Life-Saving Alert Device

Even in a pandemic, Texas A&M is still churning out exceptional aggies doing amazing work to make life easier for others.

One team from the engineering school is hoping their project will save the lives of those who need a little help from man’s best friend.

“From the minute we saw the options for the projects we knew this is the one we wanted to do because everyone on our team has always had a big passion for helping others,” said TAMU Mechanical Engineering student, Claire Riodan.

Engineering students like Claire have worked on several senior design projects before, but were especially drawn to their latest one. There is no set name for it yet, but they refer to it as a Seizure Alert System Activated by a Service Dog.

Usually, students talk to a company or entity sponsoring their project, but this time, it was a little more personal. It was a family, not a corporate entity, that saw a specific need in their life, but they didn’t know what to do.

The family wanted a way for a service dog to tell people when their handler was having a seizure. So the engineering school team got to work and created their prototype.

“Basically, how it works is there’s an attachment to this service dog’s vest. There’s this like, little chew toy on the end and the dog just pulls it,” said TAMU Mechanical Engineering student, TJ Chorba, “that sends a signal to whoever they want it to go to.”

The team’s viable design was successful and they made a fully functioning prototype where someone could pull the device and send a text.

There is still a lot of testing that needs to be done before their product can go on the market. The design can be used to help service dog handlers in any kind of trouble, and Claire and TJ are just proud to do their part to keep others safe.

“To get to talk to the family and see how excited they get, it creates so much more impactful of a connection between us and our market when we can directly see where it’s going to be implemented,” Claire said. Claire and TJ’s team hope to pass this project on to future seniors to help improve it.

Veteran Gets His Service Dog

It’s a companionship like no other. Many would probably describe it as unmatched loyalty, the bond between a dog and their human.

“Oh, he’s a gem, he’s the best, he really is, he’s got my back for sure,” United States Army Veteran John Daniels said. “He’s everything, he’s absolutely everything. I don’t even know how to find the right words, but he’s one of the most important things to me.

For many of us, getting a dog can be life changing, but for John Daniels, it was life-saving.

“I wouldn’t be here today if I wouldn’t have got him,” John said.

At 17-years-old, John enlisted in the United States Army and served until 2002.

“I broke my neck in the service, separated my right shoulder and I’m not always stable,” John said.

Coming home is something john admits was a struggle, often reliving the terror he endured again and again.

“That stuff invades your mind, it will show up when you least expect it,” John said. “It’s disruptive, disruptive to family to a job.”

Something John’s sister is fully aware of.

“When my brother came back, he tried so hard to just bounce back, but it doesn’t work that way,” John’s sister Susan Stella said. “When you have a flashback, a bad one, you can be doing anything it’s in your mind and it’s like your somewhere else.”

But then John got Ryker.

“If I’m having a hard time at night, he wakes me up and makes sure he’s right by my side,” John said.

When John finds himself in a tail spin, Ryker gives him structure.

“He lets people know to stay back, and that helped me start to mitigate in a public setting, because I wouldn’t go anywhere, I’d literally shut down,” John said.

He knows when john needs him.

“He came in at the best time, because it was a time in my life when I wanted to give up,

I didn’t see a brighter day in my future,” John said.

“My brother would not be here today if he had not gotten Ryker, I watched him fight for his life for 10 years, trying to get a grip on the damage done to the inside of his body from the chemical warfare,” Susan said.

“I can honestly say that he helped me through those dark days and he still does, and things for me definitely turned around since I’ve had him,” John said.

Now moving towards a goal of helping other veterans who may be struggling.

“A service dog is probably one of the best things a veteran could do for himself,” John said.

“None of them deserve to go through what I did. If I can make a difference by helping these veterans get dogs, that’s my new purpose and I’ll do everything I can.”

John told us about another veteran who needs help.

According to him, there is a dog named Liberty who is being trained and is ready to go to a local veteran, but they need money to make it happen, and it has to happen soon.

Working Dogs Of 9/11

When veterinarian Cynthia Otto was in Manhattan in the wake of the 9/11 attacks helping support the search and rescue dogs, she heard rumors about the possible impact on the dogs’ long-term health.

