Kitty and Lala

http://www.shortoftheweek.com/2011/06/08/kitty-lala-80-impression/

The documentary that I watched was titled "Kitty & Lala, 80 Impression", which was about Chinese wedding photography and how it has changed. I thought some things that made it a good documentary were the music and video used I felt like went very well together. Also, they gave some good background to photography in China and how it has changed and why they take pictures of newlyweds. There was a good balance of "one-on-one" scenes with Kitty or Lala and other scenes of their surroundings and them at work.The visuals used were very interesting, however sometimes I felt like too many different videos or scenes were being shown at once and they wasn't enough time to truly get a look at all that was going on, which is one thing that I think would make it a better documentary. Overall, the documentary kept my attention, had good transitions, and was informational while still fun to watch.

Service Dogs vs. Therapy Dogs

    In a previous blog about therapy dogs and children, I used the terms "therapy dog" and "service dog" interchangeably, unaware that they are not the same thing. I found an article online titled, Service Animal Basics", created by Petpartners.org. The article has lots of information about how dogs or even miniature horses can be service animals. It lists services that the animals can provide, requirements and standards, and how to become a service animal. But the part that I was most interested in was a section where the article differentiates between the legal definitions of Service, Therapy, Companion, and Social animals. According to the ADA, service animals are legally defined and are highly training to perform disability related tasks for their owners who require the animal for some purpose. The animals are not pets. However, therapy animals, are not legally defined. They allow people to have contact with animals but they are not strictly for people with disabilities like a service animal would be. A therapy dog can also be classified as a service dog if it has the proper training, but service dogs that are strictly for people with disabilities cannot be classified as therapy dogs. Both types of dogs are very beneficial to their owners, however they just provide different types of services. Since many people don’t recognize the difference between the two at first, I felt like this cleared up some things and is good information so that we are aware of what we are referring to when we say "service dogs" in our documentary. 

"What do you know about service dogs?"

      I conducted a survey to see how much people actually knew about service dogs in general, and if they knew anything about the Wildcat Service Dogs organization. The first question I asked was "Do you or does anyone you know require a service dog?" I actually did not get any responses saying "yes" to this question, which I was kind of surprised by. The second question was, "What do you think service dogs are capable of doing? Check all that apply." The options were, "Leading the blind.", "Detecting high or low blood sugar.", "Opening/closing doors.", and "All of the above." For the majority of the results for this question I had people answer "All of the above", which is true, but then I also had a few responses that had either "Leading the blind" and "open doors" checked, or just one or the other. Therefore, I feel like providing information about all the things that service dogs can be trained to do would be very beneficial to our documentary. Another question I asked if anyone had any encounters with a service dog, such as being around a family member who required one, or had done any previous training with service dogs and if so, to explain; all of the responses were "no." The last two questions I asked were "Have you heard about Wildcat Service Dogs prior to this survey?" and "Are you interested in learning more about this organization and/ or getting involved with Wildcat Service Dogs?" The results were split approximately 50/50 when asked if they had heard of the organization. The choices for the last question were: "I would like to learn more.", "I would like to get involved.", or "Neither." Most said they wanted to get involved, and no one responded with "neither". One flaw I found was the sample size was very small, so for any future surveys I will need to try and figure out a better way to get the survey more publicity and hopefully get more responses. However, I do feel like the survey gave an idea of how much people know about service dogs and the organization.

Reflection

      At first, the research process went very slow because I really didn't think I could write as much about service dogs as I was supposed to. When trying to search "Service Dogs", it was difficult to find information that I hadn't already blogged about. Once I started to use different phrases when searching, and tried to tie my different blogs together, it became easier to find new, interesting information to write about. The first blogs that I wrote about Service Dogs, I felt like, were fairly vague. Once I started to find more information, I was able to go more in depth and include other outside knowledge of service dogs into the blogs. Something that worked really well was using questions that I proposed in previous blogs as the phrase that I searched and found articles based on that and tried to related them in some way. Some difficulties that I ran into were sometimes trying to reach the minimum length of the blogs without repeating myself too much, and just trying to find sources that had enough information to write about that we would be able to use in a documentary. Many sources that I found provided some good information but nothing that really stood out to me as something that we could use large pieces of in our documentary. Overall, I think the blogs make/ will make the process of making a documentary easier because we have many sources to refer to and we can take bits and pieces that we feel will benefit our documentary the most and put them together to make something that we feel is informative of our organization.

