Crafty Dog Blog

yesterday we assisted Katie with a tinshake at my local Tesco store. For the most part it was was a tin shake like anyother Adults and kids alike gave katie a cuddle and said how beautiful she is. most were amazed at the jobs she does to help maintain my independance. Generous people went out of there way to empty their purses, wallets and pockets of their loose change. and by the end of the day all the buckets were a healthy weight giving us a clue as to the total contents.

There are two people that made an impression on me. the first was a small boy of about 4 years of age. I noticed him standing at a distance looking at Katie with his hands in his pockets and a frown on his face. i looked at him and said "you can stroke her if you like"
"nah dogs" bite" he answered
"Not this one" I said "she's special"
He walked over and gingerely touched her back and backed off just i case i had lied. katie was so busy being fussed at the front end that he did not even notice. The little boy watched for a bit as others made a fuss and after a little while he came over and sat down on the floor.

Not taking his eyes off the dag the asked "if i touch her tail will she bite"
"No" I answered. so he touched her tail.
" if touch her belly will she bite"
"No" i answered again. she loves to be tickled, "Do you like your belly tickled i asked"
"yes" he answered "my dad tickles me when i go to bed"
now he was convinced that katie was OK so he lay down next to her and katie licked his face.
"there" i said "she likes you thats how she gives you a kiss"
He jumped up ran to his mum who was still at the tills and shouted "mummy that dog likes me and it doesn't bite"!

the other person that made my day really special was a boy of about 12. He walked past filling his face with crisps. He stopped came back and said "whats all this then" pointing at katie who obliged by licking his crisp flovoured fingers. I spent a few minutes explaining about Dogs for the Disabled and how they do jobs for disabled people. He listened intentley and when i had finished he said "that's cool" he then opened his coin purse end emptied it into a collection bucket. A 2p coin hit the bucket and rattled down the slot. Sorry he said that's all i've got, i shouldn't have bought my crisps" He looked at me and as he walked away he said "Great dog misses".

This was our biggest donation of the day because this boy gave every penny he had and no one can give more than that. it is people like this that make tin shaking such a wonderful experience.

the total for the day £374.37p the personal satisfaction is in the wonderful people we meet

Glad you raised money with your tin shake...and the impact that encounter had on the two boys you mentioned was a huge added bonus. Thanks for telling us about it.

Ohhhh thats brought tears to my eyes... How lovely. Also well done for raising even more funds. it must have been a weekend for charity as my OH did his charity performance in the Village hall and the audience were amazing... I recock it was the glorious sunshine that bought the best out in everyone.... even though saturady was wet and miserable... they must have known yesterday was going to be a good day xx

Tears in my eyes too. You don't hear a lot of good stuff about the younger ones these days,although I'd like to think that my eldest two girls would do something similar I couldn't say that they would give their last pennies. it does give you back a little faith in the kids doesn't it.
Glad it went so well.

That restores your faith in humanity really doesnt it ..thanks for sharing, and congratulations on the amount collected x

Well done thanks for sharing im now in tears!!! Sandra

Thanks for sharing that T, well done Katie for restoring a young child's confidence in the canine population - let's hope he isn't disappointed next time he meets a dog Great results, both in pounds and ... what's the word I'm looking for? ... profile raising (yeah, I know, it's two words)

What a lovely story T, and what a lovely experience with these young lads. restores your faith in the human race. Great amount raised . xx Doreen