“I was at Ground Zero and I would hear people make comments like, ‘Did you hear that half of the dogs that responded to the bombing in Oklahoma City died of X, Y, or Z?’ Or they’d say dogs responding to 9/11 had died,” she recalls. “It was really disconcerting.”

It also underscored to her the importance of collecting rigorous data on the health of dogs deployed to disaster sites. An initiative that launched in the weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks did just that, and this week, 19 years later, Otto and colleagues’ findings offer reassurance. Dogs that participated in search-and-rescue efforts following 9/11 lived a similar length of time, on average, compared to a control group of search-and-rescue dogs and outlived their breed-average life spans. There was also no discernible difference in the dogs’ cause of death.

“Honestly this was not what we expected; it’s surprising and wonderful,” says Otto, director of the School of Veterinary Medicine’s Working Dog Center, who shared the findings in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association.

While postmortem results showed that dogs that deployed after the 9/11 attacks had more particulate material in their lungs upon their death, it seems this exposure didn’t cause serious problems for the animals in life. The most common cause of death were age-related conditions, such as arthritis and cancer, similar to the control group.

During and in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 response, Otto and colleagues reached out to handlers to recruit search-and-rescue dogs into a longitudinal study that would track their health, longevity, and cause of death. They recruited 95 dogs that had worked at the World Trade Center, Fresh Kills Landfill, or Pentagon disaster sites. As a control group, they also included in the study 55 search-and-rescue dogs that had not deployed to 9/11.

As part of being involved, the dogs received annual medical examinations, including chest X-rays and blood work. When the dogs died, the researchers paid for the handlers to have veterinarians collect samples of various organ tissues and send them for analysis at Michigan State University. Forty-four of the 9/11 dogs and 19 of the control group dogs underwent postmortems. For most of the other dogs in the study, the research team obtained information on cause of death from medical records or the handlers themselves.

While the team had expected to see respiratory problems in the exposed dogs—conditions that have been reported by human first responders to 9/11—they did not.

“We anticipated that the dogs would be the canary in the coal mine for the human first responders since dogs age faster than humans and didn’t have any of the protective equipment during the response,” Otto says. “But we didn’t see a lot that was concerning.”

In fact, the median age at death for 9/11 dogs was about the same as the control group: 12.8 compared to 12.7 years. The most common cause of death for the dogs that deployed was degenerative causes—typically euthanasia due to severe arthritis—followed closely by cancer, though the risk of cancer was about the same as in control group dogs.

Otto and her colleagues have ideas for why the foreign particulate matter found in some of the dog’s lungs did not translate to ill health, though they emphasize that they’re speculations, not yet based in data.

“For the pulmonary effects, it’s somewhat easier to explain because dogs have a really good filtering system,” Otto says. “Their lungs are different—they don’t get asthma, for example—so it seems like there is something about their lungs that’s more tolerant than in humans.”

She notes that working dogs tend to be extremely physically fit compared to pet dogs, perhaps counteracting any ill effects of the deployment conditions on health. But working dog handlers and trainers can always do more to focus on fitness and conditioning, especially because doing so could slow the progression of arthritis, a disease which played a role in the death of many dogs in the study.

“We know when people stop moving, they gain weight and that puts them at a higher risk of arthritis, and arthritis makes it painful to move, so it’s a vicious cycle,” she says. “The same can be true of dogs.”

The mind-body connection may also help explain the difference between humans and dogs and the longevity of the working dogs, Otto says, as dogs don’t necessary worry and experience the same type of stress in the wake of a disaster.

“These dogs have an incredible relationship with their partners,” Otto says. “They have a purpose and a job and the mental stimulation of training. My guess is that makes a difference, too.”

Cynthia Otto is director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and professor of working dog sciences and sports medicine in the Department of Clinical Sciences and Advanced Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine.

Otto’s coauthors were Elizabeth Hare and Kathleen M. Kelsey from the Penn Vet Working Dog Center and John P. Buchweitz and Scott D. Fitzgerald from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Michigan State University.

Rescuing Future Service Dogs

A South Texas woman has dedicated her life to helping veterans overcome Posttraumatic Stress Disorder by training shelter dogs to become service animals.

Cherry Jenkins, 60, founded In Dog We Trust in 2012.

“We are an organization that rescues dogs that would otherwise be euthanized in shelters and we train them for veterans with PTSD,” Jenkins said. “When the dogs come to us, they are not trained and we have to sometimes put them through medical care but we work on matching them carefully with clients.”

