Service Dog Changed Mans Life

Joy, The Police Dog

There’s a new, fresh and even panting face among the Cornwall Police Service (CPS) roster — Joy, a five-year old service dog.

The female chocolate Labrador and bernese mix is the CPS’ first accredited Facility Dog and has received training through National Service Dogs since she was a puppy. Joy began working with the CPS back in August, through a partnership with Victim Services of SDG&A and Koala Place.

Since her first day on the job, the canine has used her extensive training to provide physical, social and emotional healing for individuals and families that undergo any form of stress or trauma.

“Joy is used to bring a sense of calmness and comfort to victims or witnesses of crime,” said Danielle Lauzon, property and exhibit manager as well as quartermaster for the CPS. “She helps alleviate some of the discomfort when having to speak to a police officer about a traumatic or unfortunate circumstance.”

The dog has assisted with several witnesses and victims of crime. She additionally has provided a calm approach to those who are extremely upset and has acted as a bridge of communication with people who have difficulty communicating their story, including children and individuals with disabilities.

A Facility Dog is oftentimes used as an effective icebreaker for difficult conversations, providing a calming influence to those who may be anxious or emotional, and helping to normalize a traumatic situation with the soothing presence of a canine companion. The Facility Dog may spend time sitting quietly alongside a child or youth as they disclose traumatic events.

In announcing the addition of their first Facility Dog, the CPS also recently asked Cornwall children aged 12 and under to come up with their best idea to spread joy and kindness.

Animal Rescue Produces Fundraiser

As COVID-19 creates a new normal throughout the United States, a Florida animal shelter puts a new spin on fundraising to keep their doors open, operations alive, and save animals’ lives in the process.

Located in the panhandle of Florida, Alaqua Animal Refuge is a private, non-profit (501c3) animal shelter and sanctuary committed to serving the Southeast as the premier no-kill refuge providing protection, shelter, and care to animals in need; a full-service animal adoption center; and a peaceful, proactive animal welfare advocate. In fact, Alaqua has become the “go-to” organization to help animals, and grown to be a nationally, recognized leader in animal rescue, welfare, cruelty prevention, and advocacy across the country.

Alaqua not only rescues dogs and cats, but all domestic animals in need—including horses, farm animals, and birds. The animals come from mostly cruelty and neglect cases, but also from overloaded shelters in the Southeast. From purebreds to special needs, these animals have all found shelter, safety, and second chances Alaqua until they find a permanent home or sanctuary.

Alaqua operates solely on funds that are raised through private donations, fundraising, and grants. These endeavors provide crucial funding for their entire yearly operation and most of them have come to a complete halt with the country’s shutdown from the spread of the coronavirus. Two major fundraisers were canceled this past Spring which was a devastating blow to Alaqua’s bottom-line to be able to meet the needs of animals in their care and keep the Refuge functional—including its day-to-operations and provision of services and programs to continue its mission.

“As animal shelters and veterinary offices are operating on limited intake, the need for our services are even greater today than they were prior to the shutdown. It is honestly unbelievable the need we are seeing from our surrounding communities and state,” said Alaqua Founder Laurie Hood. “Cruelty and abuse cases are at an all-time high and we had to figure out a way to help. It’s just what we do.”

To supplement the loss of funds from fundraising events and to provide a bridge gap until things could get back to semi-normal state, Alaqua created “Rescue Me,” a very unique type of virtual event that includes an Online Live Webcast that will run simultaneously with an Online Auction, containing curated items donated before Alaqua’s events were canceled. The event also salutes Alaqua’s supporters, sponsors, volunteers, and friends.

The show is also filled with supporters and incredible stories of animal rescues from the Refuge with appearances by favorite Alaqua alums and friends. It is a truly not-to-miss-event, and can be viewed via a computer, tablet, or mobile phone.

The Online Auction portion of the Rescue Me event begins Thursday, May 14 at 2 pm through May 17 at 6 pm. Upon registration, guests will be able preview over 70 items up for bidding, including original artwork, travel / trips, restaurant gift cards, art classes, golf, beauty packages, exquisite jewelry, wine dinners, event tickets, shopping sprees, and special bottles of wine.

“I can’t believe how fast this show came together. And I’m so thankful for all the incredible, and I mean awesome, guests that are joining us – from our local friends to national supporters that believe in what we do,” said Hood. “I’m so excited, but at a loss for words to express my gratitude. To the producers and everyone involved…I just feel blessed.”

County Launches First K9 Unit

The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department is creating its first K9 Unit thanks to a federal grant.

The sheriff approached Sgt. Ben Rudolph about submitting a proposal for a Department of Homeland Security SHSP grant, which is a terrorism-based grant, in order to develop a K9 Unit. Jackson County was awarded a grant for roughly $25,500 to cover the cost of a dog, the necessary training and equipment. Rudolph said after doing research for the proposal he requested to be part of the team, and the sheriff assigned him the position. “It’s something I’ve never done before, something that the department has never done before,” Rudolph said. “So I’m honored to be able to be part of that.”

