I have been asked by a few people ‘how did you come up with making dogs’ and ‘why are you making them’.  My close friends/family that know ‘why’ I am making them have urged me to share a little.  So, here is a little bit of information on what the felt pups are helping support.

When our son came into our lives at 18 months old, neither one of us thought it would be ‘easy’.  Anybody who thinks raising a child is easy, is in for a big surprise.  However, we did not envision the journey would lead us to where we are now.  When they say ‘it takes a village’, it truly does and we have been very fortunate to have some incredible village members.  We have gotten some great help along the way, but lately it feels like someone finally gave us the puzzle pieces we needed to finish this very complex puzzle.

Our son has been seeing an occupational therapist for sensory issues for some time and he has glasses for his strabismus, but he was still struggling.  There is nothing worse than seeing your son struggling and not be able to help.  The consensus was that he needed vision therapy.  His eyes were not teaming correctly and that was causing him tremendous difficulties.  The price tag made our jaws drop.  This was not the first time we had been told that he needed vision therapy, so despite the jaw dropping price tag, we knew we needed to make it happen.

Who knew my love for dogs and felting would be the answer to our prayers.  I have now made 42 dogs and each one that is ordered is a blessing.  We have a long ways to go, but the path seems a little less cluttered with road blocks.  In a weird twist, my youngest niece has also been helped because of the journey we have taken (see I told you it takes a village).  She was having severe difficulties and with the help of a sensory specialist, is now on a better path as well.

I feel a strong urge to help more children and to bring more awareness to both sensory issues and vision therapy.  If you have not heard of Sensory Processing Disorder, I urge you to look at the  Sensory Processing Disorder Foundation page and learn more about it.

****This contest has CLOSED****

****As a ‘thank you’ to all of the support I have received and to all of our friends for helping us along the way….I am having a giveaway of one of my Custom Felt pups!****

To keep up with my felting adventures, you can visit my Kenleigh Acres Facebook .

Prints, cards, pups, bags, calendars, and more information on my Felt Pups can be found on my Kenleigh’s Fiber Studio website.