Therapy Dog Oakley
The Secaucus Police Department announced Friday it has launched a first-of-its-kind therapy dog program, where a therapy dog — not a certified police K9 — will be used to enhance community relations.
Meet Oakley, a golden retriever. Don’t expect Oakley to sniff out drugs, locate a bomb or take down a suspect. But he will comfort a child whose home police have been called to for domestic violence. He will cheer up senior citizens who live in Secaucus’ many senior homes.
And he will greet the public at street fairs and other community events in town.
He is not a trained police K9, but rather a certified therapy dog trained to provide affection and comfort to people, often in settings such as hospitals, nursing homes, schools, libraries or disaster areas.
Oakley will accompany Ensmann during his normal patrol duties and will be used at public events, such as street fairs, concerts, parks and the newly implemented “park and walk” detail. This is where Secaucus police officers have been parking their cars and walking around Plaza Center to engage with businesses. It’s something the department started doing in May.
Additionally, Oakley will be used to provide emotional support when police follow up with victims of traumatic events such as domestic violence, house fires or even a witness to a violent crime, especially if that witness is a child.
Ensmann and Oakley will be visiting local senior citizen housing facilities and the VA Clinic on Meadowlands Parkway. Additionally, Oakley will be used to provide comfort when family members are grieving over the death of a close family member.
Therapy dogs are used in police departments in California, Ohio and Massachusetts, but this is the first known use of a therapy dog in a New Jersey police department, said Secaucus Police Chief Dennis Miller.
“When I was sworn in as chief of police I vowed to enhance community relations and I hold true to that vow,” said Chief Miller. “Adding a canine to our force is something I have dreamed about for a long time,” said Secaucus Mayor Mike Gonnelli. “Make sure you say hello when you see Oakley!”
Dog’s Birthday Celebration
As they pawed through the halls of Children’s Hospital of Georgia on Thursday in colorful bandannas and jamming to peppy music, compassionate canine companions Nugget and Casey celebrated their birthdays doing what they do best: bringing smiles to the facility’s young patients.
Nugget will be five Aug. 19 and Casey turned three July 15. The two golden retrievers led a celebratory-birthday parade through the hospital’s fifth-floor unit dressed in unicorn horns, birthday bandannas, and silver balloons of the numbers ‘three’ and ‘five.’ Employees guided the dogs from room to room, pulling a wagon of treats and surprises for both the birthday girls and the patients.
Nugget and Casey’s full time job are as service dogs trained to work at the hospital, according to child life specialists and facility dog handlers Harleigh Smith and Macie Meeks. They were trained by Canine Assistants, a non-profit organization in Alpharetta, and have been at Children’s Hospital since November 2017 and March 2019 respectively.
The two serve as support for both the patients and the staff in many different areas such as gatroenterology, pulmonology, surgery and cancer.
“Nugget and I spend our mornings in outpatient clinics,” Smith said. “We help our oncology patients while they’re hanging out getting chemo, along with our hematology patients when they’re hanging out getting blood products.”
“Casey and I spend our mornings in the OR,” Meeks said. “We help kids get ready for surgery and just feel a little bit more prepared…and then we spend our time on the fifth floor in the in-patient surgery unit as well so that kids can get some puppy lovin’ upstairs as well while they’re recovering.”
For patients like Kinsley Mullins, 16, this event and the dogs being celebrated is a positive light on their road to recovery.
“It’s the best part of being here, ’cause I love dogs, so [they] just come in, they always have a smile on their face,” Kinsley said. “It makes me happy to see them.”
Dogs Detect COVID-19
The Army is exploring whether dogs can detect signs of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) thanks to a new research agreement with the University of Pennsylvania.
Researchers from the Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) Chemical Biological Center have entered into a cooperative research and development agreement with the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine (Penn Vet) Working Dog Center, which has trained dogs to detect cancer and diabetes in the past, according to an announcement from the service.
The project, first conceived in March and formally established in mid-May, is working to train dogs to detect biomarkers of COVID-19, the proteins that the human immune system produced in response to the presence of the virus.
The goal “is to train dogs to detect the disease state before a person starts showing signs of disease such as fever, coughing, and shortness of breath,” researcher Michele Maughan said in an Army statement.