Matching veterans with their dogs can be challenging, Jenkins said.

“It is up to us to make sure the dogs are assessed for service dog training which is not an easy thing to do,” Jenkins said. “That is why we started this organization.”

Jenkins learned of the need to connect veterans with service dogs after working with Animal Control Services.

“I met someone who said they had seen so many veterans bringing dogs back to the shelter because they were rescuing dogs, going to a trainer and then finding the dog wasn’t suitable,” Jenkins said. “We cut all of that out for them by assessing the dogs and placing them with the veterans. We want a forever match with the veteran’s lifestyle and disability.”

Jenkins said though they do not know the dog’s background, they pay attention to the breed’s temperament and trainability.

“We have volunteers at different shelters all around Texas and they will notify us of a dog they think may be what we are looking for. I will let them know how to assess the dog if I can’t get there myself. We see if the dog is ‘pull-worthy’ which means it can be pulled from that shelter.”

Since starting the organization, Jenkins said she has made great connections through veterans and healthcare professionals.

“PTSD is very varied with veterans,” Jenkins said. “Fear of crowds. A fear of great groups of people. A fear of loud noises. A fear of being asleep. A fear of going out the door. There are so many variations of PTSD and it is not across the board. There is also anger issues. There is so many. Each veteran has their own individual history. They have their own battles. We do not diagnose or offer therapy or advice. Our job is to train a dog to alleviate those symptoms.”

She said they look for five things in a potential service dog.

“The thing with shelter dogs is that they have a shelter way of being,” Jenkins said. “The dog may be bouncing off the walls but it could just have kennel stress. The main thing is getting the dog home. We see if the dog is friendly, does it make eye contact, does it want to be with you, does it want to please. If a dog doesn’t want to be with you or care about you, then it is not going to help your PTSD.” “We have a dog with us for two to three weeks before we start advertising it,” Jenkins said. “We bring it in our new building and train it. Then we bring the veteran in to see if it is a match. We don’t train the dog 100% before it leaves for one good reason and that is because every veteran has a different need for a dog. We may have one who has lost their limb or someone who has issues with being outside or forgetful or needing to be reminded to take their medication. We have to take that into consideration.”

To date, Jenkins said they have matched at least 300 shelter dogs with veterans or with people with private disabilities.

“We mostly get asked for pit bulls, Rottweilers, or German Shepherds. When you have PTSD and want people to stay away from you especially when you are in large crowds, having a pit bull or a bully breed is going to keep people back from you,” Jenkins said. “We love doing pit bulls because they are the most underestimated breed there is. They are fantastic dogs if given the chance. They are not as vicious or as nasty as everyone thinks that they are and they can really make the most amazing service dogs.”

Jenkins’s passion for dogs started when she was a little girl growing up in England.

“I started volunteering at the local animal shelter and would walk four miles every Sunday to be there,” Jenkins said. “I would go up and a help bath them and put little red ribbons around their necks and do things to get them adopted and it was just a fulfillment that I absolutely loved to do.”

She got that passion from her father, who passed away in 2018.

“He was very close to me,” Jenkins said. “He taught me a lot about animals and about compassion for animals. He donated a lot toward the rescue. It was because of him, we are now in a new training building. Before then, we used to train in the house in the kitchen. Literally in the kitchen and in the dining room and in anywhere we could and now we got this building. So yes, all of this is in his honor.”

When she left school, Jenkins would work for the shelter with trainers and veterinarians while training family and friends’ dogs. She also met the American love of her life.

“I married my husband after meeting him in a very traditional way … online,” Jenkins joked. “When I married my husband in 2008 I wanted to carry on working with dogs so when I moved to the United States, originally I started fostering dogs with Animal Control Services. That is when I was told about the need for veterans to have dogs that were being assessed. I started In Dog We Trust as a rescue but slowly we started to evolve with the demand we had from veterans coming to us, being recommended by the VA and Veterans Associations and the Alzheimers Associations. We went from being a rescue to a rescue training organization.”

She said the reward is beyond priceless.

