Susquehanna Service Dogs’ Shakespearean Puppies Take Center Stage on the Puppy Cam

(3BL Media) Harrisburg, PA - June 25, 2012 - Susquehanna Service Dogs’ newest litter of puppies has taken center stage on SSD’s Puppy Cam. The Shakespearean litter – William Shakespeare, Falstaff, Brutus, Cleopatra, Portia, Hamlet and Queen Mab – will be taking their first steps as service dogs in training on a live video stream available on the SSD website.

These seven puppies were born on June 12 to SSD Midge and Elton, a black Labrador retriever from the Guide Dog Foundation for the Blind.

Besides watching these puppies steal the limelight on the Puppy Cam, people can visit them for puppy hugging once they’re four to five weeks old. To sign up for puppy hugging, please complete SSD’s online volunteer form.

SSD is also looking for volunteers to raise these puppies. Puppy raisers receive a puppy when they are eight weeks old and are responsible for teaching the dog basic obedience and house manners, as well as taking the dog out in public to gain new experiences. People living in central or northeastern Pennsylvania should complete SSD’s online puppy raiser application.

Since its inception in 1993, Susquehanna Service Dogs, a program of Keystone Human Services Children & Family Services, has placed more than 200 service dogs with people who have disabilities. SSD dogs assist children and adults with mobility, hearing and psychiatric disabilities, as well as people with autism and military veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Each dog is professionally trained to meet the individual needs of their partner and completes tasks such as opening doors, picking up dropped objects, assisting with daily dressing or pulling a manual wheelchair. SSD relies on donations and a dedicated group of volunteers, many of whom raise the dogs that will go on to change lives, to fulfill its mission of “Opening Doors and Changing Lives.”

For more information about SSD, call 717-599-5920 or visit www.keystonehumanservices.org/ssd.