Christina: [00:00:00] Welcome to the Taking the Lead podcast where we empower people to be unstoppable. I'm Christine Hoeppner with my co-host Leslie Hoskins and Timothy Kunu. And today we're gonna have a little bit of a shorter episode because you guys, the holidays are coming up so fast. So we're gonna talk about some gifts that you can get for, you know, friends or family or guy dog, or just kind of navigating
Leslie: the holiday.
Yes, there are so many things to think about, but let's start off Timothy. What are some good gifts that somebody could get? Glacier or you? Of course you. Oh, . Of course you, but we know more importantly, glacier. Poop bags, .
Timothy: Oh, telling you poop bags. I like the scented ones. Mm-hmm. because it helps a little bit with it.
When you're bending over, uh, you can get, now it's a touchy situation with these soft toys. Cause it depends on the dog. Yeah. Uh, glacier has her original ones and that's three years. She doesn't tear into 'em. [00:01:00] But I've seen other, uh, handlers talk about their dogs just tear into the, the toys and eat them.
So that would be something you would have to ask the handler for about that, if their dog's capable of handling that or not. But Glacier she is. So, uh, of course she's had her worm for almost three years now. , and it's trucking on that giant worm. But she's had, she's got toys everywhere. So, uh, a good soft beds, good one.
Um, I mean, there's all kinds of, you know, they're dogs. Mm-hmm. , yeah. Um, treats. But you got now the problem with treats now. You gotta look at that calorie count. Uh, glacier gets treats that are three calories per treat. There are some out there. I saw the day one had 75 calories. Oh my God. Oh man, it, you gotta really look at that calorie intake.
Yeah. And the treats are the biggest ones you gotta really watch. So you gotta be really conscious of what you're doing with that,
Christina: on that stuff right there. Sometimes you don't even think about that. And I know with dogs too, I know [00:02:00] my personal dog, um, we have to think about. Toys to get him because he is, um, he doesn't like chew anything but toys, but he will tear apart like a con, really destroy.
He destroyed. Wow. He had to have emergency surgery one year because I didn't know, like his bag had fallen over and the con fell out and he had like, Chewed the tip of the tongue off. Oh my gosh. Swallowed it and it got stuck in his stomach, so that was not fun. So he's not allowed to have anything but nail bones, so like he can't have soft toys, all of that.
So I'm sure you have to also think about that when you are getting something for somebody else's dog. And I didn't know about the tree calorie count. Yeah.
Leslie: You know, I have heard that, but only at work is the only reason. I didn't know that. I wouldn't have known that out. Personal life, I guess in my, in my real life.
I don't know. Is there like a difference between the two? Life? I don't know. It's all the same. So basically write, check in with the person, ask about their dog, what gifts would [00:03:00] be appropriate,
Christina: and another great gift for anyone in your home. Are
Leslie: you ready for this? Are you guys I'm ready? Is are you the suspense
Christina: killing you?
I'm ready. Anticipation. The taking the lead T-shirt, it's going to be in
Leslie: our gift shop.
Christina: Really? Right?
Leslie: Yeah. Yeah.
Timothy: People, I want that shirt. I'm saying we are not selling it right now. So now everybody can go buy at taking the LEAP podcast T-shirt.
Christina: That's awesome. Yeah. And there. Adorable.
Leslie: They're really
Christina: cute.
So, so you better buy one before we buy them
Leslie: all out? Everyone in our family is getting one of course. Um, but they're black shirts with a white taking the lead logo and the taking the lead logo is three kind of cartoon dog heads, I believe. It's a golden retriever, a German shepherd, and then a lab in that order.
And they're wearing like the big headphones like we wear when we're recording. Underneath those three dog heads, it says, taking the lead in big block [00:04:00] letters and then it's all underlined by like a long cane. Um, so we're really proud of the logo. We love it. And we do, we get a lot of compliments on the shirts.
And then the back of the shirts have a big white leader dog logo. Yes. Um, so those will be in our gift shop. If they're not already, I believe they're already up or will be by the time this probably goes out, they'll probably be up by the time the sas. So check, check those out. Let us know what you think.
Um, we're really excited about 'em. We've had them for a little bit and Timothy's, right? People ask all the time where they can get these shirts.
Christina: Yes. I'm excited. Um, I just like them in general and it's crazy to think like what, remember when we were creating the logo, like it was around this time last year when we were finally like approving what it would look like and it was a process.
It took a while. We had, we were given a lot of different concepts and we were like, no, we need this. We need that different sizing.
