Office Police Dog

On July 20, at around 5 p.m, Ellis County Sheriff’s Office Police Dog Blade passed away due to cancer.

“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of an Ellis County Sheriff’s Office Police Service Dog (PSD) Blade,” according to a Facebook post shared through the Ellis County page.

PSD Blade and Corporal Klinton Valley served together for the past seven years. Together, Cpl. Valley and Blade tracked, apprehended and arrested various suspects for violent crimes and drug offenses.

Around 4:30 p.m., Valley and Blade set out on their final mission together before his passing.

“He passed peacefully and was surrounded by family, friends, and his K9 training partners from surrounding agencies,” the post continued.

Adding Therapy Dogs To School

Two new therapy dogs will be waiting for Warren County Public Schools students who are returning this fall.

The addition is among the latest steps to better serve children’s mental health needs ater the school received a federal grant last year.

Todd Hazel is director of student services for WCPS, and a caretaker for one of the new labradoodles. He said dogs have a unique way of helping students.

“In schools for over 20 years, I’ve seen how well dogs interact with students. And you can take a child who’s going through a crisis that may not want to talk to an adult, or have anything to do with an adult. But you can bring a dog in, and it’s amazing how quick that child can open up,” Hazel said.

He said he’ll be talking Beau, who’s finishing up training, with him to the district’s central office, as well as to the schools every day to participate in group activities and visit with students.

Meanwhile, the district is also taking other steps to increase its ability to help with children’s mental health needs since receiving the federal grant from Project AWARE, or Advancing Wellness and Resilience in Education. Those steps include bringing on more mental health staff and a social worker.

Hazel said it’s especially important to meet mental health needs amid a global pandemic since many studenst are dealing with trauma or abuse while at home.

“So when students come back, we’re not only going to have to educationally catch up, but we’re going to have to work to catch up in meeting their mental health needs,” Hazel said.

He added there are district workers who have caseloads of children they’re checking in on while they’re away from the classroom.

WCPS is among three districs in the state, along with Henderson and Bullitt County Schools, to receive the Project AWARE grant.

Therapy Dogs Bringing Happiness

Professor, a playful goldendoodle, normally spends his days cheering up patients like 12-year-old Kayla Griffith, who regularly visits Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital for sickle cell disease treatments.

On this day, Griffith got play with Professor nearby in Central Park.

“It can be rough because I have to go to the doctor and get an IV to get fluids,” she told us. “That’s not pleasant so the dog actually helps. It makes me feel happier and I’m focused on the dogs and not my pain.”

Mount Sinai launched the program three years ago for children undergoing treatment. In recent months, Professor and his two co-workers, Moby and Amos, have been visiting patients virtually.

But when the coronavirus crisis erupted, the dogs also took on new roles: comforting and calming stressed-out health care workers who are on the front lines of the pandemic.

“He was right there with us, he was a front line worker,” Dr. Pallavi Madhusoodhan told us. “He never missed a single day. That helps get us to feel more normal it makes you feel happier.”

“It was just so stressful and scary to see all of that and then knowing when I came to work at least I had the Professor,” said Natali Carpio, a nurse who works at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hosptital. “He doesn’t judge you; he’s just there for you to love him and pet him and play with him. He was such a de-stresser, stress reliever.”

The need was so great, handler Marianne Porzelt has taken the dogs throughout the Mt. Sinai system, bringing them to meet with health care workers in break rooms and other hospital settings.

“At the heart of the pandemic we took Moby and Amos and Professor and we went to Mount Sinai Brooklyn, Queens, Morningside and West,” Porzelt told us. “We took them over there to see staff who were in the heart of the pandemic. Staff members were able to come and spend time with them and play and pet and take a break from all the craziness.”

The hospital is doing a clinical study on the effects of therapy dogs. Anecdotally, it’s pretty obvious.

“I think they changed the morale in the hospital,” said Porzelt. “I think we all underestimate the power of a dog the power of petting a dog and spending time with the dog and just  having normal conversations.”

Like Kayla and other patients, many health care workers now say on the days they found it difficult to face work at the hospital, Professor and his partners made the difference.

Hockey Dops Prep

The 2020 Stanley Cup Qualifiers will begin this Saturday, August 1, and the hockey dogs of Twitter and Instagram are PUMPED.

The 2019-20 NHL season finally concludes with the expanded Stanley Cup Playoffs, with 24 teams involved and the top four teams in each conference playing among each other for seeding purposes in the second (first) round.

In the Eastern Conference seeding games at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, the Boston Bruins, Ovie the Bulldog’s Washington Capitals, Philadelphia Flyers and Holland the Pup’s Tampa Bay Lightning will be duking it out.