Pros and Cons of Service Dogs

       I found an article that answers a question that I had after the last blog that I posted. The article from www.doggoestocollege.com, is called "Pros and cons of getting a service dog" the author is a college student named Amelia.
      The author has a pretty lengthy list of pros and cons of owning a service dog and then goes on to explain each of them. The first "pro" she has listed is the obvious, assistance with disability. This is probably the biggest pro, and most important part of owning a service dog, from helping with simple tasks, to possibly saving a life, that's what service dogs are there for. They also allow greater independence and ensure that the owner's disability is visible. Owner's can learn a lot from their dog, and studies have shown that owning a dog is better for your health and makes it easier to be happy. The dogs also bring their owners peace of mind. Knowing that their dog can care for them in case of an emergency surly puts their mind at ease. Now, the question that was brought up in my last blog was, what other downsides to owning a service dog, and this author does a great job of listing and explaining some of the "cons" that come with owning a service dog. The first three cons that she lists, all have to do with access. She explains how many times of constantly being denied access to places or being questioned about her disability because she has a service dog with her, starts to wear on her. She said she feels like she's being discriminated against at first glance and that many people, no matter her explanation, will still deny her access, which leaves her feeling unwanted. The author also listed "ensuring the owner's disability is visible" as a con. Sometimes the owners don't want everyone to know that they have a disability, this often leads to judgement and many remarks and questions from people who don't understand why she has a service dog. However, at the end of the article she states that the pros of owning a service greatly outweigh the cons but, anyone looking into getting a service dog should know that it doesn't come without any downsides.
     I loved this article and thought it would be great to include in our documentary to show both the good and bad sides to having a service dog. It's a good source to include to sort of inform viewers that might be looking into a service dog, the cons that will come along with it, but also make them aware of all the good the service dogs do.

Owning A Service Dog

        I found an article from the Lexington Herald-Leader titled "Joy of having service dog diminished by public attention", the author was an anonymous submission to the newspaper.
        The author of this article explains their frustration with  all the attention that their service dog gets when out in public. In a previous blog, I mentioned that once source stated that service dogs are there to provide service to their owners, they are not normal pets. Many people don't truly understand this. The advice that the article gives about interacting with service dogs is: Always talk to the owner of the dog first and never touch a service dog. Simply asking for permission first can help avoid an awkward situation. Also many service dogs are trained to try and avoid being petted, some are not to be petted unless they are sitting or laying down, and some are not to be petted at all. Don't try to feed the dog any food, as this could put the dog's health at risk, or ask any questions about why the person has the service dog, as these reasons are personal to the owner. Lastly, don't be offended if the owner doesn't want to talk about their service dog, it is a personal topic that can be a touchy subject for some people. Service dogs are great and absolutely adorable so I understand why it's tempting to walk up and play with them. They should be appreciated for what they do but they should also be respected.
       I thought this article was interesting and I'm sure that many people with a service dog can relate. I thought this would be good to use in our documentary because it provides the viewpoint of a dog owner and some of the downsides to owning a service dog. I wonder what other downsides owners would say there are to owning a service dog?

Therapy Dogs and Children

        After searching the library's database, I came across an article from the Lexington Examiner titled "Could your dog be a certified therapy dog at Lexington Public Libraries?" by Jodi Dickey. The article, although fairly short, provided more insightful information about these therapy dogs and told a personal story that provided a different perspective.
        This article starts out with telling about an organization in Lexington involving therapy dogs, that not many people are aware of. The program is called Paws to Read Program and it is hosted by the Lexington Public Library. Every month therapy dogs from Love on a Leash, and their owners come out to the library and listen to children read stories to the dogs. The author then writes of a story about her own personal experience with he Paws to Read Program. She says that one day she brought her therapy dog, Kodie, to the library to be read to, but when asking one young girl if she would like to read to her dog, the girl seemed frightened. She claimed she was scared of dogs and couldn't read very well. Once Jodi commanded Kodie to lay, a calm fell over the young girl. She began to pet Kodie and was no longer scared of the dog or to read out loud. Kodie helped relax the young girl and gave her confidence in herself. When many people think of service/ therapy dogs, they don't really picture the dogs working with kids, but in reality many, many children require some type of service dog. Towards the end of the article, the author mentions how a dog can get started with training to become a therapy dog. Dogs must possess characteristics such as confidence when approaching strangers and being able to remain calm in a variety of situations, and the dog and their owner must take a test and complete 10 hours of initial service. A website is included that one can visit if they think their dog would be a good service dog.
        I feel like this article would be a good source to use to help introduce how service dogs are also required by children. It also provides an organization that is in Lexington, so it's very close and would be convenient for anyone in the audience that wants to get involved.