It’s been a lengthy process, but 15-month-old Nyx recently arrived to Jackson County.

“Nyx is really, really good,” Rudolph said. “This is awesome, definitely a new chapter. We’re just hoping that we together as a team can be a positive impact in the community.”

Right now, Nyx and Rudolph are getting to know each other and building a connection. Then the official eight-week training program will start on June 1.

“It’s going to be an intense training process, and it’s going to be hard for both of them,” said Glenn Jackson, the owner of Police Service Dog Consulting.

Jackson was a K9 officer with the Jeffersonville Police Department for decades, and now he contracts with local police departments to help build their K9 Units. The Jackson County Sheriff’s Department has contracted Jackson for Nyx’s training.

“Her primary purpose is to locate,” Jackson said. “Narcotics, evidence that’s been dropped, lost people, criminals that have ran from us, building searches.”

Jackson said police dogs are not trained to bite or attack people out of aggression. While they can and will bite, Jackson said, it’s in response to a person’s aggressive actions.

And so far, Nyx shows good characteristics to be a successful police dog.

“In the selection process for Nyx, one of the things that attracted me most to her — which I’m looking for in any police dog — is her what we call hunt drive,” Jackson said. “Her drive to hunt for things.”

He added that a K9 Unit can be very effective for community outreach, building trust in the community and making children feel comfortable during stressful situations.

“It’s going to be exciting for the community,” Jackson said. “She came as a grant, but this is the community’s dog. Jackson County, this is your dog.”

Nyx and Rudolph should complete their training by the end of July. Then, Nyx will be on duty from noon to midnight when Rudolph is scheduled to work, and the duo will be prepared to respond when called out outside of their regular shift.

Festival Goes Virtual

Colorado Animal Rescue is currently hosting a virtual film festival that is going to the dogs. The Bow Wow Film Festival has since 2015 played for a single evening at the Crystal Theater in Carbondale. But this year, due to Coronavirus, the festival has gone virtual, allowing viewers to experience it online anytime from now through May 22.

The festival is a 90-minute program that celebrates, educates and inspires all things dog — through the art of short film.

Bow Wow Film Festival works in partnership with animal welfare organizations, such as pet food pantries, humane societies and service dog organizations, to raise money and awareness. Locally, the film festival benefits Colorado Animal Rescue in their mission to practice “excellence in animal care, education, and advocacy to connect pets to their people.”

Bow Wow films are made by filmmakers who are storytellers, animators and artists of award-winning, funny, and poignant shorts, according to a news release by the organization.

Erin Galbreath of Colorado Animal Rescues said the films are very fun, and some of them are inspirational.

“My favorite film was in black and white and it was almost like a satire,” she said. “It’s about a dog who hunts bagels on the beach, and the bagels were like animals themselves, and then they reproduced and had cheerios.”

Animals In North Korea

In South Korea, one out of 4 households raises pet animals, with the number of pet owners surpassing 10 million. The local pet care market is expanding fast, while the government and civic organizations are making efforts to create a new culture where people and companion pets can live in harmony. So what about the situation in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula? Today, we’ll learn about companion animals in North Korea from Professor Chung Eun-chan at the Institute for Unification Education.

The term “companion animal” is rather unfamiliar to North Koreans. An extreme economic contraction gave rise to the market, through which individuals accumulated wealth in the communist nation. Some people who belong to the new wealthy class keep pet dogs, but only a few people can actually afford to do so.

In general, North Korea uses companion animals as one of the key subjects to criticize capitalism. Many pet owners here in South Korea put cute clothes on their pet dogs, invest much money on them and regard them as their family members. But North Korea’s leading newspaper has always described this practice as part of a decadent capitalistic culture. However, it seems the situation has changed a bit these days, as some local residents raise dogs as pets.

In North Korea, there is no Korean word referring to “companion animals.” But the word “pets” does exist. Companion animals are generally considered to be support animals that live with humans as “companions,” in a literal sense. On the other hand, it seems “pets” are seen by North Koreans as animals that belong to humans, who can treat or control them as they like.

The expression “pet animals” appeared in North Korea in the late 1980s, when those in the upper class, including officials of the ruling Workers’ Party, began to raise dogs as a pet. In the late 1990s, foreign currency-based shops in Pyongyang began to sell small dogs. North Korea’s popular magazine, “Chollima,” carried a story that dogs can support humans emotionally, and former North Korean leader Kim Jong-il recommended people to keep pet dogs. Naturally, the number of pet owners began to rise in North Korea. In the early 2000s, some cute dog breeds like the Maltese and Shih Tzu were so popular that people in Pyongyang paid about as much as 500 US dollars to get them. Professor Chung explains the type of people who prefer to keep pets in the North.

