He is graduating this time for sure (update): Service Doggy graduation gown for Afghanistan war vet
14Here is the original thread:
https://meh.com/forum/topics/dog-graduation-outfit
Blake is actually graduating this time and in the other thread we were talking about getting his service dog Zoid a graduation gown (Bachelors degree).
He was injured by a road side bomb, lost much of his vision, has other damage that prevents him from going up and down stairs, etc. He has a service dog.
He does have paypal (whisper to me) if you want to give him a graduation present. Or I can collect it and send him an Amazon gift certificate (people were talking about doing one/both before).
I need to collect money to pay for this (since he ended up needing to stay one more term I never followed through in the end to get this for him last semester). I am trying to get hold of the women to find out if the pricing is still the same (around $75 or so but I want to add priority shipping so that we are sure there will be plenty of time to deal with the slit that needs made in the gown for his dog’s harness) and will post as soon as she gets back to me.
Don’t think we have time for people to individually pay her (that was OK with her when we talked about it last time) but what I can do is whisper to anyone the receipt if they want it. I can’t do this (likely I will need to put it on my credit card in advance) unless I have a commitment from enough people for most of it as my job ends in 3 weeks, I don’t have another one yet and I can’t afford to pay for all/most of it myself.
Flagging folks that posted on the other thread
@jbartus @annwat @moondrake @sligett @f00l @djslack @llangley, @kathyl, @2many2no, @PhysAssist, @tinamarie1974
- 31 comments, 60 replies
- Comment
@kidsandliz What are the dates we need to have this arranged by? I suggest that you get a firm number on the cost with shipping and we PayPal you our contributions by x date. We also need to know how many people are still in/freshly in to know that you have enough coming to cover the expense. I’ll leave this comment for discussion of the first part.
@djslack Graduation is the morning of May 11th so need it by at least the day before, preferably the day before that. I am working on a firm cost now. Waiting for either an email or phone reply.
https://www.doggyduds.com/item.php?item_id=103&page=178
@Kidsandliz So we back up from there and we need to have the money to you like 5/1 or so, right?
@djslack I can put it on a credit card but I will be screwed if people don’t pay me. To avoid a rush order ($25) I am going to need to pay ASAP. Thus I can get the money after that but then the risk is on me that everyone will come through. I will need to take that risk though I think.
@djslack Graduation is on Friday the 11th at 10am so if we are giving him a gift card I need the money prior to that so that I can buy a card, put the info in that, etc. Told her I’d like to get the gown by that Wednesday so I could make sure he got it Thursday - which is when I’d like to also give him the card, etc. The dog gown she said she’d start it before I paid her (very nice person) so that helps.
@Kidsandliz Let me know how I can get some money to you for this.
And this comment is for roll call for people who want to participate (keeping extraneous discussion elsewhere if possible).
@djslack is in.
@2many2no still here.
@djslack Sure. I’ll help. Someone just please let me know what amount…
@djslack I’m in.
@djslack I’m in.
@djslack still here.
@djslack @kidsandliz I can throw $10 in. What are the final instructions? I can’t keep up
@djslack I’m in.
@looseneck When I get a chance today I will whisper everyone with paypal instructions. If someone wants to donate directly to the person making the gown they can do that. Also if someone would rather independently send an amazon gift card I will sort that out so they can do that.
Otherwise what is happening is all the money will come through me - use “gift” with paypal so they don’t take some of it - I will make sure everything is taken care of (gown, graduation card with whatever you want me to write on the card from each of you, and amazon gift card with whatever we have above and beyond the gown costs. I am more than glad to scan/snapshot receipts, etc. and send them on to anyone who wants anything along this line. I will send the thread a photo when the gown arrives and then on graduation get a photo of him and dog and post that (well presuming he gives me permission to post a photo - I am hoping/presuming likely he will).
@djslack I just saw this thread. I’m not in the forum much. I’ve never gotten a “whisper” so I’m not sure where I’ll see it, but assuming I can find it (LOL) I’m in.
@mygirlsmom3 look below a message. To the right of reply is whisper. Reply to a message the person sent you want to whisper to. Remove any people from the send list you don’t want included. I have no idea if you can remove all of them and sub in someone else’s @
@Kidsandliz thanks for the info!
@Kidsandliz You can count me in as well
@djslack I’m in for $10.
@djslack I’m in for $25. Just let me know how to get it you,
@magic_cave thanks, this is kidsandliz’s project, I just tried to give some order.
PayPal funds (choose as a gift so there are no fees taken out) to [redacted] or [redacted] is the easiest way to contribute.
@djslack i am in - hope i’m not too late!
