Troop 22 NEWS: Dog Care Merit Badge Pt-2

Troop 22 NEWS!  (9/18/13) Dog Care Merit Badge Pt-2

“A dog is the only thing on Earth that loves you more than you love yourself.”

Troop 22 members continued with the Dog Care Merit Badge part-2 by inviting-in dog owners accompanied by their personal dogs. Owners filled a special role by speaking individually with the troop about their respective dog and covering ownership concerns such as feeding, immunizations, housing (indoors/outdoors), exercise, house training, medical attention, obedience, discipline, and good dog manners. They emphasized the importance of socializing the pet in order to become well-adjusted to its environment, people, and other pets. In this way, dogs become comfortable and not nervous around different people and situations.

No doubt each owner has successfully applied good measures of care and ownership, as the dogs were all extremely well-groomed, well-behaved, and disciplined. As you can imagine, the Scouts were DELIGHTED to spend part of their evening with a group of dogs from a variety of breeds. They were very attentive, and asked many great questions of the owners. While many of the boys have a family pet dog at home, they learned a few new tips from the guests, who were enthused and generously shared their dog stories and dog with our Scouts. We are MOST !! grateful for giving their time and participating in this important merit badge segment.

Sadly, our Scouts couldn’t take their new-found dog pals back to the barracks at the program end. However, all was not lost. The boys are allowed a dog of a different kind in the barracks; in this case a surprise ! Ball Park hot-dog or two with brownies and chips. While this can’t compete with a cute, warm dog, it is clearly the next best substitute, as irrefutable photographic evidence shows many Scouts under the happy influence of tasty hot-dogs and snacks. It was a fun event, and our Scouts look forward to part-3  next week.

In Other News – The campout scheduled for this upcoming weekend is cancelled due to steady rains the past several days with more projected throughout the weekend. Camping conditions are best described as very poor right now. We will try for a make-up later this year.

Life Scout Guillermo Hellmund has committed to beginning his Eagle Scout Leadership Service Project this Saturday. This is one of the final hurdles to earning the title of Eagle Scout. He is expected to complete this requirement in the next couple of weeks and then seek Eagle Board of Review scheduling. Guillermo Hellmund is a quality young man; there is NO QUESTION he will achieve!

Troop 22 actively seeks donations or other assistance to maintain a quality program. Please contact the Scoutmaster, SgtMajor Jim Poe, at 956-423-6006×270 if you have questions about the Boy Scout program or seek to lend your support.

This article and additional pictures appears on the MMA Facebook page at:  http://www.facebook.com/MarineMilitaryAcademy