Firstly, sick or disabled people live with pet dogs for physical or emotional support. Secondly, those in the upper class or the new wealthy class, which surfaced after the economic hardship in the 1990s, have accepted the foreign culture of raising pet dogs. Those in the higher class believe that walking with a fine dog makes them stand out and look a bit more upscale. According to a North Korean defector who had worked in the field of veterinary medicine in the North, a Pungsan puppy dog was priced at 30 to 40 US dollars, with the price for the best dog breeds being up to 100 dollars. That’s a staggering amount of money for an ordinary North Korean worker. Nevertheless, some people choose to raise pets, indicating that the culture of favoring pets is taking root in the North.

While some families keep pet dogs, as Professor Chung just explained, most farmers in North Korea are required to raise livestock distributed by the authorities. State-run farms and collective farms distribute domestic animals to local farmers, who have to produce a certain amount of meat. For that purpose, farming families prefer to raise pigs, rabbits, sheep or goats, rather than dogs or cats.

Local farmers must offer 20 kilograms of pork to the military each year. That means it is mandatory for farmers to raise livestock. Sometimes, farmers resolve the food problem by offering pigs they have raised to collective farms and receive corn in return. In the process of overcoming economic difficulties, the authorities staged a massive campaign of raising domestic animals such as rabbits, goats and pigs. As a result, livestock farming has expanded in the nation.

According to a report released by the Research Center for Livestock Industry of North Korea at Konkuk University in South Korea in 2018, there were 3 million rabbits in North Korea in 1995. But the number shot up to 30 million in 2017, as a result of the livestock breeding campaign. The report also said that South Korea has four to six times as many cows, pigs and chicken as North Korea, but the North has more than 80 times as many rabbits as the South. Why do the North Korean authorities encourage local farmers to breed rabbits, among other animals?

Most of all, rabbits are indeed prolific breeders. They also only eat grass to grow quickly, so farmers don’t have to give them any other type of feed. North Korea promoted rabbit breeding even before the economic difficulties. At the time, students were to raise four to five rabbits a year and offer rabbit skin to their schools. After the economic crisis, rabbits have been raised as one of the food sources as well. The grass-eating animal is helpful for resolving the food shortage problem without great expense. Now factories, farms and general households are encouraged to take part in the rabbit breeding campaign. The campaign has another purpose of following the instruction of former leaders Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il.

South and North Korea have engaged in brisk livestock exchanges before, although overall cross-border interchanges have been suspended now.

In the pig-raising cooperation project, for example, pig farms were built at three regions in the Mt. Geumgang area in North Korea from 2005 and a South-North joint team was organized to manage the project. South Korean veterinarians visited the North Korean pig farms once a month to check the facilities there and give instructions, when necessary.

On April 7, 2006, eleven piglets were born at a pig farm in Goseong(고성) County near Mt. Geumgang in North Korea. They were the result of the breeding of pigs contributed by a South Korean company called Darby Genetics to North Korea in October 2005. Interestingly, the pigs sent from South Korea were called “pig defectors” by North Koreans. In September 2008, there were 240 piglets, and the number of adult pigs rose to 27. In addition to the three pig farms in the Mt. Geumgang area, another pig farm was set up in Gaeseong as well.

The second inter-Korean summit took place in October 2007, when then-South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun visited Pyongyang. As part of follow-up measures, the two Koreas agreed to jointly establish and operate a pig farm that would accommodate 5,000 pigs in Pyongyang. The two sides held three rounds of working-level talks to discuss the matter. So, we can see inter-Korean exchanges were also carried out in the field of pig-raising.

Unfortunately, the agreed project was suspended, due to deteriorating inter-Korean relations. At present, South Korea isn’t even sure if the pig farms in the Mt. Geumgang area are still properly operated.

Here’s hoping that a breakthrough will be found in inter-Korean exchanges quickly so the two sides can resume bilateral cooperation in stockbreeding and also promote the culture of companion animals together.

Groomer Says Dogs Are Struggling

Dog Grooming Services Open

Is pet grooming an essential service? If you’ve pondered that during this crisis, you’re not alone.

Pet owner Steve Kiraly of Blue Bell is starting to have trouble recognizing his dog. His 7-year-old cocker spaniel normally gets groomed every five weeks, but the pooch’s regular groomer is closed.

“Why can’t dog groomers be open?” he asked. “She has never looked this raggedy. My wife has thought about it. She has trimmed a little around the eyes, but that’s it.”

Although many dog grooming salons and shops have temporarily halted services, some veterinarians and mobile businesses in the Philadelphia region still offer grooming.

Uncle Aaron Grooms LLC, a mobile dog grooming service in Delaware, has been extremely busy — and open. Owner Aaron Rivera said dogs are pampered inside the truck while the groomer wears personal protective equipment.

“Luckily, we have the blessing of one client at a time,” he said, “so it’s not like a constant rotation of people coming in while we are working.”

There’s also the DIY route in Cherry Hill at Pet Supplies Plus, where pet owners can wash their animals themselves — tub and soaps provided — for $10.

