Bios

I, Lacey Bair, Founder and Chief Executive Dog of dogsmatter.org, am a small black and tan English cocker spaniel. I live on a small farm in Western Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. I came to Pennsylvania from Valders, Wisconsin, with my over-the-road trucker friend and Godfather, Dan, after I was born a Spindrift English Cocker Spaniel on November 21, 2007. I received my early socialization from my breeder, Sharon, and her granddaughter.

I am an AKC Canine Good Citizen and have been certified as a therapy dog through Therapy Dogs International in New Jersey. Presently, I visit Geisinger – Shamokin Community Hospital and the Federal Prisons at Allenwood and Lewisburg, PA. I make special appearances at the State Special Olympics in State College and the Special Olympics Fall Festival at Villanova and visit children in classrooms and with other groups all around the Central PA area when invited.

In the winter and spring of 2011, children at the Hegins-Hubley Elementary School read to me as part of a pilot study to determine that if children who struggle to learn to read read to dogs, they improve their reading skills. The pilot was successful and I finished the school year with these students my new friends.

I train at Susquehanna Trail Dog Training Club at the Selinsgrove Center in the cool weather and the Marina in Shikallemy State Park, Northumberland, PA, in warm weather. I am also a member of the Dauphin Dog Training Club, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My AKC name is Spindrift’s Lucky Dog. In  my spare time, I like to take long walks, jump up and run on the wall by our house and play with my human friends and toys.

In 2012, we added another English Cocker to our therapy team, Maggie, aka Arcata’s Maggie. She was adopted through English Cocker Spaniel Rescue USA when she was almost 11 months old. Maggie is full of energy and loves to eat. She is very spirited and very beautiful. She likes to say that she is about style and I am about substance! Maggie was born in Western North Carolina. Training is her passion and she is really into sniffing.