Cole Milo's Eagle Project for Hero Dogs

I will be leading a team of volunteers to repurpose an old shallow in-ground pool into a multi-surface grid for training puppies for Hero Dogs, an organization whose mission is to raise and train service dogs for military veterans in need. I will be restoring the pool to have a multitude of surfaces, from mulch and paver stones to river rocks, pea gravel, turf grass, and more.

 

Dogs go through several developmental stages during their formative months - especially their 'Fear Periods.' For example, it would take a 7-week-old puppy 3 to 5 repetitions to completely overcome their fear of a shiny floor. However, it might take a 7-month-old puppy more than 200 exposures to overcome its fear of that same shiny floor...and that puppy would likely have to be washed out of the Hero Dogs program. Our goal here is to help Hero Dog puppies successfully exit their Fear Periods and become more confident and well-balanced to tackle new situations easily.

 

The original budget for this project was approximately $1500. However, due to inflation and supply chain issues, the cost of materials has doubled. As a result, I now need to raise at least $3,000 by July 14, 2022. The project is scheduled for July 17-18th.

 

Please help me to help our veteran community!