Service dog in training
This is Dolce. But don’t let his calm demeanor and cute button eyes fool you. Dolce is in training and soon enough he will have a very important job to do.
“Today we are really excited because we’ve been donated a puppy by a very gracious breeder in Red deer to work towards service dog training and a service dog team and his new owner is here to pick the dog,” said Shelley Beck of the Cypress Canine Society.
At just four months old Dolce will be going to a family in Airdrie to help 17-year-old Olivia who has been diagnosed with autism.
“It’s great, it is really great. I think she will be a great companion that will always be there for me, which is really great, and somebody that I can take into places that you can’t take normal pets,” said Olivia Levy.
For her family, it’s a long awaited relief.
Diagnosed with autism at 17, the family hopes the dog will be able to act as a companion and help Olivia overcome some of the challenges.
We are hoping for calming. She suffers from anxiety and depression so we are hoping the dog will be able to break up some of that,” Levy said.
For Dolce the dog, training involves a lot of specialized scent training. The training is needed to help detect when Olivia needs assistance.
“When she starts to have an attack, she’ll have different smells in her mouth, her electrodes inside her body will be different, the dog keys on that and the dog goes right to that person and nudges and that person, will go ‘oh I better start petting my dog there’s something wrong,’” said dog trainer Sterling Hintch.
Aside from picking up smells there are some other key skills needed in order to get a passing grade as a service dog.
” The temperament, for one thing, the ability to pick up clues on some people, and it is something that you will need to read in the dog, with the person that it is being matched with and lots of patience,” said Hintch.
Skills needed to make life a little easier for the people by their side day by day.
These Are 10 Best Indoor Dog Breeds
There’s no shame in being a homebody – holding down the couch definitely counts as a hobby, and working from home is a hot trend right now.
Like many of us introverts, certain dog breeds would much rather stay home than mess with the outdoors or obligatory social functions.
Some of our human lifestyles are a great match for these hermit hounds, as long as their exercise and stimulation needs continue to be fulfilled.
In this video we have listed The 10 Best Indoor Dog Breeds Ever.
coronavirus pet concerns
The Oklahoma Humane Society has responded to animal concerns regarding the coronavirus.
“Although it is true that some pets such as cats, hamsters and ferrets might develop mild illness if exposed to a person with COVID-19, there is currently no evidence to suggest that pets can transmit it to people,” said the OHC. “Please continue loving and caring for your pets in your home.”
Only four animals have tested positive for the coronavirus worldwide. All animals have fully recovered.
According to the OHC, there is currently no evidence that a human has caught the coronavirus from a pet.
“Do not be afraid of your companion animal, especially during this pandemic, said the OHC. “Animals can provide a great source of emotional support and comfort.”
If you exhibit symptoms of the coronavirus, OHC recommends that you contact your doctor and self-isolate from your pets and humans in your home.
Tips for training your new dog while you’re stuck at home
Caroline Gresham and her family have been thinking about adding a new member to their family for a couple of years.
So her family, like many others, decided that now might be the chance since they are spending more time at home.
“Zachary (Dad) spent an hour one day pretending to be a dog for the kids. After that he was like, ‘It’s time. We’re getting a dog,'” Gresham said.
They adopted Penny, a 4-year-old pit bull mix and have had a great experience so far. They do, however, wish they could get some professional help in one area.
“She goes a little crazy on walks when she sees another dog. We’d like to train her to walk better.”
Their story probably sounds familiar to many new dog owners. Sheltering at home has its advantages for adopting and training new pets, including more time for walks and play.
But in-person training classes with professionals are restricted, and social-distancing rules mean you can’t socialize a new dog at a park.
Here are a few things that new owners can keep in mind to help train their new best friend while stuck at home.
Like meetings, parties and family gatherings, dog training has pivoted to video conferencing. There are plenty of online resources and videos for training tips, but Mark Spivak, a professional dog trainer for over 30 years, says to make sure you’re finding the right resource for your dog.