“When it move you the most is when you have someone that you’ve placed a German Shepherd with and it was going to be killed,” Jenkins said through tears. “And the veteran sends a picture of him and how it is helping him with his seizures, and he send you a message saying thank you. It is the most wonderful thing. I worked with a Navy veteran who lost one of his legs and I trained one of his dogs, RJ, to work with his wheelchair. I still get pictures of him with RJ. They have traveled all over the place.”

Jenkins said she doesn’t do it to get credit.

“I don’t do it for the thanks,” Jenkins said. “I do it because I have saved the life of a dog that otherwise would have been killed and I do it to give back to my country that has given me the grace to live here. It is my way of paying back to the country and saying thank you to veterans that allow me that freedom. I have met so many Marines, Air Force, Army, all stations and all ranks and have made so many friends and it is a wonderful thing.”

She added she hopes people will become better informed when it comes down to service animals.

“The main obstacle is the misinformation and education lacking for service dogs and service dog training,” Jenkins said. “We try to educate people for example, during restaurant access. There is not enough education out there about the rights for service dogs. Many police do not know the law and when the veteran calls on them for help, the officer ends up siding with the restaurant. The main issue I would say is the service dog registries which are fake and not real nor is it associated with anything. When you have a veteran spending a lot of time training their dog and someone in the store has an out-of-control dog but they printed off a certificate online saying they are a service animal. Then the store officials are looking at the veterans passing judgements on their animals. The lows would be the lack of education out there for service dogs and veterans for their rights to be in public with a veteran.”

Things have slowed down for the organization after her husband was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer last year. The pandemic has also impacted their operations.

“It is a rough ride but by October, we are going to be launching the organization in a different way bringing in more volunteer trainers to do what I do,” Jenkins said. “We just got to keep going and looking for what we have today. Today is all you have. Today is all anybody has. If you are thinking and worried about tomorrow, then you are wasting today.”

Jenkins said they are always looking for volunteers and fosters to take care of dogs while they are searching for a veteran. She said people can also donate and learn what they do at shelters to assess dogs. Jenkins added if you can’t donate funds, send collars and leashes.

Working Dog Vito

The Soldiers of the 901st Military Police Detachment (Military Working Dog) held a retirement ceremony for Sgt. 1st Class Vito here Sept. 17, praising him for his nearly nine years of dedicated service to the Army as a military working dog.

Vito, a Belgian Malinois who served as a Patrol Explosive Detector Dog and deployed to Qatar and Iraq, will spend the rest of his days at “Fort Couch”—slang for a place to relax—in Custer, South Dakota.

“He’s definitely earned it,” said Capt. Amie Young, the detachment’s commander, at the ceremony. “I’m glad that he made it back from deployment OK and he was able to make it back and get retired. He’s a very sweet dog and definitely made his mark and did his job in the Army for several years.”

Spc. Jericho Arengo, Vito’s handler for more than two years, said his stepfather and mother, the “commanders” at Vito’s new home, are adopting him, and he looks forward to seeing Vito again when he is home on leave.

Fort Couch is a coveted assignment among all military working dogs, Arengo said, including Vito. “He’s retiring, and he loves naps, and therefore a couch is a perfect place for any dog,” he said.

Vito should have plenty of years left to enjoy his retirement, Arengo said.

“As an older dog, you would think that he would slow down, and you’ll see every now and again that age is coming up to him, but there are some days where you wouldn’t think he’s 11 years old,” Arengo said. “He acts like a puppy, running around, still chasing tennis balls, sprinting as fast as he can.”

Arengo said he has enjoyed working with Vito while they were stationed together at Camp Zama, and considers himself fortunate to have deployed to Iraq with him. Unfortunately, however, Vito’s back gave out during the deployment.

“We had to come back from our deployment early, and that’s what made the vets decide to retire him,” Arengo said.

In addition to Soldiers from the 901st MP Det., Lt. Col. Demetrick Thomas and Command Sgt. Maj. Edgar Rodriguez, command team of the 35th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, as well as Soldiers from the Camp Zama Veterinary Treatment Facility, attended.

Vito received the Army Commendation Medal during the ceremony, signed by Col. Thomas Matelski, commander, U.S. Army Garrison Japan.

In part, the certificate read: “Sgt. 1st Class Vito’s dedication to duty and professionalism contributed significantly to the detachment’s overall success. His performance is in keeping with the finest traditions of the Military Police Corps and reflect great credit upon himself, the 901st Military Police Detachment, U.S. Army Garrison Japan and the U.S. Army.”

