Dog Honored With Statue

Sully the service dog received a special honor on Veterans Day.

The 4-year-old lab became known for his loyalty to former president George H. W. Bush. Now, Sully is being recognized for his service in a monumental way.

A bronze statue was unveiled Tuesday on Long Island, where Sully was born and raised before the cherished service dog became the constant companion of President George H. W. Bush. Then, the nation watched as Sully stood by the former president at his wake and funeral two years ago.

The sculptor, Susan Bahary, said she was so taken with the dog’s loyalty and devotion, she dedicated her art to America’s VetDogs.

“I had the joy of meeting Sully and spending three hours measuring, admiring, getting to know him,” Bahary said.

“Our service is available to all veterans, not just presidents,” said John Miller, president and CEO of America’s VetDogs. “And Sully did a great job, along with the Bush family who is just tremendous to work with, in helping shine a light on our services.”

It costs more than $50,000 to breed, raise, train and place one assistance dog. America’s VetDogs provides its services free of charge.

Sully’s trainer, Valerie Cramer, says the dog’s special bond with disabled veterans won’t be roken.

“The beauty of Sully is that he crosses all barriers,” Cramer told CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan. “Maybe he misses the job that he did before, but he is very happy to do what he’s doing now because he touches so many lives.”

Sully now comforts servicemen and women at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where a line of vets awaits Sully each day.

Woman Reunites With Her Dog

A year, half a country’s worth of distance, and only a single sighting long ago – chances weren’t good that Kate Olson would ever see her beloved dog Walter again. But sometimes, hope defies the odds.

Olson, who lived in Peterborough at the time Walter went missing, was visiting Missouri for Thanksgiving last year, with her boyfriend Curtis Chastain and their two dogs, Fox, a golden retriever and Walter, a golden retriever mix. The visit was going well, until a relative took Walter for a walk while Olson and Chastain were out visiting other family, and the dog, who gets nervous around other people, panicked and slipped his collar, running away.

“We raced back, and started searching and scouring the woods and the area. We just didn’t seem to be able to come up with anything,” Olson said.

It was the start of a year-long nightmare, Olson said.

Their three-day trip was extended an extra two weeks while the couple tried to locate their dog, Olson said, but eventually, they had to return to New Hampshire – though it was heartbreaking to leave with only one dog.

“It was the worst feeling in the world,” Olson said. “I had to get back to work and my life. But I never stopped searching.”

Olson joined multiple lost and found pet pages for the area, and worked with local dog recovery group Lost Paws Trapping along with volunteers from the area to keep searching. There was a confirmed sighting of Walter back in December, and a few reports of a dog matching his description, though there weren’t any photographs of him or signs when volunteers went looking, Olson said. She made two return trips to Missouri, one in January and another in March, to search herself.

“A lot of people have told me, ‘It’s OK to stop looking. You can’t look forever.’ And I said, ‘Oh yeah? Watch me,’” Olson said.

Because Walter is a special dog.

Olson got Walter four years ago, picking the runt out of a litter of 10 puppies.

“He was just this five-pound thing, he was just so cute, I couldn’t handle it,” Olson said.

Walter is her “scaredy dog” – literally afraid of everything, Olson said. But she’s an anxious person, too, she said, and she and Walter became a support system for each other.

“He has extreme anxiety, and so do I. He was my emotional support dog, and I was his emotional support person,” Olson said.

When there were storms, the place Walter felt safest was with her, Olson said.

She knew that leaving Walter alone to fend for himself just wasn’t an option, and neither was giving up the search.

“I never gave up that hope,” Olson said. “I couldn’t give up. It does eat you up, and you want to give up so you can rest, but I never would have been able to rest peacefully.”

This time, hope paid off.

