Share Your Highlight Of The Day

What part of your day as a WatchDOG did you find the most amusing, rewarding or otherwise noteworthy?

Suggest a New Topic

Suggest a New Topic for Discussion

Secret Tips for a Successful Pizza Night/Donut w Dads

Share any great advice that you have used to get maximum participation!

Connecting with Other Schools

Post your questions and share your experiences with other schools....

Updates on Blogging!

I have been reaching out to as many schools as possible and trying to encourage you to participate on the blog. We are now going to open it up with more topics. Please take the time to share your thoughts, experience and questions with us and other schools. I am going to post several different topics which you can then respond to. If you want to have another topic I will have a forum for that as well or you can tell us directly by phone or email and we can add that new topic to the blog.
This is the season for new schools to join and existing schools to grow. It is an exciting time for all. I wish you all the best of luck with your Launch Events and the most fulfilling experience of being a WatchDOG!

We are gearing up for a very busy school year here at the WATCH D.O.G.S. home office (in Springdale, AR). This school year, 2008-09, we look forward to helping your WATCH D.O.G.S. program maintain the success you had previously. We have added some new resources and products to the 2008 catalog, so please view our online catalog at www.fathers.com/watchdogs and check out the latest items schools are buying! Secondly, if your school knows when you'll be launching your program in the fall, please let us know so we can send you the proper information to start your program with a bang! My kids can't wait for school to start, so they can have some "pizza with dad," and wear their WATCH D.O.G.S. tattoo (new item) to the Dads and Kids Pizza Night. My boys and I look forward to that event every year. I would like to challenge each of you to spend some time with your children before school starts - quality time. Many of us are currently rushing around trying to cram in our summer vacations, some of us already have; however, our children just want us to spend some time with them. For me, my kids want to play outside, go camping, eat smores, read to them, wrestle, swim, have tea parties, and paint fingernails (yes, I will wear pink polish for her!). As working professionals, we know time is money. However, as parents, and especially as dads spending time with our families is priceless. For me, my greatest joy and pleasure is seeing my family laugh, smile, and giggle. And for you, I know it is the same as well. Its a ruff job, but DOGS have to do it!

Have a great weekend and go make some memories,

Chris Danenhauer
School Program Developer

The 4th of July Weekend!

We are almost exactly in the middle of the calendar year as we head into a long weekend celebrating the independence of this great country. I hope you will join us here at WATCH D.O.G.S. in acknowledging and honoring all of the men and women that have served, are serving and will serve in our armed forces. Thousands of our best Americans are stationed around the world, away from their loved ones, so that we can be assured a peaceful weekend with ours.

I think a really good way to honor our service men and women this weekend would to be sure and spend some quality time with your family. Many times we feel we have to cram a lot of expensive activities into a holiday to make it count. In reality, our wives and kids just really want our undivided attention. Have a picnic, go to the public pool or lake, watch a firework display, laugh, play and talk!

I would love to hear how some of you spent your weekend with your family and I hope you will share the details with us here.

Have a fun and SAFE weekend,
Eric Snow
National Director
WATCH D.O.G.S.

WATCH D.O.G.S. at National PTA

Well, I missed posting yesterday due to complications the hotel was having with Internet access. They think the trade show was drawing too much power or something technical like that. Anyway we are back up and running!

There are almost 2,000 people here from all over the nation focusing on the well being of our schools and our children. It is a perfect environment for WATCH D.O.G.S.!! We have made a lot of new friends and reconnected with a lot of old friends. Many people have come by our booth to tell us how great their WATCH D.O.G.S. program is and how much it has added to their school. We love to hear all of the stories.

Yesterday Maya Angelou spoke at the General Session. If you are not familiar with Dr. Angelou, stop reading this right now and Google her!! Seriously, she is truly an amazing person and I do urge you to find out about her work.The fact that she holds 60, yes 60, Doctorates doesn't even begin to express her accomplishments.

I want to share just three things that she told us. "Not one of us arrived here on our own" and "People not born yet will be touched by what you do" and finally, "I'm going to thank you for what you are doing and then ask you to do it again and do it more"

I am offering Dr. Angelou's words to you as encouragement to continue the good work you are doing through the WATCH D.O.G.S program and to invite you to spread the word to other Dads.

Have a great week with your kids!!

Eric Snow
National Director
WATCH D.O.G.S.

National PTA Conference

Sunny San Diego is the site of the National PTA Conference today through Monday and WATCH D.O.G.S. is here. We are attending as guests of National PTA and the MORE alliance (Men Organized to Raise Engagement). You can find out about the MORE alliance by visiting www.pta.org

While I am here with the top PTA leaders in the country, if there is something you want me to find out about or address, please let me know. It's not often that all of these great people are in the same place at the same time.

I want to hear from you! I will be giving a daily update from the convention.

Eric Snow

Welcome!

Welcome to the blog for WatchDOG Dads! We're hopeful that this will become a regular stop for Top Dogs, School Administrators and WatchDOGS to learn about the Best Practices of WATCH D.O.G.S. programs across the country.

Tell us about all the great things that are happening in your school as a result of fathers and father figures taking a more active role in the school lives of their children. Share your best ideas so that other schools can follow your lead. If you tried something that didn't work, tell us that, too--you might save others the pain of learning the hard way.

If you have a website, provide a link here. Or maybe you received some publicity for your school. Tell us how you made that happen and give us a link to your local paper or television news station so that we can read or hear about you.

We're also going to use this page to provide you with the latest news about WATCHD.O.G.S. For example, did you know that WATCH D.O.G.S. was selected by the National PTA to be part of its MORE (Men Organized to Raise Engagement) initiative? We're one of just a handful of organizations the PTA is recommending to all its local chapters.

For the children,

Eric Snow, National Director