“Each dog and family are unique. Internet media and books pose the disadvantage of not customizing instruction for the characteristics of the dog and family,” said Spivak, president of Comprehensive Pet Therapy. “Moreover, videos and print media do not provide feedback.”
Live video training classes offer owners a chance to learn more about how to best train their dogs, even though the dog is not getting a hands-on experience with a professional dog trainer.
Victoria Stilwell, dog behavioral expert at Positively.com and star of the TV show “It’s Me or the Dog,” however, says that the best time to start is still now.
“Don’t wait until we can all get out again,” she said. “We don’t know when that’s going to be, so start now.”
Socializing your dog with new people and other dogs is an important aspect to get them adjusted. It’s especially important for puppies. But there are things you can do to help your pup get used to a new environment while staying safe.
“You can still expose your dog to riding in the car. You can still take your dog for a walk,” Stilwell said. She says if puppies have had their vaccinations, then you can put them in your arms and carry them out for a walk.
“Remember socialization is not just about touching. So just by going for a simple walk, that is exposing your puppy to a whole load of different experiences. They are seeing different people, they’re seeing other dogs.”
Don’t forget alone time for socializing your new pet. While being available right now for your new dog’s every barking command can be great, you do not want separation anxiety when you do need to leave them alone. Stilwell suggests leaving your new dog in a different room a little bit every day.
Spivak says that giving dogs time inside their crate can be helpful for housetraining puppies and breaking in older dogs to new homes.
“The crate reduces the probability of housebreaking and chewing errors during times when the family can not supervise the pet.” And, Spivak adds, “At least until the dog becomes comfortable with new routines, outdoor toileting areas, and existing household pets.”
Virtual therapy sessions
It is a stressful time for all of us, and everyone is feeling the tension and anxiety that comes with the uncertainty of not knowing when things will improve and return to normal.
During challenging times like these, it is understandable to experience a toll on mental health. Luckily, a therapy dog is hoping to help one virtual therapy session at a time. Ricochet, the golden retriever, is a therapy dog with Pawsitive Teams, a non-profit organization operating in San Diego, California, that trains service dogs for those with disabilities.
More specifically, Ricochet is part of the Canine Inspired Community Reintegration (CICR) program, a partnership between Pawsitive Teams and the Naval Medical Center San Diego.
Now, Ricochet is reporting for duty by providing online therapy sessions via FaceTime for essential workers who need her most.
“Are you a healthcare worker or anyone else feeling anxious, stressed, depressed, scared, overwhelmed or any other unsettling emotion during this Covid-19 pandemic?” a post on Ricochet’s official website asks.
“Do you wish therapy dogs weren’t social distancing so they could provide some comfort? Well, Ricochet does… and she’s teamed up with her Pawsitive Teams Therapy Dog crew to provide virtual canine therapy! ”
According to the website, making eye contact with a dog can reduce anxiety. Even looking at a photo of a dog’s eyes can be soothing.
The site explains that after only 30 to 60 seconds of looking at an image, your brain triggers the release of oxytocin, a hormone known to reduce anxiety and create a sense of calm.
Ricochet is providing virtual therapy sessions for doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, first responders, as well as essential workers and families who have lost a loved one.
“During this time of feeling helpless, the more we share, the more people we can reach and the more helpful we can feel,” a post on Ricochet’s Facebook states.
There is no denying that times are tough right now, and we may forget to consider the mental toll that it is taking on essential workers and healthcare professionals, who are risking their lives to keep the rest of the world safe on a daily basis.
Services such as these allow essential workers to get the assistance they may need to continue on with the fight.
Police gets two new dogs
Two new officers at the Santa Fe Police Department have special skills that set them apart from others on the force.
They can quickly track suspects, have a heightened sense of hearing, and can detect the odors of narcotics and explosives.
After a seven-year hiatus, the Santa Fe Police Department has restarted its K-9 program with the addition of canine Officers Ayke and Azar.
After six weeks of training and bonding with their new handlers, Ayke and Azar officially began working in Santa Fe this week.
“It’s another tool. It’s just a little bit more responsibility,” Gallegos said of the dogs.