On Nov. 10, the local volunteers who had been assisting Olson contacted her with a post with a photo of a stray dog that looked a lot like Walter – and while it raised Olson’s hopes, she said she couldn’t be 100 percent sure it was him, based on the quality of the photo. But Lost Paws volunteers investigated the area, and found security camera footage of the same dog, which had been hanging around in the area. One more sighting, and a better photograph, and Olson said she was convinced – her dog had been found, and she was booking a flight to Missouri.

“I was just elated he was still alive. I thought, ‘If he’s made it this far, he can make it one more day,’” Olson said.

She flew overnight, and arrived in St. Louis, Missouri at 9 a.m. on Friday. She was there when Walter finally walked into a trap set up by Lost Paws, and officially went from a lost dog, to a recovered one.

“I am absolutely ecstatic. It’s amazing,” Olson said.

Walter spent several days recovering in secured areas of volunteers’ homes until Olson was ready to begin the road trip back home. On Monday night, Olson said she was finally able to sleep in the same bed with her dog again.

Walter has been checked by a veterinarian, and Olson said despite being dirty and having a case of fleas, he’s weathered his extended time as a stray well – he’s only lost a small amount of weight, and doesn’t have any injuries. Olson said Walter will get a more thorough checkup and a panel of blood tests once they return to New Hampshire. The two are currently traveling to Cleveland, Ohio, where they will meet Chastain for a reunion, and then continue home to New Hampshire.

“I’ll have to change the way I think,” Olson said. “When I think of Walter, I don’t have to be sad anymore. Now, I can just cry happy tears.”

Police Takes Over As Canine Handler

Lator, the canine officer for Cambridge Springs Police Department’s K-9 Unit, has a new handler.

Lator’s former handler, Sgt. Lee Woodworth, recently left the department, so Chief Tad Acker has taken over.

“Lee took a full-time job with the City of Corry Police Department,” Acker said.

But Lator stayed because he is owned by the borough. He came with a price tag of about $14,500 and was purchased with donations from community individuals and businesses.

Lator, 2, a purebred German shepherd, will turn 3 in December.

He was shipped to the United States from Hungary, and the police department got him from Shallow Creek Kennels, a police service dog training academy in Sharpsville.

With Woodworth leaving, Acker contacted the kennels to find out if a police service dog could be trained to work with a new handler. The answer was yes.

“The reason I agreed to assume the handler position is because the police department did not have any other officers who have enough time in or experience,” Acker said.

Acker is no rookie when it comes to police canines. Although he’s never been a handler, he previously worked for the Vernon Township Police Department, which had two dogs.

“I know the dedication and commitment it takes working with canines,” he said.

Acker, 51, is a seven-year member of the Cambridge Springs police force.

But he’s been a police officer since 2001, when he graduated from the North East Mercyhurst Municipal Police Academy. He worked part time for the Cochranton Police Department and the West Mead Police Department. He then worked part time for the Vernon Township Police Department from 2005 to 2008 and went full time there in 2008. He stayed with Vernon Township until joining the Cambridge Springs Police Department in 2013. He is also president of the Frank L. Baranyai Memorial Lodge 108 in Cambridge Springs.

Lator is a dual-purpose dog: he’s trained in narcotics searches, apprehension of suspects, building searches and article searches, and he’s also trained in tracking.

His veterinary care is sponsored by Greener Pastures Veterinary Services in Saegertown.

In between handlers, Lator stayed at Knick’s Bed and Biscuit LLC in Meadville, a canine kennel that helped with the transition.

“When the borough decided we would keep the dog, we took Lator to Knick’s and housed him there until Lee’s last day,” Acker said.

Lator goes home with Acker every day. Acker, who is married and has a stepson, said Lator is adjusting to his new family.

“We already have three dogs, so incorporating Lator in to the family so far has been positive – but it takes time,” he said.

The police department has a K-9 transport sport utility vehicle, which is a 2018 Ford Interceptor package. In the back, a transport cage for Lator takes up half the space, and the other half is for prisoner transport.

In addition to working in Cambridge Springs, the K-9 Unit also helps other police departments.