@looseneck
My list of who is who/has donated is at school (work) and I am at home pulling messages people want on the card off of whispers… I see I never sent you the instructions - however I also know disjack posted the one link (so you may have donated). But I thought I’d better send them just in case. I have been exhausted with the last week of classes, finals… Anyway
Paypal is linked to my [redacted] email as a secondary email along with this paypal link: [redacted] (I am not entirely clear how that works as someone told me about it so I created it. Theoretically it creates a hot link except it doesn’t appear to be doing so that I can see – not sure what is up with that). Please be sure to send the money as a gift so that paypal does not take a percent of that.
Thanks again for contributing to Blake and Zoid’s doggy graduation gown and gift card project!
Kidsandliz
Happy to help. Just let me know how to help
OK got an email. We will be talking on the phone later this evening.
Cost:
The cost of the cap & gown is $52.99 + $9.00 ship = $61.99
She is not charging us the custom fee nor for priority mail.
If you would rather send money directly to her via paypal whisper to me and I will give you the information. If you are doing it that way it would be helpful to know what you are donating so I don’t accidentally overpay her due to things “crossing in the mail” so to speak. Otherwise I can pay her, then use any leftover to get him an amazon gift certificate and a card.
Thanks all for the help doing this.
@Kidsandliz you’ve been around here long enough, for those that may not know we can vouch for you. Sounds like with the custom work you need to get it done asap, so you should probably go ahead and order and skip the extra complication of mixed payments to the vendor, who it sounds like is already going us a favor or two.
Let me/us know where to send PayPal to you. We’ve got 4 already and should have more coming, there were what, 11 people ready to go last time. $10 each suggested donation sound ok?
Don’t worry if people don’t come through or if no one else shows up, we won’t let you get stuck with something you can’t afford.
@djslack Sounds reasonable, however I do think that people should do what they want to do, can afford to do (for some on here that might be a bit too much and they shouldn’t feel bad if they are donating less) as every little bit helps, etc. That would give enough for a gift card too…
She did tell me she’d start it before she got the money so no worries with that. Sweet woman.
@djslack PS meant to thank you for letting me know I wouldn’t be left holding the bag (I was really tired last night). Later today (after I teach at
I’ll get back to everyone. I allegedly will be interrupted a lot though because to bail all my students with terminal senioritis (I teach capstone) they have an opportunity to retake quizzes they got less than 75% on… This to prevent a couple of them who blew off a lot from failing (and a few more from getting a D who don’t have the overall GPA to survive a D) and thus not graduating. So my plate is a bit full if these slackers actually show up when they said they would. I told a couple of them that they won’t have to worry about their parents killing if they didn’t graduate (oh the sob stories I am getting in hopes they wouldn’t have to do anything for me to pass them - as in not have to retake quizzes, redo missing or failed written stuff), I’d kill them first. LOL
@Kidsandliz Easy for me is to PayPal to you. I think - I’ve never used PayPal for that. Would/should you just whisper (?) your PayPal info me/us for that to go?
Good luck with the slackers. (I remember my final semester, vaguely. I had to take an incomplete in my retake of Thermo, and finish that work over the summer.)
@sligett Or if you want you can just send me a personal check if you don’t want Paypal to have your bank account information. Your choice.
I can send a gift card although I found this site in a round about way. I tried to send you a private message but it didn’t go through. So if you could let me know how you want the Amazon gift card. Thanks Cindy
The cap and gown have been ordered. Will show up on May 9th at my house early afternoon and I will get it to Blake either later that day or the next so he has it for the following day.
I am exhausted with all the end of term stuff. I will try to get the paypal, etc. arrangements sent to all of you Friday, if not then Saturday at the latest. I appreciate what everyone is doing. As I had said on the old thread I had just posted to get suggestions for where to buy a dog cap and gown. I never expected people would suggest/volunteer to help pay for it. You folks are awesome!
@Kidsandliz nope, it’s you the awesome one. Should be worth lifetime immunity from goatdom at the very least!!
@Kidsandliz @llangley I agree with the awesome part. However, I dedicate myself to eventually getting @Kidsandliz re-goated someday… I will have my vengeance!
Been busy writing exams and grading. Finals week next week. Tomorrow morning before I go back to work I will let folks know how to donate to this cause. Thanks all. Again too tired to do anything tonight including stay up for the new product. At least I know it is unlikely to be a fuko LOL
Thank you so much for contributing to Blake and his dog’s graduation gown and potentially an amazon gift or visa gift card if there is a surplus in donations. I would be glad to provide proof I have used the money to purchase that if you would like to see that.
The gown has been ordered from Doggyduds (link in the thread, if you call them to confirm that, in fact, the gown has been ordered, tell them you are calling to confirm the order for Blake and Zoid was, in fact, ordered and paid for) and should arrive by May 9th (graduation is Friday May 11th).
I created a paypal link you can use to send your donation to the cause. I appreciate your generosity as originally, last fall when he was going to graduate until he decided to double major, all I had done was to post to see if anyone knew any reputable shop to get one made. I really appreciate it.