Certified personnel offer nail trimmings too.

Becky Cusato can cut nails for dogs, cats and even bearded dragon lizards.

“It’s just like a normal nail clipping,” she said of the reptiles. “Their nails are kind of like a cat’s nails, so they are just long and skinny and you kind of just clip them with really small nail clippers.”

USPS Trying To Prevent Dog Bites

The U.S. Postal Service is asking dog owners to keep their animals secured when deliveries are being made.

The Postal Service says while it continues to fulfill its mission of providing essential services – the delivery of information and goods – to residents, they ask dog owners to take the needed steps for the protection of mail carriers.

The Postal Service is offering the following tips to dog owners:

When a carrier delivers mail or packages to your front door, place your dog in a separate room and close that door before opening the front door. Dogs have been known to burst through screen doors or plate-glass windows to attack visitors.

Parents should remind children and other family members not to take mail directly from carriers in the presence of the family pet. The dog may view the carrier handing mail to a family member as a threatening gesture.

If a carrier feels threatened by a dog, or if a dog is loose or unleashed, the owner may be asked to pick up mail at their local post office or another facility until the carrier is assured the pet has been restrained.

The Postal Service says one bite is too many, when your mail carrier arrives, make sure your dog is properly restrained.

Feeding The Street Dogs

When 25-year-old Megha Jose heard of street dogs in the industrial city of Coimbatore starving as they could not find food due to the Covid-19 lockdown, she and a group of animal lovers swung into action. Since the last week of March, Jose and 50-odd volunteers are feeding around 1,500 street dogs in various parts of Coimbatore every day to ensure they do not go hungry.
Jose, who quit her job in Cisco and returned to Coimbatore to join her family business, is not new to rescuing and saving street dogs. She runs a not-for-profit organization, The Pawsome People Project, that is involved in sterilizing the street dog putting them in homes, and the organization aims at transforming them into “service dogs.” The NGO, which was launched in September 2019, has been working to reduce the overpopulation of street dogs that leads to their abandonment and death. “To be honest, this (feeding street dogs) was not on our minds, when the Covid-19 lockdown came into force in the last week of March. We came to know that several street dogs are starving, and a cat died too due to lack of food and that is when we decided to pitch in. We are 50 volunteers now going around the city to feed 1,500 dogs every day,” Jose told DH. The volunteers are mostly professionals and college students who are confined to their homes now. With restaurants and other food outlets in the city downing their shutters due to the lockdown, street dogs that depend on discarded food began starving. The Pawsome People Project decided to put its social media handles to optimum use to generate funds for feeding the street dogs that depend on discarded food began starving. The Pawsome People Project decided to put its social media handles to optimum use to generate funds for feeding the street dogs and the “overwhelming” response proved that people indeed love animals.

New Support dog, Marlee

Anyone who has been a victim of a crime can attest to how emotional the process following the incident can be. That’s where Madison and Marlee come in.

The pair are both victim advocates with Victim Services Lethbridge Corridor.

Marlee and Madison might have the same job, but their handler Adonus Arlett said their personalities couldn’t be more different.

“Madison doesn’t like to carry a stick, Marlee will carry three or four sticks in her mouth at once and a teddy bear.”

Marlee is the newest member of the team. At just two-years-old, her personality is perfect for the heavy caseload the dogs face.

“With Marlee, things just roll off her back, she doesn’t take things to heart, she’s pretty chill that way,” Arlett said. Eight-year-old Madison is retiring a little early. She is a highly trained to support in emotional and stressful situations like filing police reports or testifying in court.

“No matter what we did to debrief her, she was finding it harder and harder to let go of her days and it started to wear on her just like anybody else who isn’t able to let go of their jobs. You see depression and post-traumatic stress,” Arlett said.

It takes a special kind of animal to offer the quiet, obedient support a young victim may need.

“They get to be the silent advocates where I can’t go. The dogs will hold onto someone’s hand, they’ll kiss them, they’ll let them know that it’s OK, they are not alone, someone’s there with them,” said Arlett.

Madison and Marlee are from an accredited service organization called Dogs with Wings, and go through a rigorous two-year training program.

“If we are going to have these dogs work with vulnerable populations, if we are going into professional buildings like the courthouse or the Crown’s office or police agencies, they have to know their job and we need to trust and understand in their training that they are bombproof, really,” Arlett said.

The dog program is done on a volunteer basis and relies on community support and donations.

Currently, the Kingsmen Club of Coaldale and the Kingsmen Club of Lethbridge along with Ranch Docs are supporting the program.

Service Dogs Training

Peek through the large windows of the low-slung brick building at 667 E. Calhoun St. and you might see two 40-pound, 6-month-old black Labrador retrievers being put through their paces by trainer and Woodstock resident Kirk Halma. The energetic pups sit, lie down, stay, come, and heel at the sound of Halma’s voice and with a simple motion of his hand.

But these are no ordinary dogs, nor is Halma doing ordinary family pet training.

