Puppy love
Out of character THE ALLURE OF PUPPIES is
almost irresistible, especially
for children. But often their
heroines would one adult to encourage charm and novelty quickly wear
emerge. me,” Veillon says. “I hope off when the work of caring for
Then she that reading about Shelby’s them begins. Begrudgingly,
stopped won- character will help encourage Mom or Dad usually ends up
dering, and [young ladies].” taking over. That’s where JoAnn
began writing. Glowing reactions from Dahan, a longtime Costco mem-
Veillon’s first Alexa (now 12) and from fam- ber in Asbury, New Jersey,
story, written for ily and friends led Veillon to comes in.
Alexa, was Shelby pursue publishing her story. Dahan has been raising
and the Shifting The book is now available at and training dogs for 15 years.
Rings (Parity Press, most major bookstores and Because she loves the connec-
2005), about the through Veillon’s Web site, tion between children and
NECESSITY, they say, is adventures of
www.shiftingrings.com. puppies, Dahan wrote Kids
the mother of invention. About Shelby Shodworth, a recently Veillon is about half done Training Puppies in 5 Minutes.
five years ago, creative neces- orphaned 12-year-old who with her second book, part of As the title suggests, the book
sity began to stir in A.M. finds herself using time travel what she envisions as a six- is geared to help very young
Veillon, a Costco member in to solve mysteries at Miss book series.—WF children learn to train puppies.
Henderson, Nevada, when, Peabonnet’s Academy for Girls. “I did my best to make
while taking her then 7-year- Part of the impetus for the process very simple,”
old-niece, Alexa, to bookstores, writing the story came from a explains Dahan. “The book
she noticed a disappointing struggle Veillon went through encourages children to use
lack of strong female protago- as a young woman. Although
nists in children’s literature. she grew up in a very conser-
“I’ve got nothing against vative family, she wanted to
Harry Potter or other strong, become a pilot. When she
intelligent, resourceful male voiced her aspirations, people
characters, but I know how kept telling her she couldn’t
important it is for kids to do it. But her doubts disap-have good role models,” says peared when a family friend
Veillon, a longtime commercial talked it over with her and
airline pilot. She wondered told her she thought she’d be
when strong, smart, can-do a great pilot. “I just needed
A.M.
Veillon
Both groups have a capac- sometimes rent is hard to make,
ity for “unconditional accep- I do this because it brings such
tance and openheartedness,” joy to the lives of others, and it
We want
to heayr from ou
IF YOU HAVE a note, photo
or story to share (it should
be about Costco or Costco
members in some way),
you can send it to “The
Member Connection,”
The Costco Connection,
P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA
98124-1088, or e-mail to
connection@costco.com
with “The Member
Connection” in the subject
line. Submissions cannot be
acknowledged or returned.
PHOTODISC
Sinclaire explains. “I bring in the comes right back to me,”
toughest hard-core kids—and Sinclaire says.—Anita Thompson
when they wheel a wheelchair
around or help feed a senior, Adam@Home by Brian Basset
there is an amazing connection
that happens.”
very simple commands and
use training techniques that
dogs will understand.”
ALANNAH SINCLAIRE
“Despite the fact that
For five years, Oaks &
Acorns was Sinclaire’s full-time
career. Then, on September 11,
2001, she was scheduled to
be on local television to tell the
Oaks & Acorns story. Not only
was her appearance canceled
due to the terrorist attacks,
but contributions to her nonprofit were subsequently
reduced to a trickle.
The group is still struggling
financially, and Sinclaire has
gone back to teaching part-time to keep the doors open.
SPECIAL TO THE CONNECTION. ADAM IS © B Y BRIAN BASSE T, UNIVERSAL PRESS S YNDICATE
While she was happy with
the book, she felt she could do
more to help people by demonstrating good training techniques.
She began visiting schools,
libraries, bookstores and other
organizations in the northeastern United States.
Eventually, Dahan pitched
the idea of expanding her audience through a television show
to Comcast. The first episode
of her new show, Kids Training
Puppies, aired last April. For
more information about
Dahan’s book or TV show, visit
www.kidstrainingpuppies.com.