To do this, Penn Vet researchers use what’s called a Training Aid Delivery Device (TADD), a laboratory device first developed by the Chemical Biological Center back in 2013 for handling hazardous substances that, thanks to a special membrane, allows dogs to train with substances like drugs and explosives without direct contact.
“We knew the TADD would be perfect for containing COVID-19 patient samples of saliva or urine because we knew this odor profile would be quite nuanced and require the dogs to key in on some really low [volatile organic compound] molecules,” Maughan said. “It’s important that the containment system, the TADD, doesn’t compete with the target odor.”
According to the Army, the Chemical Biological Center and Penn Vet started training as recently as May 26 with the help of Patrick Nolan, the owner of a Maryland-based working dog business who spent more than a decade training military working dogs for Army Special Forces personnel.
“Pat provided ten working dogs and, using human saliva and urine samples provided by the University of Pennsylvania, got the dogs working with the TADDs right away,” Maughan said “Training dogs to do this kind of work, detecting a substance down to the parts per trillion level is an art, and I could think of no one better than him to do it.”
Using TADDS and a specialized training wheel, Nolan works to train dogs not just to detect a certain scent, but “to stay engaged in the hunt for it for hours at a time,” as the Army put it.
Here’s how the training system works, per the Army : The training wheel is central to that training process. It has multiple arms, each one has a TADD attached at the end of it. Some contain saliva or urine from a symptomatic COVID-19 patient, some contain an asymptomatic person’s sample, and some are from a person who does not have the virus. But the choices do not end there. Some contain an inert substance as a control, some have a distraction element inside such as an open magic marker or food item or a tennis ball, and some are empty. The dog is, in effect, paid to become increasingly selective, honing its attention down to just the COVID-19 immune response odor. For these Labrador retrievers, payment is a food treat or a favorite toy. As the training progresses, Nolan stacks the wheels making for even more sources of stimulation for the dogs and demanding that they become more and more selective.
Each dog takes six to nine weeks to train, according to the Army, and the Chemical Biological Center and Penn Vet are working on establishing a proof of concept for a dog-based detection system. But should the team manage to effectively train and operationalize working dogs, they could plausibly supplement existing detection methods in crowded public places like airports or sports stadiums — not just now, but in the future.
“This is even bigger than the pandemic we are dealing with now,” Biochemistry branch chief Patricia Buckley said in a statement. “We will face future pandemics from other viruses and having a capability like this will keep the nation ready for whatever happens next.
Shelter Dogs And Military Veterans
“Train a Dog Save a Warrior” (TADSAW) is a program to help military veterans dealing with mental and physical issues after missions. The non-profit matches veterans with shelter dogs who can then be trained as service dogs.
“22 soldiers or veterans commit suicide daily,” said Jerry Eastman, a dog trainer for TADSAW.
Jerry Eastman served 30 years in the U.S. military. Last October he was paired with his dog, Jack, through the “Train a Dog, Save a Warrior” program.
“It takes a veteran who has had a mental or medical issue and puts them with a rescue dog to help them both come back into society,” explained Eastman.
The program was started by Bart Sherwood in San Antonio, TX.
Eastman became a dog trainer for TADSAW after finding out the nearest trainers were in Brownwood and Abilene. He helps area veterans find a “battle buddy” and mentors them through training to make them a service dog.
The service is free of charge for military veterans. The non-profit provides the service dog, which comes from Concho Valley PAWS. Eastman gets to know the veteran, then finds a dog that would suit that veteran’s needs.
After the dogs learn basic commands like ‘sit,’ ‘down,’ and ‘stay,’ Eastman helps the veterans train the dogs to be out in public, go to stores, interact with other dogs, and serve the veterans’ needs.
“This way, the veteran decides ‘this is part of me.’ I’m not just training the dog and giving it to them,” continued Eastman.
According to Eastman, the dogs can help veterans cope after returning from missions.
“Take my dog, for example. He’ll jump onto my lap and start licking me, telling me ‘come back, come back to where you belong.’ It takes me from where I’ve been and brings me back to reality,” added Eastman.
So far Eastman has helped 5 veterans find their companions… and he’s hoping to help more.