Halma, through his nonprofit True Blue Dogs, is training the canines to be service dogs for people who live with psychiatric and/or physical disabilities.

While most people are familiar with guide dogs for the blind, service dogs can help those who suffer from anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorder.

A service dog is trained to alert its owner at the first indication of panic or anxiety, signaling the person to begin breathing exercises or meditation, as well as fetch medication for the owner.

In addition to assisting its owner during a crisis, a service dog is a constant companion, a source of calm for someone who finds tranquility elusive.

“You train a dog to become something special,” Halma said, “to help a person live a normal life.”

Halma’s journey

After a career in commercial development, Halma started K-9 Motivation 11 years ago, training about 1,200 dogs to be well-behaved family pets.

“I worked with the dogs that no one else wanted to work with,” Halma said.

Despite working with many “problem” dogs, Halma estimates that 98 percent were trainable.

But it was after training a German shepherd as a service dog for a domestic abuse victim in 2014 that Halma discovered his true calling.

“That was the best training – the best thing – I’ve ever done,” he said.

Halma taught the dog to alert its owner when it sensed an oncoming panic attack, as well as to retrieve the owner’s medication.

After Halma attended a conference in St. Louis about training service dogs, he was even more enthused about what service dogs could do, but he came home with a critical takeaway.

“There was no way I could do this alone,” Halma said.

Fortunately for Halma, his wife, Kate, had experience with nonprofits and shared her husband’s passion for the project. She could navigate the process of setting up a 501(c)(3) and the complicated procedure to get the necessary federal and state approvals.

The couple asked several friends, some of whom had dogs that Kirk had trained, to serve as a board of directors, with Kirk as founder and director of training and Kate as executive president. They sent off their nonprofit application in 2017 and then waited a year-and-a-half to receive federal approval, a delay due in part to the month-long government shutdown in 2018-19.

True Blue Dogs

When the dogs work in public, they wear a vest with the True Blue Dogs logo. The name evokes the dedication, loyalty, companionship, and bond between service dogs and their owners.

“If you see a dog in a True Blue Dogs vest,” Halma said, “you know that dog is a service dog.”

A service dog’s specialized training is “a lot of work,” he said.

The training begins with breeding. Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers make the best service dogs, Halma said, with some German shepherds also good candidates.

A North Carolina organization, Project2Heal, breeds dogs for the intellect, temperament, and robust health that a service dog requires. Project2Heal staff members nurture and socialize the puppies during their first eight weeks of life.

Buying a puppy to train as a service dog can cost between $1,500 and $3,000. Project2Heal grants its dogs to trainers in whom the organization has confidence to carry out the necessary specialized training.

Marlee, a 6-month-old black Lab female, was a grant from Project2Heal to True Blue Dogs. In March, Halma will receive a red fox Lab from the same organization.

“Project2Heal is a phenomenal partner,” Halma said. “To be chosen [as the recipient of a puppy] that early in our process is a huge compliment to start out.”

Marlee and her male companion, Montana, named for his home state, are in the midst of their year of specialized training with Halma. In addition to mastering obedience, they work on equipment that Halma has in his studio.

When Halma pulls out a metal-and-plastic bridge, the dogs are learning to focus. The apparatus looks like a gymnast’s balance beam, with one ramp leading up and another down. The dogs walk, sit, and lie down on the bridge. Montana is even comfortable turning around on the thin structure.

To acclimate the dogs to enclosed spaces, Halma pulls out a tunnel that resembles a Slinky toy with a nylon covering. The dogs enter the tunnel and race out the other side. That helps the dogs grow comfortable with small spaces, so that one day they can sit calmly at their owners’ feet under a restaurant table, for example.

After a year, Halma and his board will match each dog with an applicant. Then Halma will begin the customized training of the dog with its recipient, a process that could take an additional six months.

Great need, many applicants

When Halma began mulling the switch from pet training to service dog training, he wanted to know how many people could benefit from having a service dog. He found that 20 percent of the people living in the U.S. in 2010 were disabled in some way, a total of 68.5 million people.

“[The figure] twisted my brain,” Halma said.

Currently, the nation has about 200,000 service dogs, or one dog for every 325 people who are disabled and might benefit from having a service dog.

Anecdotal evidence bears out the strong demand. Halma’s mentor – Behesha Doan, founder of This Abled Veterans of Carbondale – trains 12 service dogs a year and receives 200 applications from people wanting a dog.

Although Marlee and Montana are still nearly a year from being ready to serve clients, True Blue Dogs has already received two applications.

The application process itself is arduous. Anyone requesting a dog must fill out a 27-page form. The hardest thing to do, Halma said, is to decide which applicant should get an animal.

“The dog has to be placed with a person who is committed to getting well,” he said.

“The dog does not heal the person; the dog helps the person heal himself.”

Costly enterprise

The full cost of training each dog runs between $25,000 and $50,000, Halma said. Insurance companies’ coverage does not usually extend beyond covering guide dogs for the blind.