After he received the medal, Vito barked as everyone clapped.

Arengo, who joined the Army about three years ago and has been a military working dog handler for more than two, thanked his fellow Soldiers for their support.

“I was very fortunate for all of your advice on how to be better with Vito and also for giving me the trust with Vito in going to Iraq,” Arengo said. “I couldn’t ask for a better team.”

Sgt. 1st Class Luis Berber, the detachment’s kennel master, told the audience that Vito has had a good career in the Army, and he wishes him all the best in his remaining years.

“Thank you, Vito,” Berber said. “Thank you for all you’ve done.”

Corsos For Heroes

According to the non-profit organization Corsos for Heroes, America loses on average 20 veterans a day to suicide and they’re trying to cut those numbers down by providing service dogs to those in need.

It started with a motorcycle ride and police escort as one veteran, Rafael Ortiz Fonseca, who this year almost lost himself to depression wanted to give back to Corsos for Heroes who gave him a new partner and brighter outlook on life.

“They absolutely work,” said Fonseca. “I was skeptical about it. I heard about it but until I had Bella, my life has changed.”

Corsos may look intimidating but the trait that makes them good service dogs is their loyalty.

“They’re actually Cane Corsos or Italian Mastiffs,” said Ginny Sweet who breeds Corsos and is co-founder of Corsos for Heroes. “It’s the original mastiff, all the other mastiffs came from the Cane Corsos. They’re amazing dogs and they make super service dogs because they never leave you alone.”

“For me, it’s PTSD and anxiety,” said Fonseca. “When my anxiety raises Bella already knows and she comes and calms me down.”

So far Corsos for Heroes has given away seven service dogs for free to veterans including one at this event. They hope to give away upwards of 40 next year to veterans in need.

“We do it to save veterans’ lives because the waiting list for a service dog is 3-6 years and it shouldn’t be one day for our veterans,’ said Sweet. “They should get service dogs immediately when they need one.”

“I’m still here. I bonded with her,” said Fonseca. “It only took two hours a week before the donation and since then we’re inseparable.”

Corsos for Heroes also received a brand new truck wrapped in an advertisement for their brand to try and raise awareness about their goal to diminish veteran suicides.

Canine Connection

Maryland Sen. Douglas J.J. Peters (D-Prince George’s) has made serving military veterans a major part of his mission as a public servant.

It has won him countless plaudits and awards through the years. Now he’s getting a most unique tribute for his advocacy.

Peters himself was deployed in Saudi Arabia from 1990-91 and was awarded a bronze star for his meritorious service in the transportation corps during Operation Desert Storm. He left the Army Reserve as a captain, but continues serving veterans as a legislator and in his community.

After moving to Bowie, Peters joined his local American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts, working with those organizations to help veterans in their civilian lives. Members of each organization elected Peters to serve as their group’s commander.

“Anything a vet needs, they provide,” said Peters. “The goal initially was, and always will be, to serve the veterans.”

In Annapolis, Peters served as co-chairman, then chairman of the Veterans Caucus from 2007-2017, working to create policies and programs that benefit veterans. And he continues to work with Secretary of Veterans Affairs George W. Owings III to help veterans get jobs, maintain their businesses, and ensure they live comfortably.

As chairman of the Senate’s Capital Budget Subcommittee, Peters has worked to secure funding for projects that benefit veterans and their families, such as Patriot Point, a retreat in Dorchester County, where fishing, hunting and other activities are available to recovering veterans.

He also secured a grant for the Warrior Canine Connection (WCC), a non-profit based in Boyds. There, and at other service locations, veterans who have suffered physical or psychological trauma have the opportunity to spend time with and train future service dogs.

The veterans help teach the dogs to assist them with tasks such as opening and closing doors and retrieving items. They also teach the dogs that the world is safe, and, in doing so, they must convince themselves. In turn, the dogs support and comfort the veterans when they feel anxious or have other psychological struggles.

Sen. Brian J. Feldman (D-Montgomery) called on Peters earlier this year to help the Warrior Canine Connection get a state grant to improve their facilities for their program.

