Pooches both big and small went on the hunt at Calaway Park on Good Friday, as National Service Dogs (NSD) held its 16th annual Easter Egg hunt for dogs in support of providing certified service dogs to those in need.

The annual event raised money to help cover the nearly $50,000 each one of the dogs costs to provide support to an children diagnosed with autism, individuals living with long term post traumatic stress disorder, and provide canine assisted intervention dogs for therapy.

“The organization has a view and a vision that everyone should be able to navigate the world with independence and ease and acceptance,” said Alison Archambault, the Calgary hunt coordinator and President of National Service Dogs.

“It costs about $50,000 per service dog, from pre-birth right through their 10-year career. There’s lots of people that touched the leash of every one of our service dogs, whether it’s the breeder, caretakers, the welpers, the weekend sitters, the bus drivers that get them to and from training, the puppy raisers, the sponsors, the donors—and we give those dogs to each of our clients free of charge.”

She said that having events like the annual Easter Egg hunt is critical to raising those funds, and ensuring families and individuals get dogs.

The annual hunt also has some positives beyond just fundraising, Archambault said.

“There’s lots of events that people, of course, can go out and enjoy with their dog. This Easter egg hunt builds some empathy and builds some connectivity between someone that enjoys the company of their dog, and someone that depends on the dog for their safety and for their life,” she said.

“So in addition to the monies that we’re raising today, it’s also an opportunity to talk about what a service dog is, how a service dog becomes a service dog, and how the public can help with that accessibility.”

Hundreds of hours of work to create thousands of Easter Eggs

Every year, NSD volunteers spend hundreds of hours creating the thousands of eggs that are spread over the fields next to Calaway Park—although this year, owing to deep snow heading into the long weekend, the park set aside a portion of the lot to make the event accessible to smaller dogs.

“Participant pooches and their families will hunt out the eggs, retrieve the eggs and enjoy the treats within and the more money each pooch and their family raise in donations for the hunt, the more prizes they’re able to collect,” said Archambault.

The event, despite this year’s colder weather, saw more than a hundred families show up with their dogs to take part and saw a high number of pre-registrations ahead of time.

“This event grew from very humble beginnings in Calgary to what it is now, and Albertans are a hearty bunch. Minus nine and snow does not stop Albertans. We have lots of repeat attendees, particularly of the pooch variety,” Archambault said.

“You’ll see them getting out of the car, they’ll be dressed in a costume, they’ll be barking, and you can tell the repeat attendees because they don’t hesitate. They see the eggs on the field and they run up, some of them will grab the eggs in their mouth and crunch them. So this is a family favorite event.”

Archambault also offered a heartfelt thank you to the many sponsors who took part in supporting the event, including Calaway Park, and provided some of the items given out as part of the registration.

Participants this year went home with NSD bags filled with dog treats, toys, bandanas, and even some items for their owners.

For more information on the Nation Service Dogs programs, see nsd.on.ca.

Opportunity to help provide a permeant home for a rescue dog

The Easter Egg hunt also allowed Calgarians to get to know a special visitor to this year’s event.

Crimson, a rescue dog taken in by Calgary Bylaw during the summer while pregnant with puppies, was one of the participants looking for eggs.

Megans’ Rescue Effort Society (MRES), a Calgary non-profit that focuses on helping abandoned, abused, or neglected animals was contacted by the City of Calgary to help get Crimson a home after she gave birth.

“Our rescue was able to help so we took her in with her six pups. She just turned two years old a week ago. So we are just out here enjoying the wonderful last bit of winter weather, socializing with other dogs just getting as much exposure as we can,” said Eric Lauzon, a volunteer with MRES.

“Then obviously trying to get her permanent family. I definitely would love to see her find her forever home, looking for someone to adopt her.”

Lauzon said that interested individuals could contact the society at www.megansrescueefforts.com, to see Crimson and other dogs and cats available for adoption.

Photos from the National Service Dogs Easter Egg hunt