scooter the Dog" children's iBooks that are available for FREE on iTunes for you to download onto your iPad, iPhone, or Mac, and another few iBooks that are on their way to the iTunes store soon once they've been approved by Apple.  These are children's books, with an age-level roughly around preschool and early elementary (although my 4 month old son loves to have these read to them, and I've had high schoolers enjoy reading them too! (probably because of the pictures!)).  This is a new hobby that I am really enjoying.  I've always wanted to write a novel, and decided to start small with doing some children's books first with my own "illustrations" before I tackle my novel idea.  Anyways, if you like to read, or like to read to little ones, check out these books!  I hope you'll enjoy them (click the links below to go to iTunes to that book) and following Scooter along on his many adventures and journeys.

The Adventures of Scooter the Dog

Scooter's Buddies

Scooter's Travels

Scooter's Wonderful World of Colors

Story Time with Scooter

February Dog Club

For our first Dog Club day of 2012, we decided to challenge the students with the task of teaching a dog a new trick. We spent time watching some "how to" clips that gave some tips and tricks for dog training, then we shared out some ideas about what "works" with dogs (in regards to training) and what doesn't. Then, after some planning and distributing of training treats, the students were unleashed in small groups to try and "train" their dog and teach them a new trick.


Wow, we were so impressed with how poised the students were and how patient and calm they were with the dogs!! Although not all of the dogs picked up a new trick, it was great to see all of the students involved in Dog Club jumping in and giving it a try. That's a great lesson there: never give up, keep trying, and keep going. I'm so glad these students exhibited this during February's Dog Club and I hope to see this same audacity and effort spill over into their classes!

November Dog Club

For club day in November, the Dog Club decided to focus on dog fighting.  We explored everything about dog fighting, who does it, what their motivation is, and what happens to the dogs who are the fighters.  Almost everything we looked at was very disheartening, and we came to the conclusion that we must STEP UP and help spread the word about stopping dog fighting from happening in our community and around the country.

 

After watching a few video clips and public service announcements, the members of Dog Club jumped right in to create posters to hang around MRH and to give to our friends at the APA to display at their location.  The more information we can get out there about reporting dog fighting and putting an end to this "sport" the better.  Dog Club members are really stepping up their support against dog fighting and we hope to continue to do more in the community to alert people about the dangers of dog fighting.

Check out our Dog Club video from this day and see how students are taking the first step against dog fighting.

Dog Club April 27th, 2011

This month's MRHMS Dog Club was a huge success!  On this club day, we welcomed 9 furry friends, 6 APA employees/volunteers, 3 teachers, 11 students, and one amazing learning opportunity about jobs involving animals!

We learned so much this day...especially in regards to different careers you can have with animals.  The MRHMS students listened intently about the different jobs, and asked some really awesome questions!  All this was happening while surrounded by 9 furry friends in one room.

The students got to play a game where they try and guess what animal job it is when hearing a description and looking at one of their peers dressed up in a costume.  I had no idea there were so many jobs involving animals!  I know the students learned a lot from this about different careers and job opportunities there are with animals--and for people with all types of education backgrounds.

 We also got to take the pooches on a nice long walk around MRH.  The students got to show off what they've learned so far in Dog Club this school year about the proper way and technique to walk a dog.  They did such an awesome job!

 

All in all, it was a great Dog Club day!  A big HUGE thanks to our friends at the APA for coming out and bringing a bunch of furry friends for us to meet!  We had a blast!

Check out this awesome video of our Dog Club!