Peters, with a background in business administration, arranged to visit the non-profit, “rather than just looking at a spreadsheet.”

At the WCC’s Healing Quarters, on 80 acres within Seneca Creek State Park, about 100 veterans and service dogs welcomed Peters. Seeing the veterans’ rehabilitation process with the dogs was a “great experience,” he said.

One veteran, Peters recalled, explained how the responsibility of caring for and walking the dog had helped him out of a heavy depression and said his service dog really saved his life.

“It was just an incredible sight to see and hear the stories of all the veterans who came to talk to me about how the dogs got them back on their feet,” Peters said.

Since the WCC’s Healing Quarters stands on state-owned land in Boyds, Peters said that “putting some money towards improving the property with the veterans involved, was really a win-win scenario.”

With a grant of about $500,000, the WCC will restore a large dairy barn on the property giving them more space for raising and training service dogs.

Every WCC service dog is named after a former or current military service member.

In nominating Peters to have a service dog to be named after him, Feldman said, “Senator Peters’ lengthy military service…his position as the Senate Chair of the Veterans Caucus in the Maryland General Assembly, and the critical role he played this year in securing a bond initiative to support the work of the Warrior Canine Connection, made him an ideal choice for the nomination to have a service dog named in his honor.”

Last month, the Warrior Canine Connection announced the naming of Dougie, a Labrador retriever born in March and named after Peters.

Dougie is in the care of WCC volunteer Ashley Poindexter-Tarmy. She says Dougie is an attentive and calm puppy who, when he sees new people, “doesn’t pull the end of the leash, he sits down, and waits for permission to say hello.”

Dougie is also good at recognizing facial cues, a skill which will come in handy as he trains to become a service dog.

Peters has yet to meet Dougie but said he is eager to and hopes to introduce his own rescue dog Sierra to his new furry friend.

“It’s interesting,” Peters said. “Normally we get plaques or awards, but I think it’s one of the most unique honors I’ve ever had, to have a dog named after me. I’m very humbled.”

Future Service Dogs

Four puppies embarked on their two-year journey to become service dogs Friday when Dogs with Wings paired them with their new foster families in Grande Prairie.

Teresa Boudreault, a puppy raiser and board member for Dogs with Wings, was among those paired with a puppy during the Puppy Pick Up Parade at the Muskoseepi Park Amphitheatre.

“I think we’re probably more excited than (the puppies) are. It’s a big transition for the puppies,” Boudreault said.

“I’m thrilled that we got four of the litter that are here that can maintain that socialization with their brothers and sisters.”

Dogs with Wings is a non-profit organization that breeds, trains and provides service dogs in Alberta. It also provides autism service dogs as well as facility and companion dogs.

Service dogs can take two years to train and are worth $40,000 each. Boudreault explained how volunteers are provided food and training for their puppies.

“We look after them. We give them basic skills. When we’re not dealing with COVID, we’re socializing them to get them used to being outside and around people.”

Puppies usually stick with their foster families for 12-to-14 months and then go to Edmonton where they will develop their more advanced skills.

Including the four puppies paired on Friday, Dogs with Wings has seven puppies total being raised in Grande Prairie.

The organization also highlighted the impact of two service dogs for the local area.

A facility dog named Archer works at the Caribou Child and Youth Centre, which helps minors who have been abused or exploited.

Roxanne Beeler, a dog handler and a paralegal at the local Crown prosecutor’s office, explained how Archer acted as a “de-stressor” for children who have to talk about something that is disturbing for them.

“He will attend forensic interviews with children if they are giving an interview to the police or to Children’s Services,” Beeler said.

“He’ll sit with them. They can pet him. It just helps them relax a little. As well, he will go to court if the children have to testify in court and he’ll sit on the witness stand with them.”

Beeler noted that the addition of Archer helped bring the Caribou Centre up to date with other child advocacy centres across the province.

“It’s just something that was always lacking in the north,” she said. “We didn’t have one of these dogs, and he still remains the only one north of Edmonton, so he’s in high need.”

Dogs with Wings also has an autism service dog named Juna working in the Grande Prairie area.

Heidi Waye and her husband Kris applied for the service dog when their 10-year-old daughter Naomi was diagnosed with autism at the age of three.

Although on a wait list for five years, Waye said it was “absolutely” worth it.

