Created from: Events

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#006699" TEXT="#080000" background="044085a3.jpg"> <div> <B>Events</B></div> <div>  </div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=210 BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" background="045d2e83.jpg"> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="events.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Events"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Previous Page</A></div> <div> <I><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">By David Stoneberg Weekly Calistogan</I></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"> Thursday, November 30, 2006  9:56 AM PST Golden retrievers Roz and Rincon were ready for their debut. As only puppies can be, the two were excited, wiggling their whole bodies.Trainer Edwina Ryska took first Rincon and then Roz to the grapevines planted at the Napa Valley Exposition Fairgrounds. But before they got down to business, sniffing out a grapevine with the scent packet of a female vine mealybug pheromone, nature called and both squatted down to do another kind of business. Another golden, 12-month-old Josh, was more patient but was just as excited. On Nov. 14 during the Napa Valley Viticulture Fair, he performed flawlessly, finding the three scented vines in a row of 10. Each time he found the scented grapevine - even when it was moved from plant to plant - he sat, barked and waited for a treat. Each time trainer Susan Foster rewarded him.Foster said Josh's scent training began the day he was born, Nov. 11, 2005. The scent packet of the female vine mealybug pheromone was held to his nose and he was rewarded with his mother's milk. “We want them to associate the scent with nursing, said Foster. “Later we put the scent under his nose and he got a treat. Finding the scent becomes a game to him.”Josh is well behaved, clearly loves Foster and obeys her every command. In turn, he is given lots of encouragement and love.Ryska heads the vine mealybug program that is part of the Assistance Dog Institute in placeCitySanta Rosa.</div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Bred for sniffing</B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Josh and Jessica, also about a year old, are the two research dogs from the first litter who are being trained. Roz, Rincon and six other goldens form the second litter, specifically bred for the program. They were born in May. ADI researchers found they needed more assertive dogs, rather than the passive dogs that are used to assist the disabled. The father of the second litter is a field trial dog, a hunting dog with an excellent nose. He was bred to one of the ADI's bitches, which is an assistance dog.The work being asked of Josh and Jessica is closely associated with search and rescue work, where dogs are off leash and are required to search large areas, sometimes without finding anything. Erwin saw Rincon, Roz and Josh demonstrate their skills at the vit fair and he called Josh's demonstration “pretty impressive.” He added, “The dog was able to zero in on the scent of the vine mealybug. That's a great tool to help the growers, who would be concerned when the infestation first occurs. To us an infestation may not be detectable for a year or two, but a dog can find it when it is new, when the damage is slight.” A grower, then, can control the outbreak by removing the diseased vine and stopping the spread of the vine mealybug. The county's Web site lists the approximate cost of the vine mealybug program at $110,000 in the current fiscal year. Greg Clark, assistant agriculture commissioner, said the vine mealybug infestations throughout the county are “a significant issue and for the most part, people are treating it that way. It's great to have the support of the industry folks, the county and U.C. to tackle this issue.”</div> <bR> <div> <B><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Dogs help in many ways</B></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The research project for the dogs to find vine mealybugs began two summers ago. Dr. Bonnie Bergin, who founded placeCitySanta Rosa's ADI about 15 years ago, was training dogs to assist the disabled and to use their incredible sense of smell to find cancers in humans. She hired Ryska and the scent training began with a new litter of puppies.The two-year program is funded with $33,000 from Napa Valley Grapegrowers, a trade group, and individual Napa and Sonoma County grape growers donated additional funds. In the first year, 15 puppies were trained in early scent detection and six dogs were trained in more advanced skills and early fieldwork.Two of the golden retrievers, Josh and Jessica, are still a part of the program. The goals for the second year are varied, including conducting a double-blind study. But Ryska said she hopes to prepare at least four dogs for work in the vineyards by late spring. Other second-year goals are to continue to work with vine mealybug expert Kent Daane of UC Berkeley to more fully understand the bug's life cycle; and determine whether dogs can detect vine mealybugs themselves, rather than the female's scent. These trials can only be done from October to March, when female bugs are not emitting pheromone. Ryska, who said she's known Bergin for 30 years, said Josh and the two “R” litter puppies were finding vines with female vine mealybug pheromone scent that is two months old. “Can they pick up fainter smells or scents that are older?” she asked after the demonstration.Clearly that's part of the work that's yet to be done. Ultimately Ryska said she and Bergin want to create a separate branch of the institute just for trained dogs who can track down the vine mealybug and contract those dogs out to work in the vineyards.