Jax Brings Comfort
No parent should ever have to experience the pain of losing a child.
In Citrus County, a locally founded organization is available as a source of comfort for those who have suffered this unimaginable loss.
Footprints on my Heart is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides services to parents and their families who have suffered a miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal, or infant loss.
Hammon has worked hard to cultivate an environment that provides tools and comfort to those families in need. Through this, she has made deep connections and had an unforgettable impact on many lives.
Recently, Footprints on my Heart was donated a golden retriever puppy from one of the “lost families” helped by this organization.
Jax, named after the inspiration behind this organization, Jaxon, was donated in memory of baby Carson-Riley and baby Rayne and will be fully trained as a therapy dog.
“Having Jax around will bring people comfort during difficult times,” Hammon said. “Plus, who doesn’t want to love on a puppy?”
Once trained, he will be able to attend events for the organization and allowed access to hospitals to assist lost families on another level. Jax will allow the group more opportunities to spread awareness of pregnancy and infant loss.
“We’ve been able to be there in the hospitals to help these families,” Hammon said. “It’s a healing process. When you speak up about what you’re going through, it helps to make you feel not so alone. It helps me heal every time I share my story.”
Although suffering an indescribable loss, Hammon and her husband have been able to share a light with families during dark times of their own by the founding of Footprints on my Heart.
“We’re taking our tragedy and trying to turn it around so others know they are not alone,” Hammon said. “It keeps my son’s legacy alive. This loss wasn’t for nothing.”
Fleck The Support Dog
Support dog Fleck is heading back to the office next week – after spending summer helping autistic adults via Zoom.
And his clients can’t wait to be reunited with the lab/golden retriever cross, who gives them more independence and a reason to smile.
Fleck’s handler, Sarah Tosh-Robb said: “His clients love him. He helps them with all kinds of things that reduce their anxiety, especially worries to do with the pandemic.
“One of them, who is more verbal, said to me he feels his anxiety reduced just by looking at Fleck.
“The pandemic has made it difficult for Fleck to do his job as we have had to keep in touch with clients via Zoom.
“But we should be back seeing clients in person next week. “I know Fleck has really missed it and his clients have really missed being with him too.”
Fleck is seven and ever since he was a puppy he has been helping vulnerable people with everyday tasks such as crossing the road and going on the bus.
He is set to start a new dog therapy programme with the Autism at Kingwood and Dogs for Good charities to support even more adults.
It has been funded by the Kennel Club Charitable Trust, which set up an emergency relief fund for groups struggling in the pandemic.
Chairman of the trust Bill King said: “This project highlights the amazing and versatile skillset of dogs and how they can help us.” Fleck has been working and zooming with adults across Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
Sarah said: “Fleck is a community dog owned by Dogs for Good but he lives with me and my partner Richard and our black lab Finn.
“While many assistance dogs are trained to just work with one person, Fleck works with a whole range of clients.
“It takes a pretty special, outgoing and confident dog to do this, to be able to respond to different people’s needs and abilities.”
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.
Ginger Changes Lives
9-year-old Ginger is a therapy dog who has been making days a lot brighter for one resident at Villa Personal Care in Johnstown.
For the last three years, Ginger kept herself busy by visiting patients at cancer centers, nursing homes, and hospice.
Her owner, Debra Noble, says that Ginger lost her line of work since the pandemic hit, just like a lot of people have.
“Ginger was affected just like everybody else, and she was really upset that we weren’t working everyday,” Debra says.
That was until nursing homes started allowing window and wall visits.
Ginger and her pal, 96-year-old Tillie Laslo, started hanging out again with a barricade in between them.
“Oh, she’s a beautiful dog. She’s so nice, and she’s very good,” Tillie said.
Their bond didn’t stop there.
Debra snapped a picture of them together a few weeks back, which was submitted to the AmeriServ “Paws for a Cause” photo contest.
It was taken on Tillie’s 96th birthday.
Ginger won first place, and they ended up donating $650 to the Humane Society.
“I think because it shows that Ginger is on the outside of the wall, and Tillie’s on the inside wall, so the two of them were reaching out to each other,” Debra says.
She says it also shows what an adopted dog can do.
“It makes me feel real good. I really appreciate her and Debbie coming to see me,” says Tillie.
Dogs Social 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.