Since the mission of True Blue Dogs is to provide service dogs for free to people who will be helped to get well, the need to raise funds is ever-present.

True Blue Dogs had its first “friend-raiser”  in November at Woodstock Country Club, where Halma told his story and attendees could meet Marlee and Montana.

Turnkey Digital, Blue Ribbon Millwork, and Animal Hospital of Woodstock have made key donations.

The studio will offer shirts and hats with the True Blue Dogs logo for purchase to raise some funds.

While True Blue Dogs has gratefully received a number of smaller donations, it needs a continuous monetary stream to underwrite Marlee’s and Montana’s training and that of future dogs.

“Hopefully, we can train more and more dogs that can help people who need them,” Halma said.

Service Dog Has New Job At Elementary School

Is Your Pet Stressed During Pandemic

To the surprise of no one, most dogs seemed to relish the first few weeks of their humans’ staying home. More walks, more attention, more fun—what’s not to like? But veterinarians report an uptick in injuries from dog-to-dog bites, and owners who’ve walked their dogs regularly are dealing with an invasion of “new” dogs and people on their usual routes. Many of those “new” dogs have been walked rarely, if ever, and they’re not only untrained, they’re also under-socialized . . . so it’s a challenge! Certainly, if walking your dog has become unpleasant lately for both you and for the dog, it makes sense to reconsider your options, at least for as long as the stay-at-home lasts. Would there be some place a little farther away that might be safer for you to walk? Do you have the time to drive there? You might reconnoiter a route without your dog first. Even in your own neighborhood, reassess where you walk to avoid areas where owners and dogs congregate, like the informal dog park—especially if owners there take their dogs off-leash in an area that’s legally on-leash only. Those dogs and their owners are strangers to you and your dog. Keep it that way, for the safety of all concerned.

No one was surprised, in those first few days of the stay-at-home, that dogs were happy to have their owners around more . . . and no one suggested that cats might feel the same way! From the start, the internet voted overwhelmingly that cats would not be happy about having their owners around more. A million memes remind us! Cats might be expressing their “delight” (sarcastic font) with the “joy” (ditto) of having their owners home 24/7 in ways that are stressing their owners.

Mark Cuilla(Washington) Let me know when you do a “Are you stressed by your pets during the stay-at-home order?” Francine (one-year-old cat) has been jumping onto the counters and to the top of the fridge and seems to be “acting out.” She has never done this before. I’m working from home and, during the day, she clings to me. I can’t go from one room to another without her under my feet. She’s broken a porcelain figurine and a glass, and is constantly getting into the bathroom garbage to steal things.

I’ve given her and the other cats new toys to play with, but I can’t seem to keep her busy. It definitely seems like a stress response of some kind.

I found out yesterday we won’t be returning to work until at least mid-September.

For cats as young as Francine, instituting a completely different work and living schedule overnight, for what is the first time in their lives, certainly could be stressful. It’s a big change!

Older pets have experienced change in their lives before and possibly that will help them during this new lifestyle upheaval, however long it lasts.

Older pets may also have some established behaviors that have not been major issues—until now. It can take some thought and creativity on the part of their owners to figure out the problem and to devise a solution. When that solution works, it’s a win!

Teri and James Stripes(Washington) are both working from home for the duration. They have two boxers, Max and Amy, eight years old. Increased foot traffic at their front door from grocery and package deliveries resulted in a work-at-home problem for Teri and James, as their dogs’ reaction—more frequent barking and growing agitation—was not good for the dogs or for the humans.

Their solution? Get the deliveries as far from the front door as possible.

How? Teri and James bought a lockbox, which they installed securely next to their garage at their end of their driveway, where it is screwed into the concrete, a long way from the front door. When they place orders, they now include the location of the lockbox and a code. When deliveries arrive, the drivers use the code to open the lockbox to deposit the packages in it. When the driver closes the lid, the box is again locked.

The result for the Stripes’ dogs is greatly reduced agitation. They only rarely alert to delivery trucks on the street, and no deliveries are arriving at their front door! The result for Teri and James is a much better chance that boxer barking and agitated behavior will not occur during live video conferences. The humans are feeling very good about figuring out the problem and finding a solution.

What about working dogs? Service dogs, usually out and about with their handlers, are now on a stay-at-home, too, and guess what? Working dogs get bored fairly easily when they have little to do! Jules Weber’s solutions for her service dog Pretzel would very likely work well for any dog experiencing boredom because he can’t do the whole job he’s been trained for right now.

Jules Weber(Maryland) Zero stress from any of our fuzzies (two dogs and two cats). However, my main “thing” is keeping up with my service dog’s training. Because he’s SO BORED! His official name is SSD Pretzel Rod, but we just call him Pretzel. He just had a birthday in April so he’s four. Yellow Lab.