“The No. 1 purpose of any autism service dog is really about the bolting or the wandering that is common among autistic children,” she said.

Her daughter can also focus on Juna when she is in an environment that may be too overstimulating for her.

“When we’re at a restaurant, she might spend half of that time under the table with the dog, just petting her dog… putting her face into her back and lay there and it’s just a de-stressor,” Wayne said.

“(Juna) was amazing to have at Disneyland. I don’t think we could have done it without Juna because again it gave Naomi somewhere to just sit down and just kind of zone in to her pup.”

Service Dogs Keep A Distance

The pandemic has affected everyone, even service animals. These are working animals whose handlers depend on them for their safety.

For some of the service animal community, the pandemic has forced them to adjust to a social distant lifestyle.

Aggie Guide Dogs and Service Dogs (AGS) is a student-run organization that has been on campus since 1997. Amid the pandemic, the group is now teaching it’s trainees new commands.

“COVID-19 has really been hard on everyone, specifically some of our trainers and people with service dogs, due to the fact that they have had to adapt to a new lifestyle,” said AGS Dog Trainer Kyla Lavender.

The biggest changes have been working with dogs who are serving owners with specific medical alerts, since the novel coronavirus has now made it harder for them to be out in public.

Because nobody wants to put others at risk, service teams are learning to keep a distance from others.

“Especially during COVID, some of our dogs that are out in the working world have been tasked with a command called “take-it to” where they will be handed an object and they will take it over to someone else. It eliminates the person to person contact,” Lavender said.

Service animal OBI is essential to Texas A&M student Andy Gonzalez. OBI steps in before something life-threatening occurs.

“Having her really gives me a huge sense of protection. She has saved my life so many times I can’t count even count,” Gonzalez said.

While OBI is trained now, the pandemic has caused her training to suffer.

“She was having no socialization. We did have to reteach some things in public,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez says OBI is her lifeline. She says people are not coming up to her like they did before.

“During medical emergencies where she was actively working and you could see she was doing her job, people would come up and say, “So what kind of dog is she? What’s her name? Can I pet her?,”” Gonzalez added.

Gonzalez says before OBI was on the job, she once used an EpiPen 10 times in a year.

“She alerts me when I am about to have an allergic reaction, so I can take medication and prevent it from happening completely or at least make it to the point where it’s not life-threatening,” she explained.

The service animal community wants people to know service animals have a job, and their job is to protect their owner, so it’s best not to distract them or interrupt their work.

Lavender says you should treat a service animal as you would a wheelchair or a piece of medical equipment. She says you wouldn’t go up and touch a wheel chair that someone is sitting in, the same way you wouldn’t go up and touch a dog that is working.

Guide Dogs

If you’re working from home, now might be an great time to participate in the Guide Dogs of America puppy-raiser program.

Puppies from the organization’s litters are placed in foster homes, where puppy raisers will help the young dogs prepare for formal training and life as working guide dogs. When they’re ready, the dogs will eventually be paired with a person who is blind or visually impaired.

“The need for highly trained guide dogs and service dos hasn’t slowed during the pandemic,” said Stephanie Colman, puppy program coordinator. “In order to match service dogs with people who need them, we first need dedicated volunteers to help raise these amazing animals.”

Puppy raisers provide a caring home and teach basic obedience, house manners and provide urban socialization — helping puppies adapt to the real world and the situations they’ll encounter as guide dogs.

No experience is necessary. The program has been altered during the pandemic to allow for social distancing. Instead of in-person training classes, volunteers attend two rounds of online training. You’ll have access to online puppy “tech support” from GDA’s staff if questions come up.

“In may cases, major companies have announced a permanent work-from-home option for employees,” Colman said. “This has opened the door for many, allowing them to participate in the life-changing opportunity to raise a puppy who will go on to become the eyes of a blind or visually impaired person.”

Paws For Purpose

Going to the hospital can be a scary experience, but one member of the team at UofL Hospital goes above and beyond to put patients at ease.

“They come in, they’re a little bit afraid, Travis comes in and it just changes the whole mood of the patient,” physical therapist Cathy Gerrish said.

Travis is the hospital’s three-year-old facility dog. He’s part Labrador, part golden retriever and was trained as a service dog by an inmate at the Kentucky Correctional Institution for women through the Paws for Purpose program.

