Our Bright Spot Therapy Dogs Information Booth will be staffed by our knowledgable volunteers throughout the day.
Bright Spot Therapy Dogs is very excited that Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Hadley, Massachusetts, has invited us back for a third year in a row to hold our FUN DAY WITH DOGS taking place on Saturday, November 4, 2017 from 10:30-3:30!
This event is very special, not only do people get to learn about therapy dogs and the meaningful work they do for people of all ages in healthcare, education, and business environments, they also get to see a variety of fun and interesting things they can do with their own dogs at home. In addition, Barnes and Noble will donate a portion of all sales that day to Bright Spot Therapy Dogs. So, if you buy books and other items while you’re visiting with our wonderful dogs throughout the store, you will be helping to raise the amount Barnes and Noble will be donating to our meaningful work.
The folks at Barnes and Noble, Hadley, let us transform the store by moving bookcases allowing our various set-ups around the store. Here’s a preliminary list of the things we have in store for those who stop by B&N on November 4th:
Learn about Therapy Dogs: Our Bright Spot information booth will be set up with photos of our Therapy Dog Teams visiting in healthcare and educational settings. Copies of our print publications will be available as handouts, and our knowledgeable volunteers will be on hand to describe the meaningful work our therapy dogs do and explain how dogs get trained and certified as therapy dogs through Bright Spot.
Young children enjoy reading aloud to the specially trained Reading Buddy dogs who are great non-judgmental listeners. Pictured is Reading Buddy Max, a retired racing greyhound.
Read to a Bright Spot Reading Buddy Dog: Dogs are wonderful listeners and enjoy all kinds of books! Young children will have the opportunity to read to one of the Reading Buddy dogs for a 15-minute time slot. Different Reading Buddy dogs will be scheduled throughout the day. Bring a favorite book from home or choose one from the store to read to the dog.
Agility, Obedience, and Tricks: Trainers from Animal Alliances will be demonstrating obedience work, agility, tricks, and lots more training skills people can do with their dogs. Demonstrations will be on going throughout the day. Shoppers will have the chance to talk with the trainers about the schedule of classes offered at Animal Alliances, which is located on Damon Road in Northampton, Massachusetts.
Meet Raven and James and their teammates Karyn and Sally who will tell you all about their therapy dog work at Bradley International Airport
Airport Therapy Dogs: Meet Bright Spots James and Raven and their teammates Sally King and Karyn Cordner who are official airport therapy dogs at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, CT. Learn from Sally and Karyn what the dogs do at the airport and what it takes to become certified and trained through Bright Spot Therapy Dogs as one of these special airport dogs.
The Fun Sport of Geocaching with Your Dog: Meet Comet, geocaching companion extraordinaire, and learn from his teammate Nancy Ronan what geocaching is all about. The pair has trekked all over western Massachusetts in search of geocaches. Stop by the demo area and learn all about their adventures.
Meet Brinkley, a certified Hope Animal-Assisted Crisis Response Dog: Brinkley and his teammate Ned Polan would love to talk to you about the meaningful work they do helping on the national level in times of crisis, along with the training and certification involved. Brinkley has served at a military kids’ grief camp, the Revere tornado, a weekend encampment for homeless and at-risk veterans, and four weeks with survivors and the families of victims at the Washington Navy Yard shooting. For his work, Brinkley received an Award of Merit from the Secretary of the Navy.
Bright Spot Kaezli, a Bernese Mountain Dog, is a wonderful ambassador for her breed and for Bright Spot. She is joined by her teammate Kathy.
Meet the Breeds: Find out what it’s like to live with a Bernese Mountain Dog, an English Setter, a Standard Poodle, a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, a Golden Retriever, an All-American-Mix, and lots more. A variety of Bright Spot therapy dogs will be scheduled throughout the day. Event attendees will have the chance to meet the breeds in person and talk to the dogs’ owners.
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We’ve had a great turn-out the past two years and try to make each year’s event better than the last. We hope to see you there on November 4th.