Marine And His New Dog
September is National Service Dog Month and this week a veteran from Central Texas began training with his own new helper.
Rhea Hambright and Beatrice are spending the week training at Service Dogs Incorporated in Dripping Springs.
Hambright is a Marine and was injured during the Vietnam War. He and his new service dog are getting to know each other after meeting for the first time on Monday.
Living alone on a farm in Fayetteville, Hambright says Beatrice will not only be a great companion but she’ll also be able to help him around the house by doing things like retrieving dropped objects, opening closed doors, and even helping him with his jacket.
“The way she looks at me. It’s just – to have an animal look you straight in the eye and concentrate there – it’s unbelievable. It’s a great feeling,” Hambright says.
“This is going to turn my whole life around. Everything I do – is going to be for that dog now. Not only is that dog helping me – I hope I’m helping that dog,” Hambright adds.
After 13 weeks of in home training, Hambright and Beatrice will be on their own. The cost of training a service dog is about $50,000 but there’s no charge for veterans and those who’ve served.
Service Dogs Heal
MUSC Shawn Jenkins Children’s Hospital is welcoming two new staff members September 23: Baskin and Agnes, two specially trained pediatric service dogs.
Baskin is a one-year-old golden retriever, and Agnes is a two-year-old goldendoodle. They are trained “to keep kids calm during medical procedures, teach kids how to take a pill, or model how to put on a hospital gown.”
Their presence provides comfort to pediatric patients and their families. Chief of Children’s and Women’s Services, Dr. Mark Scheurer, explained:
“Baskin and Agnes will be integrated into a child’s treatment plan and it will ease the stress when a young patient needs medical procedures by providing a calming and friendly presence.”
The addition of Baskin and Agnes is funded by the Dunkin’ Joy Childhood Foundation’s Dogs for Joy program, which has provided over 15 full-time service dogs to children’s hospitals nationwide.
Kari McHugh, Executive Director of the Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation, agreed with Scheurer, saying “The Dunkin’ Joy in Childhood Foundation is always seeking ways to help kids feel like kids, even on their most difficult days. Nothing brings joy more than four paws, a wet nose, and a wagging tail.”
Preventing Puppy Diseases
The deaths of countless puppies might soon be prevented, thanks to a newly tested monoclonal antibody.
A study conducted by Kindred Biosciences has demonstrated 100 percent efficacy in the prevention of canine parvovirus (CPV), as well as a mortality benefit in the treated group, the company says.
In a randomized, blinded, study, half of a sample group received a placebo, while the other half were administered KIND-030, a monoclonal antibody that binds to portions of CPV and prevents it from entering cells.
None of the canines treated with the product developed the disease, KindredBio says, while all of the placebo-control dogs developed parvovirus infection as predefined in the study protocol.
“These positive study results provide hope for the first time to dogs exposed to this deadly disease,” says the company’s director of clinical development, Beth Kee, DVM.
CPV typically affects unvaccinated puppies younger than six months old, but it can occur in unvaccinated dogs of all ages. Further, it is the most significant and contagious viral cause of enteritis in dogs, especially puppies, with mortality rates as high as 91 percent.
Banfield Pet Hospital estimates there are approximately 250,000 parvo cases in the U.S. annually, excluding emergency hospitals, shelters, specialty hospitals, and undiagnosed cases, according to KindredBio. Additionally, the company says, BluePearl noted a 70 percent increase in cases at its hospitals throughout the COVID pandemic.
At this time, there are neither Food and Drug Administration- (FDA-) or United States Department of Agriculture- (USDA-) approved treatments for CPV nor any other available treatment, KindredBio says.
“There is no one solution to a disease as prevalent and fatal as canine parvovirus,” Dr. Kee says. “Veterinarians and their staff do the best they can with their current tools against parvovirus, which are mainly proper vaccination and, if exposed, supportive care and isolation. Our hope is that by providing veterinarians with a single tool addressing both prevention when exposed and treatment of parvovirus infection, we are at last providing a solution for this devastating disease.”
The antibody is currently being pursued for two indications in dogs: prophylactic therapy to prevent clinical signs of CPV infection and treatment of established parvovirus infection, with the announced results supporting the latter.
The study is expected to be complete by year-end with approval of the product candidate anticipated by early 2021. Regulatory approval and review timeline are subject to the typical risks inherent in such a process, KindredBio says.
