Kennedy Krieger Volunteer of the Year

Congratulations to Stephanie Cooper-Greenberg, who received Kennedy Krieger Institute's Volunteer of the Year Award in May for her work with her Dalmatian, Mattilda.

Kennedy Krieger Institute is NCTD's newest facility and Stephanie is Facility Coordinator.
Several volunteers are visiting there with their dogs.


In these photos, Mattilda is enjoying stories read to her by children at Kennedy Krieger while Stephanie watches.

Stephanie and Mattilda also volunteer at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

Photos are courtesy of Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Have Therapy Dog, Will Travel

This is my partner Sophie-an 8-year old Cavachon. As you can see, she likes her role as a "bed therapy specialist." I am claiming her as the dog with the broadest experience in NCTD. We presently visit NIH, Adventist, Georgetown and the College Living Experience. But she also used to visit Sibley and, because of my job as Director of Facilities, she has helped me to get programs going in four other facilities in the past: George Washington, Krahnke Center, National Lutheran Home and Quince Orchard READ. She also became something of a celebrity last year when she appeared on the Animal Planet TV program Dogs 101, where she represented the Cavachon designer breed. She takes her job very seriously during her working week, but loves walking in the woods, fetching balls and chasing deer and squirrels in her week off.
Submitted by John Burrows, NCTD Director of Facilities

Cindy, Spree, Groovy and Yogi

Cindy Knowlton has been an NCTD member for five years along with her six year old Belgian Tervuren named Spree. After watching an encounter that Spree shared with a mentally and physically challenged stranger when Spree was just a 16 week old pup, Cindy knew that therapy work would be in Spree's future, so she did her homework and chose NCTD. Cindy and Spree have enjoyed participating in the READ program at Faith Baptist Christian School in Laurel, MD for the past five years, and are looking forward to starting back again this fall. More recently they have also been visiting at Copper Ridge in Sykesville, MD. When Spree isn't wearing her vest, she enjoys agility most of all. Her favorite obstacle is the tunnel, which is obvious in the photo below. You can see Spree's latest agility videos at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_ywLQyAmhU

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbgJntK7rd0

Last June, Cindy added two more therapy dogs to the group: Groovy, a four year old Belgian Tervuren, and Yogi, a two year old German Shepherd. While they're both still finding their therapy dog paths, both have participated in the READ program at FBCS, and Yogi has also visited at Copper Ridge. When Groovy isn't visiting, he enjoys nose work training, with hopes of competing when the nose work program finally moves to the east coast. You can see video of Groovy training for nose work here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Lz3sNMJEkA

Yogi can often be found hiking the Appalachian Trail with Cindy's husband, Alan. More recently, he's discovered a new passion in dock diving.

You can see video of Yogi dock diving here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHobhgwGRtk

Spree, Groovy and Yogi share their home with three other dogs. Quasar and Cash are 12 and 11 year old Belgian Tervuren, and Grizzlee is a 9 year old German Shepherd. Together they keep their humans, who love them deeply, very busy.

When Cindy's not wearing an NCTD uniform, you'll most likely find her working with her dogs or playing with her camera, either privately or professionally.