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Little Roz, 2 weeks later. 8/11/06</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="61abcfb0.jpg" border=0 width="188" height="251" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="61bbdfc0.jpg" border=0 width="189" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="61dbdfc0.jpg" border=0 width="189" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="61ecb0e0.jpg" border=0 width="203" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="621b70f0.jpg" border=0 width="183" height="271" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="622bc0e0.jpg" border=0 width="188" height="270" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="2dce4a70.jpg" border=0 width="228" height="167" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="6236fa60.jpg" border=0 width="111" height="166" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="625f9a60.jpg" border=0 width="249" height="166" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Below is Roz's visit to Sebastiani Winery, in Sonoma Ca. earlier this month.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="2cd22da0.jpg" border=0 width="290" height="218" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="2cf25dc0.jpg" border=0 width="293" height="220" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Below, "Little" Roz, taken on 9/20/2006 at ADI. She is now being trained to sniff out mealy bugs in the grape </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">vineyards of Sonoma County, California and per her trainers she is number 1 in her class in locating them. </div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">" Go Rozzie! Our little 'Wine-o'.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="2e235e80.jpg" border=0 width="309" height="232" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="2e4b0ea0.jpg" border=0 width="176" height="234" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="626b6f30.jpg" border=0 width="182" height="243" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="627b6f30.jpg" border=0 width="182" height="243" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="629b6f20.jpg" border=0 width="182" height="242" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="62aa5dc0.jpg" border=0 width="165" height="220" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="62ba4db0.jpg" border=0 width="164" height="219" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="62c21d90.jpg" border=0 width="289" height="217" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">The next pictures are of "Roz" at 4 months. According to her trainer and staff at ADI</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Roz is outstanding at detecting mealy bugs in the vineyards.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="645a7df0.jpg" border=0 width="167" height="223" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="646a6dd0.jpg" border=0 width="166" height="221" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="64727dd0.jpg" border=0 width="295" height="221" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="3672ce10.jpg" border=0 width="300" height="225" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="64aaae30.jpg" border=0 width="170" height="227" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="64ba2e50.jpg" border=0 width="162" height="229" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Below is Roz in action. "Get them mealy bugs GIrl".</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="374d8a20.jpg" border=0 width="216" height="162" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="376d7a10.jpg" border=0 width="215" height="161" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="378d8a20.jpg" border=0 width="216" height="162" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="384da540.jpg" border=0 width="218" height="340" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="64cc5530.jpg" border=0 width="453" height="339" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Roz points to the bugs.                                                      pooped after a long day's work.</div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Below, Roz gave a presentation at the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, For the Wells Fargo Guild.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="71044b00.jpg" border=0 width="324" height="432" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <bR> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Roz found out that the Cotati Police Department Canine Officer died suddenly due to anaphalactic shock due to ingesting a bee and she went to work and through donations from her Creating Wellness teams and several fund raisers she was able to present the Cotati Police Department with monies totaling $$ 3718.00 Below she presents the envelope to Chief Stewart and the Canine officer Kaupe who had the dog. The deceased dog was named D'Jango. Costs for a new dog will amount to approximately $20,000 and so far the Police Department has the funds now with a little more for additional training.</div> <div> <IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="6f04ffb0.jpg" border=0 width="335" height="251" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"><IMG SRC="6ed50fc0.jpg" border=0 width="336" height="252" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> <div> <A HREF="events48.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Created from: Events"><IMG BORDER="0" SRC="Symb075c00b700f000000000.png" HEIGHT="16" WIDTH="24" ALIGN="bottom" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">Next Page</A></div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>