Assistance Dogs and Service Animals

I found an article online titled "Assistance Dogs & Service Animals for the Disabled" which was posted by "archonli" on the website, arch-online.org/assistance-dogs-service-animals-for-the-disabled.htm. The introduction of this article begins with describing what exactly a service dog is and what they do. The article says that a service animal is highly trained to perform specific tasks in order to provide care to their owners and also provide great companionship as well. It states how service animals benefit society because they can be trained and then can be enjoyed for what they do for their owners with disabilities. The article quotes the US Department of Justice, the Americans with Disabilities Act in saying that "Service animals are working animals, not pets." This statement is true, the animals provide many of the benefits to their owners that anyone would get by owning an animal, but they also provide so much more. These animals, more specifically dogs, help their disabled owners through daily activities by performing vital tasks. The most common service animal would be dogs that assist the blind, however, many people do not realize all the other disabilities that dogs can assist with or even the other animals that can be trained. Guide dogs for the blind are trained to obey basic commands from their owner, alert the appropriate people in case of any emergency, stop when approaching certain places such as busy streets or construction zones, behave themselves in public, and stay close to their owner at all times. Dogs can also be trained to also assist with deafness and invisible diseases such as diabetes and anxiety. The article also mentions how in some cases, cats and monkeys can also be trained to be service animals. Obviously dogs are the most common service animal, but are they the most effective? What other animals could possibly be trained to be a service animal? The article mentions how the dogs have to allow themselves not to be petted, how are they trained to do that? And why does the article only really elaborate on guide dogs? I thought this article was very informative but I wish that it would've went into more detail about the other types of services that dogs can provide. This would be some good information to include in our documentary if we were to include different sections about the different services the dogs provide, and include a section about guide dogs.

So You Want to be a Dog Trainer

I found an article that was from a book called So You Want to be a Dog Trainer by Nicole Wilde, online at https://apdt.com/trainers/career/. The article uses information from the Association of Professional Dog Trainers, to answer frequently asked questions about the steps that are necessary in order to become a dog trainer. The article starts out describing what the APDT is and how they promote the trainers and wish to increase public awareness of dog-friendly training techniques. The article then continues to answer the questions. Certification is required to be a trainer, either through a business or a national certification. There are few schools that are specifically dog training schools, therefore many trainers take it upon themselves to educate themselves on how to train dogs. However, if one is looking for a good training program, research it and make sure that it includes the following: History of Dog Training, Animal Learning, Dog Behavior, and Designing Classes. There are no major colleges that offer a degree in dog training, but any sort of degree in veterinary science or related topic, volunteer work, or apprenticeship can only increase the odds of getting hired somewhere. Although many dog trainers are self employed, having a higher level of education/ higher certification or more experience, makes it easier to start a business and makes you seem more trustworthy to potential customers. The article then provides information about how to learn more about the training through email, newsletter, or conference.  Some questions to ask are, are these requirements/ steps relatively the same for training a service dog? If not, what extra steps are required? Are dog trainers in high demand? About how long does it take to receive certification? I think using some of the information from this article would greatly benefit our documentary about service dogs because it provides an introduction on how to get started for anyone who might be interested in making a career out of dog training.

Service Dogs

I found an article online at servicedogs.org titled, "The Interview- Shannon and Noble" by Shannon Martin. The article was about a woman who has a service dog named Noble and how he changed her life. The article explains how one day she went for an interview and when asked the question "How has Noble changed life in the Martin house?", she didn't know how to respond. She goes on to explain how she couldn't put into words all the changes that her service dog brought to her house. Of course all of the changes were good; she says the dog gave her love, motivation, and strength. From helping Shannon with tasks such as handing her something she can't reach or closing the door behind her, to greeting her when she comes home or cuddling with her in bed, Noble helps her complete simple tasks, comforts her, watches over her, and brings her happiness at all hours of the day. Noble has completely changed Shannon's life for the better. I really thought this article was cool because it was written from personal experience. It was sweet how highly she talked about her service dog. He does so much for her and truly makes her life better. I wonder if Shannon has someone who helps continue training Noble or if she helps train him herself? Service dogs greatly benefit not only people with disabilities but also the dog's trainers and the rest of the community.