“The whole thing I’ve learned is that it is a different job,” Acker said. “Lee did a phenomenal job with Lator. I’m hoping to maintain that.”

And he’s working on that now, with a little help from some friends. Acker and Lator have been training with Mike Amann and Tony Dibacco from Lake Erie K9 in Lawrence Park; Sgt. Landon Silva and his canine, Kenzo, of the Borough of Edinboro Police Department; and retired K-9 handler John T. Labow.

“The dog is trained; I need to learn how to read him,” Acker said. “We’ve bonded really well.”

Although Lator is playful and friendly, he’s also a working dog, and when he works, he means business.

Acker believes Lator is an asset to the police department and Cambridge Springs as a whole, saying he fits into the community well and does his work when required.

“He’s social, but when he goes to work, he’s a different dog,” the chief said.

Pet Supply Donations

Plano East Future Farmers of America has launched a pet supply donation drive for the rescue hospital Mazie’s Mission, in hopes of helping animals affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Plano East Senior High School students are accepting pet supplies such as collars, crates, pet beds, leashes, toys, and towels. The items can be either new or gently used. For those who don’t have pet supplies but would like to donate money, they can do so via Amazon Wish List.

The drive will last until April.  “This project is in benefit to the Mazie’s Mission foster dogs,” Plano East high school student Jenna Moon, the FFA’s community service chair, pointed out in a Oct. 21 PSA video on Twitter. “Whether it is a dog or a cat, this project is to help provide them with materials with new fosters and new adopters and give them the materials they need to bring a new animal into their households.”

Moon kicked off the drive in August for the Girl Scouts to earn her Girl Scout Gold Award.

Caitlin Schmedthorst, an agricultural teacher and FFA advisor, told Local Profile that an important part of FFA is the community service component, and they felt that Jenna’s Girl Scouts project fit perfectly with their mission.

“Jenna took it to a whole new level because she is a superstar,” Mrs. Schmedthorst said.

Plano East FFA chapter established in March 1982, a year after the high school opened its doors and when Plano had mushroomed from a farming community of 3,000 people to a sunbelt city with more than 80,000 people in the early ‘80s.

But don’t let the FFA name fool you. They aren’t just inspiring the next generation of farmers, though raising livestock is still part of the program. They are also preparing students for the veterinary clinic, the floral world, and businesses in the agricultural sector.

“At Plano East, our goal is to educate our students on the importance of agriculture, and offer courses that will give students skills that they can use upon graduation from high school.

Plano East FFA advisor Chris Ivy said one of the big hurdles was to get information about the pet supply drive out to the public. “That is where we came up with the idea of a PSA video [to post on] Twitter and Facebook because people are more likely to watch the video,” Ivy said. “Jenna came up with a lot of that as far as the outlook and goals for the community service project.”

Jenna picked Mazie’s Mission because they have an inspiring mission and work with other rescue organizations. They also offer veterinary services.

“What is really great about this program is that they go to kill shelters and pull animals from the shelter and put them into a foster program, each animal in a home situation with a family,” Jenna said. “Being a foster parent helps the community.”

As of this writing, Plano East FFA chapter has collected more than 50 items, and people are donating daily. “It is giving a positive reflection on our chapter,” Ivy said. “It has been a good publication relations project. We have that name of helping animals.”

Plano East FFA chapter’s pet supply drive will last until December. Their goal is to collect as much as they can by the end of the year. Items can be dropped off in the purple dog bath at Plano East’s agricultural building, which is Building 3.

Companion Dogs Help With Anxiety

There’s a major love affair in the U.S. between humans and their furry friends. A playful puppy named Clifford has been Rachael Greenburg’s saving grace during the pandemic. She says the past nine months have brought a lot of anxiety into her life, but Clifford’s relentless support helped her through the first panic attack she ever experienced.