“I mean, we are still doing the patrol thing,” he added. “We also have to keep in the back of our mind, ‘Hey, we have the dog in the back. He needs to eat. He also needs to use the restroom, to be hydrated and cool,’ at the same time.”
The department’s K-9 program started in the 1970s, Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said, but ended in 2013 when the three certified canine handlers were either promoted or retired.
The department attempted to revive the program a few years later, but the command staff ultimately decided it was not the right time, and the money was allocated to other projects.
In the fall, Valdez applied for a federal State Homeland Security Program grant to cover the costs of the two dogs and training.
The total came to about $27,000, Valdez said, which will be reimbursed through the grant.
Ayke and Azar both had some training before joining the department, but like any new police officers who are “fresh out of the academy,” they still have a lot to learn, Valdez said.
Ayke was trained in Germany for the nation’s police service dog examination, while Azar was training for sport.
They have been building their tracking skills and expanding on their obedience training, Arroyo said. “We introduced them to either narcotics or the [explosive ordnance disposal] stuff, the improvised explosives and all that, just depending on what the dog was going to be trained to do.”
Valdez said the dogs’ ability to detect odors will be a game changer for the department. Azar’s specialty is finding explosives, while Ayke focuses on finding narcotics.
The dogs will train with the department’s bomb squad and SWAT team so they’ll have the confidence to do their jobs in an emergency, Gallegos said.
Training the dogs never really ends — for the dogs or the officers.
The dogs — still puppies, despite their tough jobs — live with Arroyo and Gallegos, but they aren’t the officers’ pets.
“He comes out, and he looks like he’s Superman,” Gallegos said of Azar. “He’s intimidating and mean.
“But when we’re at home,” Gallegos said, “I look outside the window, and he’s doing circles inside his pen. He’s a pretty big dork, but when it comes to work … he’s squared away and ready to go.”
Will 2020 Mark The End Of Emotional Support Animals On Airlines?
Michael Goldstein Contributor
Travel
In 2020, the issue of Emotional Support Animals (ESA) on planes may come to a head. Airlines for America, an airline lobbying group, is pushing for new rules for “animals in the sky” that would effectively limit the service category to trained animals, such as guide dogs. This would eliminate untrained ESA animals who purportedly provide psychological support to their owners.
To many, the topic brings a menagerie to mind, with airline tales of emotional support snakes, ferrets, hamsters, and monkeys. American Airlines had to banish an 80-pound support pig after it squealed and defecated in the aisle. Dexter the emotional support peacock was turned away from a United flight and subsequently died.
Last summer, a flight attendant was reportedly bitten by an emotional support dog during an American Eagle flight from Dallas to Greensboro, North Carolina. The flight attendant required five stitches in her hand.
Airlines for America is leading an effort to get the Department of Transportation (DOT) to change the definition of “service animal” on aircraft to match that of the American Disability Act. The ADA definition of service animal is “any dog that is individually trained to do work or perform tasks for the benefit of an individual with a disability, including a physical, sensory, psychiatric, intellectual, or other mental disability. Tasks performed can include…pulling a wheelchair, retrieving dropped items, alerting a person to a sound, reminding a person to take medication, or pressing an elevator button.”
The key word is probably “trained.” An airline spokesperson told me it was all about the explosive growth in untrained ESA animals and their “uncontrolled” behavior. Airlines for America, which represents US airlines like American, United, Southwest, Alaska, JetBlue and Hawaiian, enlisted 80 non-profit organizations in their effort to get DOT to change the rules. These include the Airline Pilots Association, Association of Flight Attendants, the American Kennel Club, Guide Dogs for the Blind, Travelers United and K9s for Warriors.
The airlines group notes the doubling of ESA certifications in the last three years, with websites selling on-line certifications from psychiatrists, harnesses and tags. Some allege this is a scam for pets to fly free, instead of their owners paying airlines up to $125 each way. The number of emotional support animals flown has grown from 500,000 to over a million since 2016.