Pet Company
Because of restrictions like cost and training time, less than 1% of veterans in need of a service dog can obtain one, according to Purina’s Dog Chow. That’s why the dog food company is running its 3rd annual Service Dog Salute campaign, which is committed to providing resources to groups who train and place service dogs with veterans. The end goal of this campaign — which starts in September, National Service Dog Month, and runs through Nov. 26 — is to create a future where “every military hero in need can find a canine hero of their own.”
Animal lovers can help Dog Chow reach this reality by buying bags of specially marked Dog Chow during the campaign. For each purchase of one of these bags, Dog Chow will make a donation to its two partnering veteran service dog organizations: The Tony LaRussa Animal Rescue Foundation’s Pets & Vets program and Got Your Six Support Dogs. Dog Chow will split the donations (up to $100,000) equally between the two partners
Tony La Russa’s Animal Rescue Foundation (ARF) has rescued more than 41,000 cats and dogs. Their Pets and Vets program “transforms rescue dogs into skilled service animals for veterans with PTSD, traumatic brain injuries, anxiety, severe depression, and more,” according to ARF’s website.
Similarly, Got Your Six Support Dogs also trains canines to be service animals and is committed to providing these specialized service dogs to veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD free of charge.
The numerous dogs that both organizations have already placed with veterans quickly changed the lives of their owners. U.S. Army Staff Sergeant Leon Alexander met his service dog, Bob, three years ago thanks to Got Your Six Support Dogs, and it only took the canine three days to have a big impact on his life.
“My PTSD became an aspersion that was cast over my relationship with my family, which made it hard for me to talk about my military career with my children,” Alexander said. “Just three days after receiving my service dog, I met my children for dinner. During the dinner conversation, we started talking about Bob my service dog. ”
“And before I even knew it, I was talking about my military carrier and my PTSD. I was in the military for over 15 years and I was never able to talk to my children, I had Bob for a little over 36 hours and within a two-hour dinner conversation, I was able to open up and have an amicable conversation with my children,” he added, also crediting Bob with bringing “the skill of empathy back into my life.”
Former U.S. Army Captain, Paul Sherman Whitmer, who also got his service dog (also named Paul) thanks to Got Your Six Support Dogs, saw positive changes to his life immediately after welcoming Paul the dog into his family.
“Leaving home is no longer avoided – as a matter of fact I enjoy taking Paul with me wherever I go – his presence by my side is just a given,” Whitmer said. “I do not go anywhere without him. Going somewhere without him is almost unimaginable. We have not been apart since pairing – never.”
It’s because of results like this that Dog Chow wants to ensure that service dogs are available to all veterans who need them. Along with bringing back the Service Dog Salute campaign, Dog Chow and Purina are also working with members of Congress in support of federal legislation that would provide training and service dogs for veterans. The PAWS for Veterans Therapy Act (HR4305) would create a pilot program in the VA to give veterans access to treatment derived from working with service dogs. The bill has been approved by the House, but still awaits passage in the Senate.
Service Dog Program
NBC 4’s former Puppy with a Purpose, Buckeye, graduated as a full-fledged service dog Friday.
Buckeye graduated from his final obedience school and is now paired with his partner.
After his initial training and appearances every week on NBC 4 Today, Buckeye started his professional training last November and, along with five other canine companions, it was graduation day.
“And now he has reached the ultimate pinnacle of his journey and that is making his perfect match with his new best friend Kian and we are so excited for everything that Buckeye’s and Kian’s future holds as they work and grow together as a team and just make that amazing bond,” said Molly Schulz with Canine Companions.
So far, Kian Steele and Buckeye seem to make a pretty good team.
Buckeye can help pick things up, open the refrigerator and he can just be there for Kian.
“He’s really cool,” Kian said. “He’s a good dog.”
“It’s nice to have Buckeye who can help him do those little things that you and I take for granted every day,” said Alicia Steele, Kian’s mother. “So it’s nice that he has someone who can just help him with those things and he’s not asking me all the time, which is hard for an 11-year-old kid to have to go to mom all the time.”
Buckeye is heading to St. Louis with Kian, his forever friend.
Kian said he is a huge St. Louis Cardinals fan and promises he and Buckeye will try to root for the Buckeyes from Missouri.
