Weekend Roundup

Hear classic symphonies, watch Texas Rollergirls in our top 5 event picks for the weekend

There's highbrow and lowbrow — middlebrow, too if you're going to be picky about it. You can have it all, really.

Impress your friends with tales of your time at the orchestra or have them join you for a citywide scavenger with our event picks for this weekend.

Austin Civic Orchestra presents Titan

Don’t be intimidated. You might have actually heard some of this! Some of Austrian composer Gustav Mahler’s symphony was used in Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life. But even if you haven’t, it could still be a good opportunity to tear yourself away from that Walking Dead marathon (yeah, yeah, it’s back this Sunday). You’re better than that. It’s Saturday night at the Austin Civic Orchestra in Georgetown.

I Wanna Be Your Dog III: Puppy Love Edition

Thanks largely to the efforts to the folks at Austin Pets Alive! Austin is a no-kill city — a rare and hard won feat. They’re throwing their third annual I Wanna Be Your Dog benefit Saturday night at 8 p.m. at Hotel Vegas, where there will be food, drinks, a photo booth, animal-themed T-shirts to buy and a raffle for two SXSW wristbands and JetBlue airline vouchers. It’s five bucks and, of course, dog friendly.

Scavenger Dash

There’s all kind of running, jumping and (legal) misbehavior to be had when you participate in this pseudo-Amazing Race. In teams of two, you scour the city for clues, racing to be the first team to finish. It’s about five to seven miles, takes about four or five hours or so and you can wear (appropriate) costumes. The scavenger race is Saturday starting at noon, with Opal Divine’s downtown serving as the starting point.

Texas Rollergirls’ first bout of the season

This is not the kind of roller skating you did when you were a kid at birthday parties. This is aggressive, violent and high-speed skating — the kind where teams are called Hell Marys, Hotrod Honeys, Honky Tonk Heartbreakers and Hustlers. These ladies, who kick off their 2013 season with first match or “bout” Sunday night at the Austin Convention Center, are tough business.

JB Smoove at Cap City Comedy

You probably know this comedian from Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm, where plays the incorrigible Leon Black. (As a reminder, here’s a link to one of his better moments on the show, where he explains David’s perpetually exasperated version of himself how to put up a fight. NSFW, obviously.) Smoove is performing a few sets over the weekend, so check the Cap City site and take your pick.

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Shelter to Service

Dripping Springs nonprofit trains service dogs rescued from shelters

Photo courtesy of KVUE

The group estimates that it's gotten more than 1,000 dogs out of the shelter system.

For the past 35 years, a service dog training nonprofit in Dripping Springs has transformed unwanted dogs into essential partners for Texans living with significant challenges.

Sheri Soltes, founder and CEO of Service Dogs, Inc., says the dogs they train help serve people with hearing or mobility disabilities. The canines also comfort those enduring traumatic events.

In a time where most animal shelters in Central Texas are over capacity, Service Dogs, Inc. is handing out second chances to pups with potential to make a difference in people’s lives.

“They're sort of like the cousins to guide dogs,” Soltes said. “Except we're unique because we get our dogs from animal shelters instead of having a breeding program. So we help the dog and we help the person.”

She says the nonprofit can’t adopt every dog because the pups must meet specific qualifications, narrowing down from their age to their temperament.

Soltes says dogs must be at least a year and a half old in order to be X-rayed to assess their health, must be extremely people-oriented and should be comfortable being in public settings.

She says Service Dogs, Inc. may bring back one out of 500 dogs in a shelter.

“We've probably trained well over a 1,000, probably closer to 1,200 dogs by this time over 36 years. Any dog that we adopt from a shelter, if it doesn't complete the training, we don't take it back to the shelter, will find it a good pet home. So, they're going to win either way with us,” Soltes said.

Depending on the pooches’ temperament and personality, they’ll be trained in any and all of four programs available.

Soltes says the nonprofit trains the canines to be hearing dogs that can alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing. They could be trained for people with mobility disabilities, learning to open and close doors or steady someone’s balance.

She says they also train dogs to work in areas devastated by catastrophic storms, in courthouses in the victim's assistance departments or with first responders struggling with their mental health.

“They're not always the right tool for every kind of job, but they're very, very helpful,” she said.

Read the full story and watch the video at KVUE.com.

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