Leslie: Yeah, that was my first time kind of doing that process. I had never been involved with that kind of creation and it was really fun to kind, [00:05:00] like, hear everybody's input and thoughts and creativity.
Um, they came out really, really good. But not only does our gift shop have the taking the lead assures, but there are lots of items there. So speaking of items for dogs or gifts or things like that, our gift shop has a ton of items. So there's dog friendly items, there's really cute like socks with dogs on it.
There's lots of liter dog. And logoed cups and mugs, bags, you name it. Honestly, it's in our gift shop. I could probably do all my holiday shopping in our gift shop. They have kids stuff. Even like cute little books that kind of talk about leader, dog, kids, t-shirts, little onesies. Oh, when my babies were small,
Christina: Well, they have little onesies. Yeah. And also if you, um, you're signed up to get emails, they always send out codes for like percentage off or free shipping or all those fun things. Um, I know. My mom's bought, so they had like a Michigan cutting board one time. That was really cool. So I know my mom like [00:06:00] bought that right away.
Leslie: I'm gonna be purchasing the new hat. They have a new hat. It's like gray with an orange lit logo, but it's one of the more softer. Kind of ball caps. I have already started thinking about my holiday shopping, and one thing on my list is getting gifts from Leader Dogs for the blind gift shop.
Christina: That's great.
And guess what, you're in luck because for the month of November and December, if you use code taking the lead, you'll get free shipping. But remember, you can only use one code per
Leslie: order. This is amazing news. I am heading to leader dog.org and clicking shop right now.
Christina: I do have to say, um, Kim, who runs our gift shop, does a great job because everything I have is just such good quality. And let's be real. I wear like all of my Luter dog stuff all the time to work
Leslie: because then the weekends, right. I know I can't stop wearing, I wear a shirt yesterday, all day. Yeah. And
Christina: Leslie gave me some of her old stuff.[00:07:00]
Um, and I. All the
Leslie: time. It's hard to get rid of things because it becomes like vintage. And then you'll see people walking around with like things from, you know, long time ago and you're like, oh my gosh, that's so cool. So then you're like, you have to hold on to everything. But I mean, honestly, my closet can't handle all the delete time stuff.
It's too much. Yeah, well, all
Timothy: I know is I'm gonna go on the website tonight and order some shirts.
Leslie: That's, I, I know we didn't mean for this to be a promo, but we actually all genuinely are just this excited about the items.
Christina: Yes. Well, Tim Timothy, I'm curious, um, like what would be some great gifts to give you, like, because I know technology, we've talked about technology before.
What are great like technology gifts that are accessible in that sort of,
Timothy: Well, I tell you the biggest one's, the iPhone or an Android, something that you can use voice reader. I use my iPhone a lot cuz I can use voiceover. Uh, I gotta zoom a screen for me cuz I have a little vision left so I can read some of my mail and see what it's [00:08:00] for.
Uh, there's all kinds of apps that you can buy somebody on their phone. Uh,
Leslie: I'm, that's So iTunes gift cards and things like that? Yeah, you, yeah.
Timothy: iTune gift cards. It's just something because I'm tell you, somebody gave me a gift card. I can get what I want cuz I know more specifically of my needs than somebody else may.
You don't wanna give somebody a gift that they can't use. Yeah. So just give 'em a gift card would be awesome. Cause they can do that with the Apple or, or Androids. So, Yeah, that's, that'd be a good, good job,
Leslie: Leslie . I also think, like, especially for younger kids or adults, I love playing games. Like I'm obsessed with playing cards.
You can get large print and or braille cards, playing cards. You can get a lot of different accessible game boards, or you can make game boards accessible. Um, so you can kind of get like little braille. Printers. I don't know what they're called, but they basically print out braille on little sticky tape.
Oh. And like label makers. Oh, that's what I, oh my goodness. A braille label Maker . Oh my goodness. Um, [00:09:00]
Timothy: I heard they're gonna make a monopoly game accessible. Could you imagine being able to play Monopoly
Leslie: that's, . Awesome. There are lots of things that, uh, you can do and things. I know audio books, like a lot of people, I like to listen to books on tape.
So gift cards for mm-hmm. , um, those kind of subscriptions, things like that. Um, also like experiences. I know that's big for me, for my kids. I don't want any more toys in my house. They don't play with 'em. I don't want it. I'd much rather go for an experience. So take my kids to the museum or the zoo or a movie.
Um, all of things. You know, everybody can do and that can be accessible. So those are things that think about.
