Congratulations to Rosemary Kitzinger and family on being the January Volunteers of the Month!  I have been volunteering since May 2020, along with my husband, David, and our four children, Marissa, Cody, Alyssa, and Collin.   Currently we are puppy raising SSD Augusta from the Golf Course Litter. I hope to continue to evolve as a volunteer with SSD.  I became involved with SSD through the process of looking for service dog options for Marissa when she was 17 years old. About six and a half years ago, I learned of Susquehanna Service Dogs through a chance encounter (o ..read more

Congratulations to Becka Yerger, the October Volunteer of the Month! Becka began volunteering with Susquehanna Service Dogs in December 2017 when she started raising SSD Amadeus. Amadeus is now one of our studs and a demonstration dog. “It’s awesome to think that there are little Amadeus puppies out there becoming service dogs,” says Becka. “He’s the sweetest dog, and I’m honored that he is now a breeder and demo dog.” Becka decided to get involved with SSD after one of her colleagues at Millersville University started raising a puppy for us. “Of course, I was interested right away. I’m or ..read more

Congratulations to the Smith family, the September Volunteers of the Month! Thank you for helping #DogsChangeLives! Read their story below about their volunteer experience. Guest post by Julie Smith, puppy raiser for Susquehanna Service Dogs Sometimes small decisions have a significant, lasting impact. When our American Heritage Girl’s unit decided to complete the Pet Care Badge in 2015, I had no idea how it would affect my daughter’s life and the rest of my family, too.  As part of the Pet Care Badge, a demonstration dog came to our troop meeting and showed us some of the ways a service ..read more

Congratulations to Sharon and Brian Stalker, the August Volunteers of the Month! Sharon and Brian raised their first puppy for Susquehanna Service Dogs in 1995. Although SSD Sophie didn’t become a service dog, she had a happy life and a successful career as a drug detection dog working with a state trooper. They decided to get involved with SSD after their family dog passed away. A co-worker recommended SSD as a way to bring a dog back into their lives. Sharon says, “My favorite part of how we became raisers is this: We were invited to a puppy class to see what it would mean to be a raiser ..read more

Congratulations to Beth Bartoli, the July Volunteer of the Month! Thank you for helping #DogsChangeLives! Read her story below about her volunteer experience. Guest post by Beth Bartoli, volunteer with Susquehanna Service Dogs I have been an SSD volunteer since December 2017, when I started raising SSD Felix. She is the first dog I have raised, but I plan on continuing to raise dogs for SSD.  When she was almost two years old, Susquehanna Service Dogs selected Felix as a breeding dog, which also gave us the opportunity to train her as a demonstration dog for SSD. She started clas ..read more

Congratulations to Maria and Rob Hersey on being our June Volunteers of the Month! Read their story below about how they became puppy sitters. Guest post by Maria Hersey, volunteer with Susquehanna Service Dogs Rob and I began volunteering as puppy sitters in May 2016. Fortunately, I keep notes on all the dogs we sit for and realized that within that time, we have had the honor and pleasure of sitting for forty-three dogs. Ten of those dogs have stayed with us multiple times: Andie Joy, Wes, Dustin, Chickadee, Jackie, Cassiopeia, Prague, Cha Cha , Nellie, and Sergeant.  Initially ..read more

Congratulations to Susan Wesner, the May Volunteer of the Month! Susan has been volunteering with Susquehanna Service Dogs since May 2014 as a puppy hugger helping to socialize our youngest service dogs in training. She first heard about SSD when she attended PawsAbilities, our canine festival. By 2015, she took our classes to become a puppy sitter. After sitting new puppies SSD Geronimo, SSD Godiva, and SSD Guava as part of our 2x2 puppy sitting program, she was hooked. Since then, she has supervised puppy socialization at our center in Grantville, PA and has helped canine eye clinics ..read more

Congratulations to the Finnegan family, the April Volunteer of the Month! The Finnegans have been volunteering with Susquehanna Service Dogs since December 2017, when they began raising their first dog, SSD Beethoven. Beethoven is now working as a detection K9 with the CIA, and the Finnegans are raising SSD Davis, who is almost ready for advanced training, and new puppy SSD Murtaugh. In addition to raising puppies, they have also been sitters and help with our 2x2 puppy sitting, where they watch two of our youngest puppies overnight to help them acclimate to spending time away from thei ..read more

Congratulations to Sue Knode, the February Volunteer of the Month! Our volunteers collectively give over 40,000 hours per month to raise and sit puppies, help with public training, maintain our property, help with fundraising and so much more! To give back to our volunteers who give us so much, we’re recognizing a volunteer each month. Selected by random drawing, volunteers of the month receive a gift card to local restaurants and businesses. Thank you to Skyline Family Restaurant for donating a gift card for February’s volunteer! Sue has been volunteering with SSD for 13 years! S ..read more

Our volunteers are the backbone of everything we do at Susquehanna Service Dogs. Collectively, they give over 40,000 hours per month to raise and sit puppies, help with public training, maintain our property, help with fundraising, and so much more. We mean it when we say that we couldn’t do what we do without our volunteers. To give back to our volunteers, we’ll be recognizing a volunteer each month. Selected by a random drawing, volunteers of the month will receive a gift card to local restaurants or businesses. Thank you to Fabio’s Authentic Italian Restaurant in Grantville, PA for donat ..read more