Shark Tank Reflection

For my formal proposal and Shark Tank presentation, I feel like I used most of the same techniques that I normally do. I wrote the formal proposal in one sitting and then continued to come back to it and make corrections until I felt like it was the best that it could be. For my Shark Tank presentation I only included visuals that represented the main points that were made in my proposal. I started with a little bit of background about the hospital, which I felt wasn't the most exciting introduction, but that is something that I could work on. Secondly, I used pictures of the building and the logos for the organizations that it is involved with. I felt this was probably the best part of my presentation. Lastly, I felt like my conclusion during the presentation was weak and I could have been more persuasive. Overall, I think that my formal proposal was better than my Shark Tank presentation because I included a more persuasive argument in the proposal and I think I may have shortened my presentation too much. I definitely think one of my strengths was providing information about the hospital and reasons why I felt it was worthy of further research in my formal proposal. A weakness of mine was probably going too quickly through my Shark Tank presentation and not making it extremely interesting or elaborating on the points I had to make about my topic. For the next main project I will spend more time working on a more interesting introduction and a stronger conclusion.

Kentucky Children's Hospital #3

I found a short article online at http://kchcancersurvivors.weebly.com/. The article was titled "KCH Pediatric Cancer Survivor Picnic". This article explains how the staff from the Kentucky Children's Hospital, hosts a picnic for patients from KCH that have battled or are battling cancer. While at the Pediatric Cancer Survivor picnic, the kids can participate in games, win prizes, eat some of their favorite foods, and have fun. This day is used as a "break" from all of the treatment that the kids go through on a daily basis and allows them to truly act like kids and celebrate being a cancer survivor. This article makes me wonder if the hospital has any other events like this that are held for the kids? And if they do, what kind of events are held? Do the kids contribute to ideas of what they would like to have at the picnic? Does anyone else help out with the hosting of the picnic besides the staff? If so, who? I really liked this article because I like the idea of letting these kids be kids, even if it is just for a day. I also like that the staff of the KCH hosts it. This really shows how much the staff cares about their patients. I feel like this would be an amazing thing to be a part of, getting to make a kids day just by hosting a picnic for them. This article also kind of relates to some of my other posts about UK Healthcare having  great staff that cares about their patients and that are passionate about their work.

Kentucky Children's Hospital #2

I found an article online at www.kentucky.com. The article is titled "Kentucky Children's Hospital nurse donates kidney to 3-year-old patient" by Bill Estep. This article is about how one nurse at the Kentucky Children's Hospital was so attached to one of her patients that she gave him one of her kidneys. The newborn boy, Ben, had a blockage in his bladder which caused his kidneys not to function properly, resulting in a collapsed lung. Doctors said that he would need a kidney transplant as soon as he was able. Once he weighed 20 pounds, they started looking for a match. They were not able to take a kidney from either parent and after testing many close relatives, the list of possible donors was declining quickly. Beth Warren, Ben's primary nurse in the hospital became very close with the young boy, and cared for him as her own. When the opportunity arose, she got tested and was a perfect match for Ben's kidney. After the surgery, Ben is feeling a hundred times better, and his family couldn't be more grateful for Beth. This article was very touching. I would like to use this example to add on to the argument hat UK Healthcare has outstanding staff that does everything they can for their patients. But I am curious if Beth was close to any other patients? Would any of the other staff had done this if they were in Beth's shoes?