For nearly two years, Travis has worked at UofL — complete with his own photo ID badge — helping patients with their physical therapy exercises.

“He is so chill, which is actually an ideal thing for this rehab setting,” Gerrish said. “He knows when he needs to tuck under a desk to get out of the way. He really is perfect for this environment.”

Through a previous WLKY story, online pet store Chewy learned about Travis’ important work and wanted to donate some items to help with his care. For Gerrish, who not only works with Travis but also cares for him and pays for expenses, the gesture was a blessing.

“I felt like I won the lottery. I was just giddy when I found out that they wanted to donate something,” she said.

Representatives from Chewy delivered the items Thursday, wheeling in a new bed along with a wagon full of toys, treats and other goodies for Travis to enjoy.

Gerrish was thrilled to see his tail wag as he sniffed and squeaked his new toys, but brought to tears to see him recognized.

“It makes me a little teary-eyed,” she said. “He’s given so much to the patients here. This is huge he’s being recognized.”

Students Work With Service Dogs

It is no secret that 4 Paws For Ability (4 Paws) has a large campus presence. Black labs and golden retrievers are walked around by their volunteer handlers, the pups sporting a red vest that indicates they are a service dog in training.

4 Paws is a non-profit organization based in Xenia, Ohio that gives children with disabilities trained service dogs to “provide increased independence for the children and assistance to their families.”

Alex Sprague is a second-year medical student at the University of Cincinnati (UC) and has been a volunteer with 4 Paws since he was a freshman neuroscience major at the Ohio State University (OSU).

With over four years of experience under his belt, Sprague serves as vice president of internal affairs for 4 Paws For Ability at UC.

“Like most freshmen, I wanted to enjoy my new-found freedom from the seemingly restrictive rule of my parents and instead of partying like crazy, I wanted to do something with dogs as I was never allowed to have one growing up,” he said.

As a volunteer handler, students like Sprague are responsible for training the puppies for basic obedience, house manners, basic to advanced service dog skills and socialization.

Socialization for these pups is easy to find on a college campus. Before COVID-19, it was hard to find a 4 Paws dog without college students melting over how adorable these canines were.

“It’s funny how if you’re at Clifton Kroger by yourself, no one would ever randomly come up and talk to you, but if you have an adorable service dog in training, people constantly stop and ask the dog’s name, say how cute they are and help socialize them by petting them,” Sprague said. “It’s great to share the mission of 4 Paws and raise awareness of the organization. Not to mention that I’ve had conversations with multiple people who have afterwards reached out to 4 Paws to inquire about getting a service dog for their child with a disability.”

A service dog in training has three possible outcomes after their time with college students: service dog, breed and fabulous flunky.

Sprague has had an array of experiences with his pups. One dog was chosen as a breeder and has produced three litters of soon-to-be service dogs in training. Three of the ones he has trained have flunked and have gone to homes across the nation, including Nebraska and North Carolina.

A golden labrador retriever mix he had trained went on to be a service dog for a young woman with epilepsy. The dog alerts the family when the girl is having a seizure and has even learned to notify the family before a seizure happens.

Currently, 4 Paws has a 90% success rate in service dogs’ placement to alert seizures when they occur, with most minutes to hours beforehand.

Josey Leach is a third-year student at UC whose family got a 4 Paws dog in 2007 for her brother Sam, who is autistic. Growing up, Sam had problems with running away and having outbursts in public.

“We heard about 4 Paws which has autism service dogs that can be trained to track the individual if they go missing and also help them calm down if they are frustrated,” said Leach.

John Boy is their black lab, a great companion for Sam. “Sam’s behaviors improved a ton after we got John Boy,” she said. “He made It a lot easier for us to go out in public because of how comforting he was to Sam. We knew that if something were to happen, John Boy would be there to help.”

To this day, Leach’s mother is so happy she chose to get a service dog for Sam. She even blogged about her experience getting John Boy and how he has helped their family.

Although training a service dog can take up a hefty chunk of time, Sprague says that it is all worthwhile.

“It is quite the time commitment, but certainly worth it for both the bond you form with the dog and the possibility of your service dog in training graduating to full-time service dog and drastically changing someone’s life,” he said.

Dogs Social Distance