“We’ve rescued both the veteran and dog when we pair them up,” said Eastman
Service Dogs
The five Islanders who have been waiting for their service dogs will have to wait even longer, since the Lions Foundation of Canada has had to suspend its dog training program due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Across Canada, there are 80 people waiting for service dogs trained to assist people living with a number of conditions.
Sam Sanderson, provincial director of the foundation, said the program has been halted, as well as the 30-day in-person training in Oakville, Ont., because there’s no safe way to conduct it given current restrictions and health safety concerns.
“It makes it pretty near impossible to conduct the live training sessions when there’s so much person-to-person and hand-to-hand training. Number one is the protection of the client, the staff and everybody associated with the training regime, so it creates some major challenges,” he said.
“With travel and stuff, it creates challenges as well, with the self-isolation part of it — and all the other factors involved with inter-provincial travel.”
Clients with some of the conditions that service dogs would assist with are also at a heightened risk for COVID-19, Sanderson said.
“Our seven programs with vision, hearing, autism assistance, service, seizure response, diabetic alert, and facility support — there’s challenges all the way around with every aspect of the service dog training,” he said.
Sanderson said staff are doing what they can to continue training dogs who are currently with foster families, until the standard training courses are able to continue.
But he acknowledges that, for the 80 Canadians waiting for service dogs, it’s a difficult time.
“It’s certainly having an impact for sure, because every day they’re waiting affects their mobility, potentially could affect their safety when you look at diabetic alert, seizure response and autism dogs, for sure,” Sanderson said.
“It’s having a big impact all the way around.” There’s no firm date set for when the training programs will be able to resume, Sanderson said, adding that it could be as early as next week — but he can’t make assumptions given the ever-changing pandemic situation.
“Definitely it’s going to take some time for catch up because, like I said, it is at a 100-per-cent standstill. We’re working every hour to try and meet the provincial requirements and get back up in operation,” he said.
“It certainly defers everybody down the line, no matter where they are positioned within the waiting list. So it just prolongs the process for absolutely everybody.”
Canine Companion
The Covington County District Attorney’s Office has recently welcomed its newest team member, Canine Companions for Independence Facility Dog, Wendell III.
Wendell, under the leadership of his handler, Shawn Bentley, will assist children who are victims and witnesses of crime, abuse and neglect in Covington and surrounding counties, such as Crenshaw, Butler, Conecuh and Escambia. According to Bentley, “Wendell is professionally trained in over 40 commands that he will use to connect with his clients to offer compassion, comfort and courage throughout any or all parts of the Criminal Justice System. He has the ability to assist them in Forensic Interviews, counseling sessions, Grand Jury sessions and in open court as they testify.” Canine Companions breeds, raises and trains assistance dogs in commands designed to assist people with disabilities or to motivate and inspire clients with special needs. They train four types of assistance dogs: Service Dogs, which assist adults with disabilities by performing daily tasks; Hearing Dogs, which alert their partners to important sounds; Skilled Companions, which enhance independence for children and adults with physical, cognitive and developmental disabilities; and Facility Dogs, which assist clients in different facility settings, including health care, education and criminal justice. “This”, Bentley says “is how Wendell is trained.”
The process to become a facility dog includes two years of specialized training. At eight weeks old, these dogs are sent to volunteer puppy raisers, who spend 18 months training them in all basic commands and socialize them to prepare them for their work. After 18 months, they are turned back over to Canine Companions for Independence for another six to nine months of professional training. They are then matched with a handler to begin their work.
For over 45 years, Canine Companions has been enhancing the lives of people with disabilities by training and placing more than 6,400 assistance dogs with program graduates, including more than 285 dogs with military veterans and more than 1,600 dogs with children. The estimated cost of an expertly trained Caine Companions facility dog like Wendell is $50,000; however, each facility dog is provided at no cost. Canine Companions depends on the support of tens of thousands of donors and volunteers to match our facility with an assistance dog like Wendell entirely free of charge. Bentley also adds, “I am so thankful for Canine Companions for Independence and their dedicated work in training and providing these awesome dogs. And, I am very thankful for every individual, organization, company and anyone else that supports them financially. Without these people, Wendell could not have the job he has of giving people, especially children, the courage to face tomorrow. He has already made a huge impact in many lives, and I know he will continue to do so. I also want to thank Covington County District Attorney Walt Merrell and the entire District Attorney’s Office staff for their support during the two-year process to receive Wendell, and the Office of Prosecution Services for allowing me to be a part of their great team.”