Christina: Yes. And I know too, um, you know, you said experiences. What are some things I guess, that would be accessible when it comes to that? Is it like, you know, hands on science museum? Would that be a good one?
I guess when you
Leslie: trying to do, offer different accessibility options, so like you can get a set of headphones and kind of [00:10:00] walk through and they'll give audio descriptions of what you're seeing as you're walking through. A lot of, um, museums are hands on so you can touch and kind of experience things that way.
It's. All ahead of time and check out and ask, you know, what accessibility items or features do they have. Um, but like baseball games, sporting events, those types of things. Really anything can be accessible. That's true. Especially when you're going with a family member who can help provide some, you know, um, descriptions about what's happening or going on.
But like movies too, right? Yeah. Little movie and get the, the headphones for the descriptions. Yeah.
Christina: You know what? I do remember when we had Sarah cla, I guess she talked about Disney, which Disney is for any age. I will say that any age can go to Disney. And she said that that was one of the most accessible places she found.
So that's also a good, I mean, that's a higher end gift, , but you know,
Leslie: can take me
Christina: to Disney . You can look at just slurred a little. That's a, that's a great
Leslie: one. Yeah. Different. Um, there's different things for like labeling and [00:11:00] identifying clothes and really, you know, as any gift, once you know the person and what they're interested and what they're using, but, I do think that the best tip that I, that we got here is thinking about those treats and the calories.
I do think that's really wonderful for anybody thinking about buying treats for a guide dog or dog in
Christina: general. That right. I gotta go look at the treats. I give my personal dog.
Leslie: Oh my gosh. Duke's gonna go on a dese. I'm gonna know it. Well, he does go on a lot
Christina: of walks and, you know, he's, he's,
Leslie: he's the right size for his, um,
Christina: breed and height, but, I guarantee like some of those treats that I gave him, like he has like these gingerbread cookies, they're probably like a hundred calories and I'll be like, oh, if he's doing, sometimes I give him two at a time.
If anyone's listening, do this. I wouldn't.
Leslie: Tru wouldn't get that. Tru would not get the moms that you're hoping would not get those. Well, that's good to
Christina: know. No, I [00:12:00] have an approved treat for her that she gets, um, when she goes in the cage and that sort of stuff when I have to leave the home. Yeah. So don't worry.
I am not giving this to our leader dog moms that I'm host. Seen right now for a little bit. I don't think we talked about that in this episode. Um, but we talked about in the last one we recorded. But I do have a leader dog mom. I'm rehoming for a bit, but that's also a great, like during the holidays is a great time to rehost a breeding mom because after they retire they become your forever dog.
And you know, you have
Leslie: a dog for the holidays that just loves you so much. Well, in the holidays is the time to think about giving. So, giving back in many different ways in your community, uh, whether that be donating your time, donating financially. Um, spreading awareness is another great way to give back and be an ambassador for something.
So by all means, if you. Want information on how you can help support Leader Dog? We're always available. Yeah. Um, we always need puppy [00:13:00] razors. We always need people to, to rehome or take on our breeding stock dogs. We have so many on campus. Volunteers talk about giving, oh my gosh, the time and dedication that our volunteers give.
We truly would not be able to do what we do. Um, and then of course there's uh, always ways to donate monetarily. We have Light Up Leader Dog that is happening very soon. Oh my gosh. So there's time to buy Luminary. Yeah. Which are $10 each. Yeah.
Christina: And you can do that from anywhere. Um, and we'll make sure, you know, on our social media that day that everyone's included, um, because we do have a little event that's happening that day.
But really it's about buying that luminary. And we'll make sure you can see your luminary and the campus all lit up beautifully.
Leslie: Yes. And thank you everyone. Thank you so much for all the support. As we're getting into and wrapping up the end of this year, we are feeling incredibly thankful for everybody who listens and who supports our [00:14:00] organization.
Leader Dog is obviously very near and dear to all of us, so thank you so much, uh, for listening. Today's episode of Taking the Lead podcast. I'm Leslie Haskins with host Timothy Kuo and Christina Hoeppner. We hope you enjoyed today's episode, and please join us next week as we continue to dive into the world of blindness.
And if you'd like to
Christina: learn more about applying to our free services at Leader Dog or getting involved, you can head to leader dog.org. Or call us at (888) 777-5332. And don't forget, you can reach us
Leslie: at taking the
Christina: lead@leaderdog.org with any questions or ideas. If you like today's podcast, make sure to hit subscribe and check us out wherever Podcast Stream.