If you would like a message put on the card we will be giving him please send that back to me and I will include it.
I will whisper each of you a paypal link.
I have told Blake that I’d like to take a photo of him and his dog after graduation (not sure, with how they line us up I can do that before graduation; he has agreed to let me do that) to send to everyone who donated.
Thank you again. I really appreciate the help since my job ends on the 14th of this month and I don’t yet have another one.
Kidsandliz
All you folks should have gotten a whisper about how to contribute to the dog graduation gown. If you have not please let me know. If I missed you please let me know.
@shahnm
@sligett
@llangley
@Cinbug
@DocBJ
@tinamarie1974
@mygirlsmom3
@llangley
@narfcake
@mehcuda67
@2many2no
@djslack
@emilyap
@Kidsandliz I’m not sure if we use your email or the [redacted] one. When I clicked on [redacted] it took me directly to PayPal and asked for amount to go to AR. Is that the one we should use? Thanks again for doing this!!
@Kidsandliz Let me know if you don’t get my paypal contribution. I don’t use paypal a lot (at all) but I think it went through. Let us know if you weren’t able to pay for the duds fully.
I’d love to see a photo if you’re able to get one! No hurry, seems like you’re having a hectic time.
@emilyap Both kidsandliz and the [redacted] one are linked so that is fine. Liz is my middle name.
@llangley [redacted] is my first name Liz of the kidsandliz is my middle name. AR is correct.
@emilyap for me to do that I need to know your real name as I only get notification of names by paypal and amount. Unless it is obviously part of your user name here I won’t know (as it was for one person, one other I have no clue what user name is being used, the third donation I was asked it if came though and she gave me her name). Whisper that to me then I can tell you.
@Kidsandliz I’m probably the one you don’t know the user name for.
@djslack Actually there are two - initials CM and RK
@Kidsandliz I’m Chris, so your mystery is half solved
@djslack Thanks.
@Kidsandliz I’m not here very often these days. What the hell is a whisper? And who is Blake?
@magic_cave Blake is an ex-military student of mine with a service dog due to a road side bomb and extensive injuries. Here is the original thread
https://meh.com/forum/topics/dog-graduation-outfit
Whisper is a way meh has made it possible for people to communicate privately. To the right of the reply button is whisper and then only you and the people/person listed can read the message.
@Kidsandliz I’m Richard. Thanks for doing this.
@Kidsandliz Many thanks for bringing me up to speed. The Spouse asks if you would please add his “I’m a vet, too” congratulations to Blake. Check your email when you have a moment to be sure it got there properly. And thank you for getting this all pulled together.
@magic_cave Will do. Am I just putting your user name and saying spouse of this user name? Or?
@jbartus @annwat @moondrake @f00l @kathyl, @PhysAssist
Not sure if you saw this new thread about the dog graduation gown. On the old thread you had indicated interest. If you are still able, interested… to contribute to this cause please let me know and I will whisper you the information. Dog gown has been ordered from doggyduds and due here May 9th. Graduation is on the 11th. Any left over funds are going to a gift card for Blake.
@Kidsandliz I am still interested!
@Kidsandliz You’ve Got PayPal!
Ok… so maybe it’s catchier when AOL does it…
At any rate. No idea where things stand with this but I’ve sent along a contribution.
@jbartus welcome back.
@RiotDemon thanks. I mean… I never made a conscious decision to leave or anything… or come back for that matter. Life just gets in the way sometimes. But it’s good to be welcomed!
@jbartus THANK YOU!! Our running total is now $265! This is such an amazing community. BTY nice way to make a reentry (eg welcome back)!
@Kidsandliz But I was never gone! Just… hibernating!
Thanks for the welcome
@Kidsandliz just saw this - would love to contribute if it’s not too late.
Just now reading this thread for the first time… still needing some donations?
@lseeber Done.
@lseeber thanks.
I want to thank all the folks who have donated so far.
The doggie gown has been paid for and the woman making this has her money (doggyduds). The gift card is in the $80 range so far. People have been so generous. I think I am going to get a visa gift card so that he has more freedom in deciding where/how to spend it (I suspect some will be on his 4.5 mo old baby). I emailed him that I would catch him after the new grads filed out (I will wait by the door since we leave first) and there I will take a picture, give him a graduation card and the gift card.
If you want me to add a message in the card from you let me know. You can send it to me at my user name and the usual yahoo and I can print it and add it to the envelope, you can whisper it to me if you don’t want it public and I can hand write it in… or…something else you think of that I didn’t.
Thank you all again. He is going to be thrilled. It is just so lucky I overheard the conversation that he wished he had a graduation gown for his service dog for graduation.
I don’t comment on here much, but I was touched by this whole thing, so I chipped in $10. Here’s hoping Blake has a fantastic graduation!