Dog Training
Brandon McMillan, an Emmy Award-winning master animal trainer, will teach a MasterClass on dog training. MasterClass is a streaming platform that makes it possible for anyone to learn from world-renowned instructors, according to company officials.
Through a series of easy-to-follow techniques, MasterClass members and their dogs will learn how to confidently master obedience and house training skills while building trust, executing common commands and fixing bad habits, officials said.
“Brandon is an expert animal trainer. From working with tigers and bears for film and television to training dogs to perform specialized tasks to assist disabled veterans, he has dedicated his entire life to bringing dogs and people together to create a happy home,” said David Rogier, co-founder and CEO of MasterClass. “Brandon’s MasterClass gives members the opportunity to learn clear, easy-to-follow techniques and tips on how to train their dogs—no matter their age.”
McMillan has dedicated his life to helping animals and humans work together. Stemming from years as a wild animal trainer for film and television, McMillan has created a unique training system that he calls a “Hybrid System,” where he’s taken his experience working with wild animals and applied it to the domestic world of dogs. McMillan brought his expertise to television on his CBS show “Lucky Dog,” where he received three Emmy Awards for his work as executive producer and host. McMillan is also the author of Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days and has become a powerful advocate for animal rescue and rehabilitation. He is co-founder of The Argus Service Dog Foundation, dedicated to training and matching service dogs with disabled veterans.
“Dog training is not about dominance, it’s about trust and conditioning,” McMillan said. “In this class, I will teach you the training fundamentals needed to not only have a well trained dog, but also a best friend who trusts and loves you and will be there for you for the rest of their life.”
From brand-new owners with a rowdy new puppy or a shelter rescue, to experienced dog owners looking to improve on the training essentials, McMillan’s MasterClass will teach members foundational training techniques to help connect and deepen trust between humans and their dogs. Through in-depth demonstrations showing the full obedience training process with a range of different dog breeds and ages, many of whom were rescues, McMillan will give members a clear understanding of how to train the “7 Common Commands,” such as sit, stay and down, that owners use daily with their dogs. His class will also teach students how to approach eliminating common behavioral issues such as excessive barking, chewing and even house training. To help owners make decisions based on their specific dog’s factors, McMillan will give an overview of key variables that make every dog unique from their breed to their imprinted DNA. Most importantly, MasterClass members will leave feeling confident in their ability to build good habits and create a deeper connection with man’s best friend.
Animal Health Services
This would be a project in partnership with the tribes to protect from COVID-19 and enhance the overall health of the communities by increasing veterinary care and improving sanitation.
The plan is to provide veterinary care, spay/neuter services to reduce populations, deworming, vaccinations, human euthanasia, disease testing that will include COVID-19 according to criteria, help create a tribally run animal control program, and streamline existing strays into rescue. Added $1500 to budget for future freight of animals by tribally run control.
This program will focus on sanitation to prevent COVID-19 in our communities. There is no evidence that dogs carry or spread the disease, however, reducing the number of stray and roaming dogs with spay/neuter services will result in cleaner conditions.
Many communities have dozens of loose and roaming dogs that create sanitation issues by spreading feces/urine throughout the village. In some cases, dogs get into trash bins and there are often decaying dog carcasses in the landfills.
The purpose of this program is to prevent and mitigate COVID-19 by surveillance, testing, providing quality veterinary service, reducing populations with spays/neuters, and improving sanitation.
The cost is estimated at $18,000 per village visit including funds for transport of future strays by tribal animal control, with an average of three separate visits per year which is needed to make a significant improvement. In most cases the situation can be maintained with yearly veterinary visits thereafter.
This fee includes salary for the veterinary team, travel, freight, veterinary medical supplies, pet supplies, doghouse materials, chains and/or cables to restrain loose dogs, crates, and rescue supplies.