We take walks around the driveway (his main tasks are balance and brace work). We do shaping exercises via clicker training, we have cuddle sessions in bed (so it’s easier for me to pet him), my husband runs around the house and plays with him, our other dog plays with him, and to the best of his ability—although it seldom works—Pretzel tries to play with the cats. And then there are the zoomies, where he picks up a toy and runs full Labrador speed around the house and shows everyone the toy (usually squeaking it constantly, LOL). He’s still on his regular schedule of eating meals and going out. And for the most part he can self-entertain, but because we are not doing anything anywhere, the moment I saw a hint of boredom, we supplemented.

Service Dog Sponsored

It’s been a few years since the Grosse Pointe Board of Realtors was introduced to Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs, but their partnership continues to grow.

The GPBR recently began sponsoring its fourth service dog with the organization, which provides specially trained dogs to veterans and first responders who have post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, seizure disorders, glucose imbalance, mobility issues and more.

The local realtor board began its longterm commitment to Guardian Angels by first sponsoring GP, named for Grosse Pointe, along with The War Memorial and private community donors. Since then, the GPBR has sponsored Mack, named for Macomb County, and Sterling, named for Sterling Heights.

Sponsorship of its fourth dog, Harper, named for Harper Woods, began late 2019.

While admittedly the outbreak of COVID-19 has put a damper on sponsorship efforts, GPBR members regularly provide funds for Guardian Angels, CEO Bob Taylor said.

“Additionally, one of our members held a Halloween party last year, which kicked off our fundraising for Harper,” he added. “The proceeds were $10,000. This year, if willing, we will raise the balance to complete the funding for Harper.”

It takes approximately $25,000 to train a dog qualified to be a Guardian Angels service dog. Expenses include 24/7 care, food, shelter, specialized training and the cost to bring the identified recipient to meet the dog and train, Taylor said. “These dogs are provided at no cost to the recipient,” he added.

Harper still is in the training stages at Guardian Angels, based in Williston, Fla. As Taylor explained, “From birth until about 18 months, puppies go through general training. Over that time, trainers access the skills of the dog, allowing them to create a ‘best fit’ when it comes to placement. Harper’s training will only be complete after a recipient has been identified and they train together. On average, this whole process takes 24 months.”

With three matches already made through GPBR efforts and another in the works, this is a commitment membership does not take lightly.

“Only after you start on this journey to support our veterans and first responders do you start to appreciate the unique sacrifice they make on behalf of the rest of us,” Taylor said. “Only after you hear the stories of how what they do or have done has made living far more difficult than any of us can imagine. Death by suicide, divorce or homelessness are all common outcomes of those impacted by post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Additionally, in a time when so much of our charitable giving goes toward causes, a search for a cure, etc., all of which may get ‘fixed’ someday, the placement of the Guardian Angels Medical Service Dog with a recipient provides an almost instantaneous result,” he continued. “We had one member so moved by the story told by a recipient’s wife, he wrote a check out for $5,000 and he is usually most skeptical. When we — all of us — contribute to a pairing, we give a significant other back a loved one, a father or mother back to children, a son or daughter back to parents and a neighbor back to a community. There is little we can do anywhere that accomplishes this and for no more than a few dollars per person. We owe our way of life to these people.”

The Dog That Survived

When “Pay de Limón” enters a room, the atmosphere immediately changes. On his face it seems that he always has a smile, his playful personality does not allow him to relive his sad past.

This dog, now 9 years old, is one of the victims of organized crime in Mexico.

In 2011, when he was 10 months old, he was found in a garbage dump in Zacatecas, after various operations to capture the leaders in that state of the Los Zetas criminal group, one of the most bloodthirsty in the country.

The puppy had been used by the cartel to practice torture methods they would later employ on their victims, such as finger cutting, which would render him unable to use his two front legs.

When the puppy was no longer useful for their experiments, he was left in a garbage can, bleeding, unable to move, and in a delicate state of health. An anonymous call alerted the Milagros Caninos Civil Association – located in Mexico City -, which managed to rescue the dog alive and move it to the country’s capital for treatment.

The suspicion that the Los Zetas Cartel had practiced their torture methods on the dog was verified by the neighbors, who came into contact with the group.

Milagros Caninos is a Civil Association dedicated to the rescue of sick, elderly, abused, and critically ill dogs, to try to turn their lives around.

Officially founded in 2006, the organization has a disabled dog area, one for tortured dogs, another for the elderly, a fifth for cancer patients, one for quarantine, one for rehabilitation, one for cats, and one area of therapies.

The case of “Pay de Limón” has moved Mexicans, perhaps because it is simple, brutal, and poignant evidence of the cruelty of the drug cartels.

“My intention was not to make his story known. I don’t remember how it got so big, how it started. I don’t know if I told it in any medium, but not in such detail, but this is how we have gone to various countries trying to promote non-animal abuse,” Patricia Ruiz, founder of the organization, said in 2016.

The dog needed a lot of petting and care to regain confidence in humans, but accepting prostheses that would allow him to walk again was one of the most difficult parts.