In the Western Conference seeding games at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, the defending Stanley Cup champion St Louis Blues, Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars and Bark-Andre Furry/ Sir Winston Da Doodles’s Vegas Golden Knights (honestly, the Knights have a gigantic pack of dog fans).

The teams left for their respective bubbles on Sunday night, and many fans enjoyed seeing their teams off.

Among them in spirit (they didn’t actually attend the parking-lot set expedition, we don’t think) were Bark-Andre Furry and Deke-Henri Furry.

We didn’t know that Bark played the ukulele, but as he is a very talented and articulate therapy dog, we aren’t really surprised, either. Music is always a good way to pass the time, and even if you aren’t really musically inclined, ukulele is an easy instrument to learn (so is mandolin).

Alex Pawtrangelo is more than ready for her St Louis Blues to defend the Cup! “Raise your paw if you’re ready for hockey!” she said. The Nashville Predators team dog Smash is ruling over the ceremonial car (decorated in Arizona Coyotes colors) that will be pounded with a sledgehammer. It’s an oddly-specific Preds playoff tradition (the country stars doing the National Anthem makes much more sense), but we bet that Coyotes’ team service dog Luna isn’t thrilled that her team’s car will be clobbered.

Funeral Homes Have ESA

Stillinger Family Funeral Home has added a staff member you wouldn’t expect to meet when you walk through the door. David Stillinger joined us today to introduce us to this “pupular” addition to the funeral home.

They have six-month-old Labradoodle named Foster who is a fully certified therapy dog. His name has a special meaning because he fosters love, healing and hope for their clients.

Dogs also have an ability to help those grieving with their feelings. Stillinger say they noticed that with with their beloved Butler, the first dog added to their family and team, and they’re looking forward to the comfort that Foster can provide.

There are also two other dogs that serve their clients in need, Harley and Harper. Stillinger says death can be hard to talk about, but people always open up to the dogs. They are natural therapists.

The Stillinger Family Funeral Home is about compassion and treating people like family. They work with families that are grieving and help people pre-plan their services.

They can work with you by yourself or with your family, so you receive the services you would like and possibly take the burden off those left behind.

Therapy Dog Booker T. Pug

Tucked inside a plush beanbag-filled playhouse in South Salem Elementary School’s media center is everyone’s favorite staff member: Mr. Booker T. Pug.

It’s where he makes a difference in the lives of 900 students every day.

The students who read aloud to nonjudgemental Booker and become better readers. The students who come into the media center terrified of dogs, but discover Booker is okay in their book. The students who are rambunctious in their classrooms but relaxed with Booker.

The new student who came to the media center crying after putting his dog to sleep the night before. He sat with Booker that day, and several more times that week.

The special needs pre-K autistic student who didn’t smile or talk. When the boy visited Booker with his class for the first time, he laughed and said three words: “black,” “dog,” and “book.”

“He has the ability to see that somebody is not having a good day or somebody needs some attention,” said media specialist and owner-handler Meghen Bassel.

A typical day for the four-year-old licensed therapy dog is nonstop storytime, snores, and snuggles. But Booker wasn’t always the beloved and bookish therapy dog he is now.

After spending more than a decade as a software engineer, Meghen felt it was time for a change. She wanted something rewarding where she could work with children and dogs.

She decided to become a media specialist and knew she would find a way to incorporate dogs into her school’s media center.

“I did a ton of research and discovered that therapy dogs could come and visit media centers,” said Meghen. “The biggest issue was that they only come maybe once a week or once a month.”

That was when Meghen decided she would have the first full-time therapy dog in a media center.

At Meghen’s elementary school in Covington, Georgia, 71 percent of the students have free and reduced lunch, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Two-thirds of Georgia’s third-graders aren’t reading at their grade level, according to Get Georgia Reading.

Meghen pitched the idea to the school superintendent and board of education. After educating them about therapy dogs and their role in a school setting, Meghen gained approval from district officials.

Meghen had to find the perfect dog  for this pilot program.

She researched a list of the qualities she’d need in her therapy dog: healthy, well-bred with a non-threatening face and temperament, and a small and sturdy size. That led her to the most loyal and curious canine companion: the Pug.

“I chose the Pug because for thousands of years, they’ve been bred to have this wonderful, happy, confident temperament. And for thousands of years, they’ve been shown to be great with kids,” she said.

She began contacting reputable Pug breeders. After an extensive eight-month search, Meghen found a breeder in Ohio willing to donate a one-year-old black Pug to the cause.

Since his breeder had started showing him in conformation, Meghen promised she’d try for his championship title.

Meghen began by accomplishing her first goal: passing the 10-step Canine Good Citizen program.