Yet the issue may not be as clear-cut as portrayed. Under the Air Carrier Access Act, (ACAA) and separately, under Federal housing laws, an animal doesn’t have to be trained for a specific task to be considered an emotional support.
Professor Rebecca F. Wisch of the Michigan State University College of Law wrote, “An emotional support animal is an animal…that provides a therapeutic benefit to its owner through companionship. The animal provides emotional support and comfort to individuals with psychiatric disabilities and other mental impairments. The animal is not specifically trained to perform tasks for a person who suffers from emotional disabilities.”
Such assistance animals are recognized as a “reasonable accommodation” for a person with a disability under the Federal Fair Housing Act, based on documentation of a disability. Wisch writes, “Emotional support animals have been known to assist disabled individuals with severe depression, generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and many other emotional and psychiatric disabilities.”
For the airlines, under DOT rules the current definition of service animal is “any animal that is individually trained or able to provide assistance to a person with a disability; or any animal that assists persons with disabilities by providing emotional support.” Documentation, such as a doctor’s note, “may be required of passengers needing to travel with an emotional support or psychiatric service animal.”
To the airlines, the issues are clear. They want to be in control of the cabin, without untrained animals posing a nuisance or danger. There may also be concern with loss of income from owners reclassifying their pets as ESA animals.
The new rule making submitted for comment to the DOT last year by the airlines will “address the appropriate definition of a service animal and include safeguards to ensure safety and reduce the likelihood that passengers wishing to travel with their pets on aircraft will be able to falsely claim that their pets are service animals.”
“They’d have to change the law. They’re trying to make an end run,” says Professor Favre, Professor of Law at Michigan State University and head of the Animal Legal Web Center. “I don’t think Federal law will let them do that. Emotional support animals arose in the context of housing. It was broadly supported. There was no requirement of training, as the animal wasn’t going to do anything but be there. You did need to get a letter proving you had a psychiatric assistance animal [to present to the landlord.]”
Other than housing, “The airplane is the only other place that animal is allowed to go. You can’t bring your emotional support chihuahua to Starbucks,” says Professor Favre. “There are people with phobias about flying—I could see an emotional support animal being very helpful. The difficulty is who really needs it.”
“There needs to be a middle ground—too many people are abusing the system. All of these animals on the ESA side are crowding out the true service animals. Now people are getting looked at funny if they show up with a trained Labrador because the public thinks it’s another fraud,” adds Prof. Favre.
Professor Favre cited Delta Airlines as a potential ESA model. “Delta has on their website the requirement that paperwork be filed in advance. That’s a good step for filtering ESA requests. The Delta profile might work well for the airline industry. If the animal shows up and seems to be a risk, they can say no. But I’d go with the presumption that the paperwork represents a legitimate position.”
Statistics say that up to one in five Americans has a mental illness. Is there a continuing need for emotional support animals to help people get through our traumatic air travel system?
The airline industry might get the rule change they seek, says Prof. Favre. “There’s nobody organized on the other side.” But that might not be the last step in the ESA saga. “A lawsuit is possible, because it is going too far.”
Jet the fire service dog
Arson and deliberate fires are serious crimes which take up valuable time from Avon Fire and Rescue Service, when crews could be dealing with other major incidents.
Therefore, the service needs all the help it can get when it comes to finding and detecting deliberate fires across Bristol.
And so a Fire Dog called Jet, introduced to the service in February last year, provides much-needed assistance when he sniffs out and detects deliberate fires.
The five-year-old black Labrador is part of the service’s fire investigation team and and has assisted at the scenes of deliberate fires across the service area here in Bristol, including discovering that the Guildhall Fire was a deliberate act.
The role of a fire investigation dog is to use its highly-tuned sense of smell to find traces of accelerants which may have been used to deliberately start a fire.
Accelerants are substances, such as petrol, which help a fire to spread more quickly.
Even when a fire has been put out, fire investigation dogs can still smell exactly where an accelerant was used.
When Jet finds traces of an accelerant he lets handler Martyn Bolt know by ‘freezing’ and placing his nose close to where the substance has been found.