Kentucky Children's Hospital

I found an article on http://kykernel.com/ called "Mascot brings a smile to childrens' faces" by Morgan Eads. This article is related to the Kentucky Children's Hospital's mascot, Stitches. Stitches is a wildcat kitten that became a mascot for the hospital in 2008. The purpose of Stitches was to help cheer up patients at the Children's Hospital. Auditions were held for the role of the mascot and the article tells about the girls who took the position and why they did. The girls talk about how being a mascot takes more work than one would imagine. They say it requires creativity, patience, and quick thinking.  Although the costume can get hot inside and be a bit tiring, they say that in the end, seeing the smiles on the kid's faces is completely worth it. Some questions I have are, could the hospital possibly have another mascot in addition to Stitches? What kind of events do the mascots attend? Do they visit the other UK healthcare facilities? How did the idea of Stitches come about? Personally, I also love working with children. Pediatrics is a field that I am interested in. I don't think I would want to be a mascot, however this article does make me want to do some kind of volunteer work for the hospital. I might use the information specifically about Stitches in a documentary if I were to create one about the Kentucky Children's Hospital. But, I would also like to combine it with more background and history of Stitches and include the same thought I had in a previous post about how the staff for UK Healthcare are very caring and passionate for their patients and their job.

Markey Cancer Center

I found an article on uknow.uky.edu titled, "UK Doctor Competing in Triathlon to Benefit His Cancer Patients", written by Allison Perry.
A triathlon is a three part race in which participants usually compete in running, swimming, and biking. The Louisville Ironman is a triathlon that consists of a 2.4 mile swim, 26.2 mile run, and a 112 mile bike ride. The article explains how Dr. Jonathon Feddock, a radiation oncologist, competed in the race to raise money for the brachytherapy program at the Markey Cancer Center. Brachytherapy is a form of radiation that is intended to treat a cancerous tumor without effecting any parts of the body surrounding it. Since this type of treatment is very limited, the Markey Cancer Center must treat patients from all around the state. With a growing number of patients, the program is in need of a more efficient system. Funds would help to combine all areas of the hospital that involve brachytherapy and improve equipment. The renovations would also improve staff efficiency, allow the doctors to see what they predict to be double the amount of patients per day, and improve the patient's experience. These changes are almost essential as Kentucky has some of the highest cancer rates in the nation. For me, this also raises a couple of questions, such as, could these funds benefit any other area of the hospital? If so, which areas? And what would improve? Do any other doctors compete or participate in any other type of fundraisers for the hospital? What could these changes mean for the overall health of Kentucky? This article was very informative and fun, however I probably would not use this source as a topic for a documentary. It did show readers how passionate the staff that work for UK healthcare are, which could be a good point to bring up in a documentary about any of the healthcare buildings on campus. Also, I think it would be a good source to reference when talking about service in the community. This article definitely provokes more research on UK healthcare in general, and more specifically, the Markey Cancer Center.

Student Medical Reserve Corps

    When looking at a list of organizations offered at UK, I came across one that caught my eye. The information about the Student Medical Reserve Corps (SMRC) on getinvolved.uky.edu was very brief, so from there I went to the National organization's website and found more details there. SMRC is basically a group of volunteers that promote health and safety to their local community. The organization was created after 9/11 by the government in an attempt to inform citizens how to prepare for and respond to natural disasters and other unexpected events. Volunteers participate in activities such as emergency shelter, health screenings, first aid, and many, many more. Many volunteers are medically trained or have an interest in the medical field, however some have no medical background at all. This organization is great for anyone with an interest in public health and/or administration. It can provide great training and experience. However, I wondered what cities these organizations are located in and if anyone can volunteer? Why was it created after 9/11 and not earlier? Do these volunteers take the place of other emergency services such as the police or ambulances? This organization is one that interests me and one that I would want to learn more about.

Good Samaritan Hospital

       
     
         
        I found the homepage for UK's Good Samaritan Hospital at         http://www.ukhealthcare.uky.edu/goodsamaritan/.

       This site goes into detail about the services offered at the hospital, information for patients and families, about the hospital, and overall satisfaction with the services provided there. Founded in 1888, the Good Samaritan has a long history of providing great service to it's patients. They also have a good volunteer base. A variety of services are offered ranging from asthma and allergy services to cosmetic surgeries. This state-of-the-art care is not something to be ashamed of. Many links on the building's website allow for easy ways to find out how to become part of such an outstanding team whether it be by volunteer work or employment. As I read more about the hospital, there were many things that I began to wonder, such as, has the hospital made any renovations or additions since it was built? Does it plan on adopting more programs?
           I have great interest in starting a career in the medical field, so I think this would be an interesting space on campus for me to explore. Plus with great facilities and staff, I might find that it is something that I want to be a part of in the future or that I want to be in some hospital, or maybe it will point me in another direction. Ether way, this is something that I want to learn more about.