“He woke up, and just like kind of climbed on my lap and he tried to put my feet up. And I don’t think he knew exactly what was going on, but he just like seemed to respond to it,” Greenburg said.

Greenburg isn’t alone in her feelings.

There’s been a rise in depression and anxiety in many people’s lives since the start of the pandemic.

It’s Samara’s job as a therapy dog to offer people love and support.

“She went and met one of the students who was quarantined due to COVID-19 who was feeling a little down and lonely,” human-animal connection expert Philip Tedeschi said.

Tedeschi is a professor in the graduate school of social work at the University of Denver, and a human-animal connection expert with the dog-sitting website Rover.

“We’re looking at human-animal connection through the lens of how people and animals interact and what some of the health-promoting benefits of that are,” Tedeschi said.

According to a recent survey done by Rover, 92% of dog owners say that their dog has played a role in positively impacting their mental health since the pandemic began. Tedeschi says history proves dogs have become some our most important, reliable and trusting friends.

“Some people would argue that we may have been co-evolving with dogs for 20-to-60-thousand years or more, and what has occurred as a result as that is dogs have become especially attune to people, and people have become specially attune to dogs.”

Tedeschi says we can measure how our interactions with companion animals influence our health. In fact, he says humans can tend to match their own breathing and heartbeat to the resting rate of an adult dog which helps us to calm down.

“They understand our language, they know the nuances of the tone of voice we use, in many cases they’ll recognize something as small as a millimeter of movement in the human face that reflects a change in our emotion,” Tedeschi said.

There’s a reason dogs are used to comfort veterans with PTSD and patients in hospitals. They offer endless love and keep us present in the moment.

“It turns out that social support doesn’t only have to be human beings that support us,” Tedeschi said. “That in many cases our non-human animal relationships are really effective support systems for us.”

It was Greenburg’s time in a hospital that inspired her to study social work and animal therapy.

“I have an auto-immune disease that I was diagnosed with at nine years old,” Greenburg said. “We had a dog named Teddy and specifically got him when I was diagnosed.”

Now she’s training Clifford to be a therapy dog. He’s brought happiness to her grandmother who lives with dementia. Greenburg says she’ll be a dog owner for life.

Labrador Helps Healing

Rachael has a deep, resonating bark that occasionally comes out while playing rough and tumble with her canine friends. That is when the blue vest is off.

When the vest is on, Rachael speaks with her brown eyes, calmly sizing up the people around her.

The 2-year-old Labrador retriever is a facility dog, getting ready for what will be a serious job come Jan. 1 with offices at both the Center for Children and in the 21st Judicial District Attorney’s office in the Mesa County Justice Center.

Rachael’s calming presence will be with young child abuse victims during forensic interviews and mental health therapy sessions. She even will be in the witness box, reassuringly within petting distance of a child as he or she testifies in court.

When prosecution of a child abuse or child sexual abuse case depends on a child being able to verbalize what happened, to overcome nervousness and convince 12 adult strangers in a jury that something unthinkable really did happen, that is when Rachael’s calming presence will be key, said Dan Rubinstein, Mesa County district attorney. The dog’s presence also can be an integral part of healing for survivors, he said.

“I’ve seen children curled up, afraid to talk,” said Joan Mulleady, the clinical program director and therapist with the Center for Children, which works to provide healing and justice for abused children.

When a dog like Rachael enters the room, “children just physically relax,” she said. Some children may not want to touch the dog just yet, and others pet the dog and play with its ears.

“This dog, if she’s anything close to Tilly, she’s amazing,” Mulleady said. Tilly, also a Labrador retriever, served Mesa County children as a facility dog for three years until her retirement in July of 2019.

Her ability to develop relationships with children was missed, and Rubinstein’s office has been working to get another facility dog.

Rachael was donated to Mesa County by Canine Companions for Independence, a California nonprofit that breeds and trains dogs to become service or hearing dogs, to serve veterans with disabilities or to assist in professional settings including in criminal justice and education.