Jet was born in May 2013 and was selected at a young age based on his drive for play and ability to follow a positive reinforcement training programme, which rewards him with a tennis ball each time he detects an ignitable substance.
He is a quick learner and in September 2013, aged 16 weeks, was enrolled on a 12-week fire investigation dog training course.
Jet completed his training with flying colours in January 2014 and became the youngest dog to ever pass the course.
Despite being operational for some time, Jet was taken out of service while a search took place for a new handler.
However, he eventually found a new handler in Martyn.
Martyn said: “I’ve been part of the service for 23 years and have had extensive fire investigation training.
“When it was clear Jet needed a new handler and that the service could use him in a positive and proactive way, I jumped on the opportunity.
“Jet really is exceptional at what he does. He is able to help the service identify ignitable substances which could have been used to start a fire and it never ceases to amaze me when he locates the source of a fire.”
“I’m proud to be his handler and I look forward to working with him over the coming years.”
Jet is sent into cold fire scenes to search for evidence of ignitable liquids, identifying the areas they were used in, which are documented before samples are taken by the police for analysis.
The speed and accuracy of the dogs can save both police and fire investigators valuable time and resources.
When investigating fire scenes, Jet wears boots to protect his paws from any shards of glass or other sharp objects and also have his own personal protective equipment (PPE).
Animal therapy ranch
Saddle Up Ranch, located just off the A926 on the edge of Blairgowrie, provides animal therapy to people from Perthshire, Dundee and Angus while rehabilitating animals.
Serving young adults to pensioners, ranch boss Jessie Probst uses horses, dogs, goats, alpacas and even snails to help teach transferable skills about conveying and reading emotions, as well as providing animal training and fostering.
Jessie, who also runs a dog training business, believes that after lockdown restrictions are lifted, more people will require their services.
She said: “We’ve run this facility for six years and it really helps vulnerable people. We’ve even got contracts with some schools.
“Our clients come from Perth and Kinross, Angus and Dundee. We had over 1,000 visits last year and held workshops every weekend over the summer. Just now, we’re getting 10 to 15 visitors every day.”
The non-profit organisation, which is run by volunteers, has been based at the Perthshire site for almost two years, having previously operated from Glamis, but their lease is set to expire at the end of the summer.
Jessie said: “We need to find a new central location somewhere in Tayside. We only need about five or ten acres for rough grazing – we’ve got evidence-based funding to build stables.
“There’s going to be a huge spike in anxiety and depression over this period and the ranch will be a massive asset after lockdown.
“We need somewhere to move into by the end of September. We’ve got success stories coming out of our ears but the only places we’ve found that are suitable are way up north, which isn’t good for our clients.”
Amongst those hoping Saddle Up Ranch can relocate nearby is Monifieth High School student Hannah Harper, who suffers from a rare neurological condition called Transverse Myelitis.
16-year-old wheelchair user Hannah was set up with therapy dog Lily through the ranch and said being paired with the cocker spaniel has turned her life around.
“We had been looking for a dog and the ranch was recommended to us. We got Lily, an emotional support dog in October.
“She’s completely changed all our lives, especially now during lockdown.
“I feel much happier and much more confident. School is something I’ve always struggled with and I spoke with my guidance teacher about bringing her in. They were very keen.
“For one, she gets us all out of the house more than we used to and overall she’s made us all so happy.”
One dog who has benefited from Jessie’s work is Togo, a Chihuahua approaching his third birthday.
Togo arrived from Kent in late March as an aggressive dog with behavioural problems, having bitten his owner.
Jessie successfully initiated big improvements, which she has documented on her Facebook page Dundee & Beyond Dog Trainer.
K-9 HERO
The dogs of war, the dogs that help keep the peace, the dogs that track down the bad guys and turn up the missing, Man’s best friend and co-worker. What happens to them after a lifetime of service? Many retire with their handlers but not all. When the time comes, who rescues the rescuers?
Former Yakima Police officer Jason Johnson, inspired by his dog flash, started Project K-9 Hero, a foundation that supports retired service dogs.