First, it was necessary to find him the perfect prostheses, which took him to Washington, where 3D ones were built, made of carbon fiber and a padded inner layer, which must be changed every year. For weeks he refused to accept them, so it was necessary to adapt to his times.

“First we put them on for 5 minutes, then 10, then 20, and so on all day, you just have to take them off at night, so he can rest,” Ruiz said.

Before “Pay de Limón” will return to run and play, he received psychological therapy to lose his fear of humans. “The vet did his part, but we had to give him another type of treatment based on loving caresses and doing everything as much as possible to earn their trust,” says Patricia.

This dog is not for adoption because he is now an activist for Milagros Caninos for the respect of animal rights.

Mexico ranks third in the world in animal abuse, according to information from the Chamber of Deputies. The National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) indicates that the animals that suffer the worst treatment in the country are dogs, of which only 30%, of approximately 18 million, have a home.

“Pay de Limón” now fights for two causes: ending animal abuse and that those responsible for organizing dog fights be punished, a crime that in Mexico City is punished with 4 years in prison, but rarely punished.

Up to $ 1,000 is awarded in these fights for each bout, which lasts approximately half an hour.

“Pay de Limón” became the first dog to enter the Mexican Chamber of Deputies three years ago; Although he did not make it to the rostrum, he expressed his desire that laws be drawn up that do justice to animals and that all those who do not respect them be punished.

A Nurse That Will Be Remembered

Alliance For Animals Helps Family

A local family is grateful for the help of Oklahoma Alliance for Animals after their service dog almost died-Bella the dog fell suddenly and severely ill recently. Her owner lost her job due to the pandemic and couldn’t afford to take her to the emergency veteran.

Bella is a seizure alert dog for a young girl, and has helped save her life multiple times.

Bella had a serious uterine infection that could be fatal if left untreated. OAA stepped in to cover the cost of her surgery. Bella is now safe at home and recovering.

Mom Raising Money For Service Dog

Sarah Jones smiles happily in pictures with her sister and her daughter, but underneath the smile, there’s a darkness.

The 20-year-old suffers from Bipolar II Disorder, Generalized Anxiety Disorder, and Major Depressive Disorder.

Jones says it impacts her everyday life, but each day she puts on a brave for her 2-year-old daughter.

But some days, parenting is a challenge.

Jones suffers from panic attacks and mood swings. She says all she wants is to be a good mother.

“I need and want to be a good mom to her, and that’s a struggle, because I want to be the great mom that I should be, and on days where I’ve got so much anxiety and I get agitated so easily, I don’t want to be mean or impatient with her. So, you know, it makes it hard to be around my own kid.”

Jones doctor suggested a psychiatric service dog.

The furry companion will retrieve medicines, senses mood swings and panic attacks, deep pressure therapy and more.

For Jones and her family, it would be an invaluable resource.

And Jones has found her companion in Coco.

Coco is a British Labrador bred in Montevallo. She’s been training her entire life to help people.

“I actually got to meet her for the first time yesterday, and I immediately fell in love with her. She is fantastic. I got to see a little bit of the training that she has already gone through, and it is incredible.”

The only problem, the service animal comes with a $40,000 price tag. Jones can’t take her home until she’s made a $15,000 down payment.

Lamoureux says the service dog would allow Jones to be more independent and stable.

While interviewing with CBS 42, Jones said she would like to become a nurse and be the best mother she can be. Having Coco at her side gives her the opportunity to do that.

3 Puppies Ready To Be Trained

The Big Sky chapter of Canine Companions for Independence (CCI), an organization devoted to training service dogs that can be gifted to disabled owners, welcomed three puppies at Great Falls International Airport on Tuesday; the puppies came from Santa Rosa, California. Chapter president Kim Monroe says it’s hard giving them up once they are trained, but they go on to help others: “When we give them up, it’s hard, it’s like sending your child off to college. It’s the best way I can tell somebody we love them. We prepare them for that adventure, that next step to their journey that they are going to take. They are all happy dogs when they walk away; they walk with their heads held high and tails wagging, and they become someone else’s miracle.” Monroe also explained that being a puppy-raiser can be a rewarding opportunity: “Being a puppy raiser is one of the most rewarding volunteer opportunities that you will have. And not only do you get to raise a great puppy, but you also get to be part of a great community of people who want to make a difference in the world. And you can make a difference right here in your community, you know, in your state. I always say that when we send our puppies away, we send a piece of our heart, you know, but they leave a part of theirs, and it’s beautiful.” Due to the COVID19 pandemic, Canine Companions has been unable to ship puppies to their puppy raisers via commercial airlines! Today, three Great Falls puppy raisers welcomed puppies Lorelei, Ludo, and Loxley into their homes through the hard work of the Canine Companions for Independence volunteer network and volunteer pilot, Jeff Stewart who made a special trip on his private aircraft to deliver this precious cargo!