At 8-weeks-old, Rachael was placed with an inmate at the Naval Consolidated Brig, Miramar, which has a puppy raising program, said Ashley Edstrom, Rachael’s handler and an employee with the district attorney’s office.

For 18-months the inmate gave Rachael her basic training — how to sit, stay and so on, Edstrom said — and then Rachael received her professional training at Canine Companions’ campus in Oceanside, California.

“She can hold a command for hours,” Edstrom said. That said, Rachael loves people, especially kids, and prefers to be touching someone at all times, she said.

If someone scratches Rachael’s side, which she likes, she kind curls up and “lima beans” her body, Edstrom said. A co-worker noticed it and nicknamed Rachael “lima bean,” and it has stuck. Jelly bean is another fond nickname.

“I think when we get going with this, she’s going to be in high demand,” said Edstrom, who will be managing Rachael’s time.

Currently, Rachael is meeting staff and adjusting to her new surroundings at the Justice Center and Center for Children.

But in January, Rachael will be on the job, likely meeting the children who need her in the lobby of the Center for Children, going with them to forensic interviews or to therapy sessions, even if it means Edstrom will have to wait outside the room.

Rachael is there “to make sure the child heals,” Mulleady said. “This is for the children.”

Pet Insurance

Along with buying bags of dog and cat food, pet owners can now turn to Walmart to buy insurance and find a sitter for their beloved animals.

Starting Thursday, the retailer said it will sell pet insurance from Petplan and connect customers to dog walking and more through Rover. It is launching Walmart Pet Care, a new landing page on its website as a central hub where customers can find its full range of animal products and services.

“We’re focused on bringing our customers and the beloved pets in their lives trusted, convenient and affordable programs at one destination,” she said. “And we’ll continue to focus on that.”

Walmart is adding to its pet offerings at a time when more Americans are adopting new dogs, cats and other critters. The pandemic pet boom has also turned chew toys, seasonal costumes and pet supplies into a popular gift-giving category this holiday season.

Even before the pandemic, pet care was a growing market. The U.S. pet care industry is projected to increase from a $53 billion market to about $64 billion over the next four years, according to Jefferies research.

That has increased competition between companies that want a bigger slice of the pie, including superstores like PetSmart and Petco, big-box retailers like Walmart and Target and e-commerce players like Chewy.

Walmart estimates that 90 million pet owners shop at its stores and website. Last year, it launched online pet pharmacy, WalmartPetRX, that sells prescriptions and hundreds of brands for dogs, cats, horses and livestock.

By offering multiple services, the retailer hopes pet owners will spend more at its stores. For example, customers who get pet insurance through Walmart may later get pet medications filled at its pharmacy.

K9s For Warriors

When veterans come home from battle, transitioning back into civilian life can be a daunting task.

On average, 20 veterans die from suicide each day, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. But groups like K9s for Warriors are working to bring that number down by training service dogs to help veterans cope with the physical and mental scars from service.

“I’m a graduate of the program in 2015 and I came back and I started working here and I can see how this program affects the warrior and their family,” said Greg Wells, Manager of Programs with K9s for Warriors.

The program has been able to continue its work through the pandemic, training 90 dogs and pairing them with veterans.

“We were in a state where we could keep going. The doors were still open. And you can’t Zoom train a dog. You can’t Zoom train a warrior,” said K9s for Warriors CEO Rory Diamond.

Working at a limited capacity has come at a cost.

The program’s wait time has doubled from two to four years, with 391 veterans on the waitlist.

“Our biggest fear is to lose a warrior on our waitlist. Our warriors, 82% of them have attempted suicide before they come here and we have an almost perfect record in stopping it after a warrior comes here, but we’ve got to get them through our doors first,” said Diamond.

But the program has plans to expand to meet the growing need.

“We’re going to break ground next year on what we call a ‘Mega Kennel’. The world’s largest rescue dog training center. So we’ll get much more dogs like Angel here through our system,” said Diamond.