Communities are welcome to have as few or as many visits as they wish. The tribes may also want to create a couple of additional animal control positions independent of this project. This project will assist in setting up the tribal animal control procedures at no additional cost.
This program will help prevent and mitigate COVID-19 by providing ongoing veterinary surveillance, disease prevention and testing, population control and assistance with shipping puppies or strays out to rescue, all of which will substantially help with sanitation.
At this time, we DO NOT believe that Alaskan dogs carry COVID-19 but we would like to improve sanitation and do the research to rule it out.
Although we feel that running water and good sanitation for people are the priority, we also strive for the ONE Health aspect for our villages, which includes environmental, human, and animal health. As it is all inter-related.
Emotional Support Animals
Ellen Shershow’s photos capture dogs as vibrant oddballs: licking their nostrils, dashing across beaches, peering inquisitively at the camera as if it might deliver a slice of premium freeze-dried meat directly to their mouths.
The pet portraitist is accustomed to long preshoot phone chats with owners about everything from their dog’s medical history to diva tendencies, all to better capture a canine’s essence on film.
These days, as her clients remain cooped up at home, the conversations can veer into unexpected terrain. “Quarantine is giving them a whole new perspective on their pets,” she says. “People are more attuned to their dog’s every need. Single people say things like, ‘Without this dog….that’s it.’ Whole months can go by where their dog is their only company.”
Accordingly, her clients are paying thousands more for their pet photos—up to $6,000 for a series. “I’ve had way more clients be like, ‘Yeah, that sounds just fine. We can do that. Our dog is worth it,’” Shershow says.
Blissfully unaware of threats that lurk outside, many pets are now luxuriating in our captive presence. Since the pandemic hit, L.A.’s shelters have been emptied out and rescue workers say they’re receiving dozens of applications per pet. The coronavirus crisis has brought our homebound companions more attention, more treats, and a greater quality of life than any time in recent history.
Dogs, especially, are thriving, even as many of their owners fall apart. “This is kind of a dream come true for dogs,” says Galit Reuben, executive director of the rescue organization Dogs Without Borders.
The surge of interest in local pups has dramatically altered the way her rescue operates, she say. “We’ve had to shut down our normal application process and send auto responses because we were receiving so many requests,” says Reuben. “Dogs that we would normally rescue aren’t even available because the general public has specific appointments to see them, which is wonderful.” Now, she says, her rescue is focused on doggos that the shelters can’t place —like those that are missing limbs or require major surgery.
Annette Ramirez, director of field operations at L.A. Animal Services, cites another reason for a decrease in the shelter population: more residents have the time to help owners retrieve their lost animals.
“Whether they’re walking the pets up and down streets to find their owner or posting about them on Nextdoor, the little things the community has been able to do to reduce the intake at shelters has been a huge help,” she says.
Still, she worries what will happen when the city’s eviction moratorium lifts and some residents are forced to surrender their pets. “We’re definitely concerned about what will happen when people lose their homes,” she says.
The longer a dog is in a shelter, the harder it can be to place. “Rescues aren’t the easiest dogs,” says Reuben. “A lot of people envision bingeing Netflix with their dog next to them but that might not be what they get. There’s a period of adjustment and not everyone is up for that.”
Our own grab bag of anxieties about the recession, coronavirus, and civil strife isn’t likely to help a dog acclimate. “If someone loses their job and is stressed out all the time, yes, that can affect a dog’s emotional life,” says Molly Byrne, a researcher at the Canine Cognition Center at Boston College.
On the plus side, dogs have no idea how to read a report on coronavirus transmission. “They don’t have that same fear association with seeing other humans on the streets,” Byrne says. “So that’s good.”
Cats, less desiring of constant companionship, are likely having a more annoying quarantine experience.
“The thing about cats is, by and large, they don’t give a shit about people,” says Ben Lehrer, president of Kitten Rescue.
Still, Angelenos desperately want them in their homes. “Last year, we might have gotten three or four foster applications in a week,” he says. “Today, we’re getting between 20 and 30 a day. It’s bananas.”
The problem is that all those newly adopted cats need to be immunized and fixed and that’s creating bottlenecks at veterinary hospitals, which have changed their protocols to allow for social distancing. “They can’t double or triple book patients anymore, so they’re having to see fewer pets at one time,” Lehrer says. “It’s a mess.”