@Daeghrafen Thanks so much! I will post on this thread after graduation (which is Friday the 11th of May) with some photos (presuming he gives me permission to upload some - or if not at least one of his dog).
I have donations from people whose initials are RK, LS, and KL. I am trying to match that with user name. If you don’t mind me knowing, I’d appreciate a whisper letting me know.
We are up to $135 above and beyond the cost of the doggie gown with 12 people donating so far. Everyone is being so incredibly generous. Thank you so much for helping with this project. While he knows about the doggie gown since I needed measurements, he doesn’t know about the gift certificate. This will be a big surprise for him (although he would have been thrilled just with the doggie graduation gown for Zoid).
@Kidsandliz We messaged back and forth today. I am KL.
We are getting close to $200 for the gift card (gown has been paid for already). You folks are awesome!
@Kidsandliz this is why I love visiting this group!
Update - we have reached $205 for the gift card. Thanks everyone!
Got an email today with a tracking number. The doggy gown has been mailed and due at my house on Monday!! Great that it is early. I’ll do a box unveiling when it shows up. Well I am giving a final that afternoon so likely that night.
That’s terrific! A truly Meh graduation with a meh dog.
I"m really eager to see a picture or two. I love looking at the end results of karmic kindnesses.
@magic_cave When the gown comes - theoretically Monday according to tracking - but if I have to sign for it I can’t get it until Tuesday (will be at work when the mail usually comes and giving a final at 1:30) I’ll post a photo of that. Then graduation is Friday and I asked him if I could meet with him right after the graduates file out. Will be giving him the gift card then and then taking a photo. Depending on where I am stuck sitting I can potentially take a photo of him receiving his diploma - but there might be so many heads in the way and/or I might be far enough away that a photo taken that way would be useless.
Gown is in town. Turns out I have to sign for it so I will pick it up at the post office Tuesday as I wasn’t home when it came.
Talked with Blake today (ran into him as he was coming out of a final) and confirmed (as before I had only emailed) that I will meet up with him outside the door after graduation to “give him a card” (hehehe little does he know) from the folks who gave him the doggy graduation gown and to take a photo (which he has agreed can be uploaded to here without cropping out his face and has agreed to let the lady who made this put it on her website).
So the package came. I had to sign for it at the post office so picked it up this morning.
And when I went to deliver it to the office he can get to (our building has no elevator) I found he was taking a final so I caught him after that to give it to him in person and confirm where I’d find him after graduation to take the photo and give him the card and gift card.
What was in the box - gown, cap, material to use for when he cuts the slit (to keep the fabric cut from tearing or “running”) for the metal part of the dog harness. Seems like a quality product. Nice fabric if the scrap sent is to be judged (I left it sealed).
And here is him with the box. He was thrilled to get it (graduation is Friday).
@narfcake I rotated these trying to make them the right direction and they are still sideways. Could you please fix this for me.
{Done.}
@narfcake Thanks!
I plan to buy the gift card on Thursday (late in the day) so if you were planning to donate and haven’t done so please do so. Anything I receive after that will just be added as cash to the envelope. Graduation is on Friday.
I have gotten some people’s messages they want on the graduation card. If you want one and haven’t let me know yet please whisper it here (easier for me if they are all in one place) so I can include it. THANKS AGAIN everyone for your contributions. This is going to be really great! I can’t wait to see the reactions of people when he walks across the stage with his dog in graduation regalia. He is thrilled.
We are a bit over $300 for the gift card. I will be buying it, and a card, early this evening (central savings time). If you want in, or a message from you on the card and you haven’t already sent something, please take care of this by about 6pm. Messages can be whispered through about 9am Friday. I will then post photos later tomorrow (Friday). Thank you all again.
bump
Graduation card and gift card have just been purchased. Please be sure to let me know, if you haven’t already, if you want a message from you put on the card. Card is for $320, fees were $4.94. I’ll take a photo of the receipt, gift card and graduation card and upload it. Thank you everyone for helping this be a special graduation. I may be too far back to get a photo of him actually getting his diploma (depends on how they seat us), but will be taking photos afterwards when I give him the card and gift card.
Here is Blake with the Chancellor right after given his diploma. It needs cropped (as do the rest of the photos which I will do tomorrow as I am too tired tonight) but I thought you’d like to see part of the outcome of your efforts. It took him twice as long to walk across the stage as everyone was commenting to him about his dog and how he was dressed. Tons of folks took photos after graduation when I was waiting to take photos and to give him the gift card and card (the dog stole graduation). He was thrilled. His wife was thrilled (she said, when she found out how much was on the card, “Good, now we can buy a lot of diapers”. Their baby is around 6 mo. They have two more kids - Blake adopted his wife’s two kids who are 3 and 4).
@Kidsandliz Wonderful! Looking forward to more pics.