K9s for Warriors is 100 percent free to veterans and while the Florida Legislature approved $600,000 for the program this year, private donations provide most of the funding.

K9s for Warriors has a 10-year history of helping veterans and currently operates in 47 states.

In that time it has trained and paired 641 service dogs with veterans.

Police K-9 Program

Thursday the Rotary Club of Mason announced a fundraiser to assist the City of Mason with launching a new K-9 program within the police department.

In September, Ingham County Animal Control transferred eight German Shepard dogs from St. Clair County Animal Control. The dogs had been rescued from a neglect/hording situation. Of those eight, one dog had the potential to be a working K-9, which the Mason Police Department had been considering for a number of years.

The female German Shepherd is mostly black and weighs about 55 pounds. Her exact date of birth is unknown, but it is estimated that she is a little older than when most young Shepherd start police K-9 training. She was evaluated by Mike Morgan, owner of Mid-Michigan Police K-9, LLC at his facility.

“He told me that he had absolutely no reservations about her potential as a dual purpose K-9 for the Mason Police Department,” said Chief Don Hanson. “In fact, if she had been evaluated in Poland, where he normally buys his dogs, she would have been selected.”

While her name at the time of rescue is unknown, the name “Tamarak” has been used at Ingham County Animal Control and while in foster care.

Hanson hopes that she and a current officer will be enrolled in Police K-9 School in the spring and will be trained in tracking and explosives detection.

“When this many experts all draw the same conclusion about a dog’s potential as a working K-9, I had to listen,” said Hanson. “But ultimately she will be a service dog to help our community.”

Every year in Mason, there are about 30-40 calls in which a dog could assist on the investigations including bomb threats, missing children or seniors, and tracking.

The program will provide an opportunity for professional growth for the handler, who will be selected after a comprehensive process.

In order for the program to be a success, no additional staff will be added to the police department, but a police SUV will be fitted as a dual-purpose K-9 and general patrol vehicle. The upgraded SUV would still be capable of transporting a person in police custody.

Due to uncertainty of finances available, Mason City Council will only authorize the adoption if funds are raised to cover the startup of the program, estimated to be $20,000, for minimal burden to tax payers. Local veterinarian, Dr. Main, agreed to provide routine care at no cost to the city.

Dog Helps Veteran Overcome PTSD

Service dogs are one way to help veterans cope with traumatic experiences from military service. One non-profit provides them free of charge to veterans.

Arbor is a playful, loving dog according to the owner, Amber. Another special thing about Arbor is that he is a service dog trained for veterans with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), among other things. Amber joined the U.S. Army in the mid 80’s and knew from the start, it was going to be a long journey.

“Right from the get-go, in basic training, I learned very quickly that I was a female,” says Amber Skylar, a veteran. “I went through hell being a female.”

Amber says she dealt with sexual harassment and assaults throughout her military career. She suffers from PTSD after her sexual trauma. For about 30 years, the invisible wound kept Amber depressed, away from living a social life. Then, Arbor came around to help her overcome that.

“I never saw myself as my wound being worthy,” says Amber. “Having Arbor was like a badge of honor for me. It was like coming home, that I could just embrace that I had served too.”

Arbor comes from the Canine Companions for Independence, a non-profit that provides service dogs for those in need like veterans with PTSD. December 2020 will mark one year that Amber and Arbor have been together. Within the one year, Amber says she’s gained more independence, freedom, and a social life. “I find myself out for an hour, maybe two hours exploring things, looking around. It is incredibly healthy for me because I could stay in this house for three, five days and never leave and never have a problem with it. I can’t do that with Arbor, it’s medicine, he has to get out and I love him,” says Amber.

There are currently 16 Montanans with service dogs from this organization; Amber is the only one that is a military veteran.

Amber hopes her story encourages veterans to take action and seek the necessary help.