So there are a few problems. Also, one vet says that if your cat is now regularly hiding in the alcove above your refrigerator, it might need more alone time. Others fret that our pets are gaining the “Quarantine15” from excessive treat consumption.
Overall, though, these are likely wonderful times for the (likely) illiterate furry creatures in our midst—including the ones that are laughing at us.
“They say dogs are in heaven and cats are like, ‘I knew you’d get fired one day,’” Ramirez adds.
Dog Robot Fluffy
Like any other well-trained dog, Ford Motor Co.’s four-legged dog-like robots can sit, shake hands and roll over. However, they also can perform 360-degree camera scans, handle 30-degree grades and climb stairs for hours at a time.
These are truly service dogs unlike any other. That’s because they are actually 70-pound quadruped robots with distinctly dog-like mobility. Nicknamed Fluffy and Spot, these dogs are quadruped mobile robots leased from Boston Dynamics. According to Ford, the use case for Fluffy and Spot have been developed by the teams at Ford’s Advanced Manufacturing Center and the Research and Engineering team. Ford’s Advanced Manufacturing and Research and Engineering teams have also developed the autonomous program that is used for the autonomous mobile robot, Scouter, who helps Fluffy scans facilities.
Ford is piloting use of the bright yellow robots at its Van Dyke Transmission Plant. Equipped with five cameras, the robots can travel up to 3 mph on a battery lasting nearly two hours and will be used to scan the plant floor and assist engineers in updating the original Computer Aided Design which is utilized when we’re getting ready to retool our plants.
Ford tells IndustryWeek, these scans are usually done on an as-needed basis, but on average, facilities go through the scanning process every two to three years. “The scans typically coincide with any number of updates to Ford facilities. Engineers design plants and over time, things change. Think about navigating a bedroom in the dark. You know where things are but if someone were to move, say, a rocking chair, you’d likely run into it in the night. Same goes for our plants. Engineers need to be aware of where things are when they are planning updates to the plant. These updates can range from something as simple as installing a new tool at a worksite to a complete retooling of the plant.”
Without Fluffy, the update would be far more tedious. “We used to use a tripod, and we would walk around the facility stopping at different locations, each time standing around for five minutes waiting for the laser to scan,” says Mark Goderis, Ford’s digital engineering manager. “Scanning one plant could take two weeks. With Fluffy’s help, we are able to do it in half the time.”
The old way also was expensive – it cost nearly $300,000 to scan one facility. If this pilot works, Ford’s manufacturing team could scan all its plants for a fraction of the cost. These cutting-edge technologies help save the company money and retool facilities faster, ultimately helping bring new vehicles to market sooner.
In time, Goderis says, the intent is to be able to operate the robots remotely, programming them for plant missions and receiving reports immediately from anywhere in the country. For now, the robots can be programmed to follow a specific path and can be operated from up to 50 meters away with the out-of-the-box tablet application.
The key to Fluffy and Spot’s success is their agility, says Paula Wiebelhaus, who controls her robot through a gaming-like device that allows her to remotely see the camera view. Should an issue occur, Wiebelhaus’ control device features a safe stop that stops it from colliding with anything.
The robots have three operational gaits – a walk for stable ground, an amble for uneven terrain and a special speed for stairs. They can change positions from a crouch to a stretch, which allows them to be deployed to difficult-to-reach areas within the plant. They can handle tough terrain, from grates to steps to 30-degree inclines. If they fall, they can right themselves. They maintain a safe, set distance from objects to prevent collisions.
At times, Fluffy sits on its robotic haunches and rides on the back of a small, round Autonomous Mobile Robot, known informally as Scouter. Scouter glides smoothly up and down the aisles of the plant, allowing Fluffy to conserve battery power until it’s time to get to work. Scouter can autonomously navigate facilities while scanning and capturing 3-D point clouds to generate a CAD of the facility. If an area is too tight for Scouter, Fluffy comes to the rescue.
“There are areas in the plant that you might not want to walk into because they might be tough to maneuver,” says Wiebelhaus. “It’s easier and safer to send Fluffy back there.”