“If he can do this, then this tells me he’s very trainable and he’s confident,” said Meghen. “He will have what he needs to move on to more difficult tasks.”

Booker proved that he had what it took to pass not only the CGC, but the four-hour test that made him certified by Therapy Dogs International (TDI).

Soon, Booker earned the show championship title Meghen aimed to accomplish for the breeder. She also wanted to fulfill a promise she made to herself: to expose her kids to the limitless possibilities they can aspire to.

“They need to see that just because they come from a different world than other people do that they still can accomplish the same things,” she said.

Meghen knew what to expect at Westminster; as a Welsh Springer breeder, she’d shown at Westminster before. But this was her first time showing a toy breed and Booker’s first time entered as a special. For many of the kids, it was their first time honorarily owning a dog.

“These kids all think he’s part theirs because so many of these kids don’t have access or the ability to own a dog, much less a well-bred, well-socialized purebred dog,” said Meghen.

Booker — named after books and educator Booker T. Washington — helps his students with their reading skills by quietly listening to them as they read. Students can even earn one-on-one time with Booker as a reward. He infuses a level of excitement into the media center and has even led to an increase in book circulation — especially nonfiction books about dogs.

Staff members incorporated Booker’s Westminster adventure into their classes. Some classes studied atlases to discover the Big Apple; others discussed the dog show’s history.

They created good luck cards for Booker and signed banners of encouragement. “That’s my dog you’re showing at the greatest dog show.”

The students livestreamed the Pug judging from their classrooms.

“I knew I had 900 kids with their hearts beating up in their chest watching me,” said Meghen. “I was a little nervous. I’m not nervous with my other dogs at all but with him I was.”

When the judges announced that Booker won an Award of Merit at the 143rd Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Meghen was floored.

And nearly 900 miles south, 900 kids erupted in cheers.

The win at Westminster — where Booker placed 6 out of 27 Pugs — attracted Disney’s attention.

Booker and Meghen were featured on the Hometown Heroes segment of the Disney Plus show It’s a Dog’s Life with Bill Farmer, which chronicles working dogs across the nation. Meghen collaborated with a local college media program to provide footage to Disney.

“Seeing the finished product, I felt truly blessed that they included us because I loved this show,” Meghen said.

Booker’s Westminster medallion and ribbons hang in a corner of the media center, along with his pictures and press coverage.

The kids look at the awards and feel proud of their little four-footed friend.

“I gave them this feeling that the world is a lot bigger than just this little place they live in,” said Meghen.

She hopes Booker will inspire the kids to do big things in the future, like attending a far-away colleges, or even showing dogs and participating in dog sports like Rally or Dock Diving.

“We need to catch these children early and show them how great dogs are — all the possibilities that they can do,” she said.

Meghen hopes to inspire others to incorporate therapy dogs into educational settings by presenting at educational conferences in the future. Booker may compete in future dog shows, but his heart remains at home, making a difference in students’ lives.

Service Dog For Ava

Last year, Ava Reed and her parents welcomed a little puppy named Maggie into their home.

One day, they hoped, Maggie would be able to replace Ava’s mobility walker, helping her balance, walk up stairs and get up after a fall, since 8-year-old Ava has Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, a neurological disorder that makes it difficult to walk and maintain balance.

But after the trainer who partnered with the family to fundraise for and train Maggie threatened to take the dog away, the Reed family is suing for breach of contract, fraud and unjust enrichment (meaning that the trainer unfairly received money for services he didn’t provide).

Jeff Tawater, the trainer and executive director of K9 Direction, told The Commercial Appeal Friday that he has changed his mind and no longer plans to rehome Maggie. He also says if the Reeds are willing, he’d continue the dog’s training.

“We’re not in the business of taking dogs away from little children,” he said.

Tawater’s attorney, Jeff Ward, said Tuesday that they have reached a settlement, although he wouldn’t disclose the terms. The Reed family disputed the idea that they had reached an agreement, and the case had not yet been dismissed according to online court records.

Initially, all the Reed family wanted was Maggie’s paperwork for her registration with the American Kennel Club and a training schedule from Tawater after he didn’t meet expectations for training her as a service dog, the Reeds say. Now, the lawsuit means something more, the parents said.

“You’re not ever going to do that to another child again,” said Jimmy Reed, Ava’s father. “You’re raising funds in the name of children with disabilities — ” “And abusing them,” finished Karon Reed, Ava’s mother.

In early 2019, members of the Arlington community raised about $11,000 to purchase a service dog for Ava and to pay for her equipment and training, Tawater and the Reeds told The Commercial Appeal in an article published Feb.5 2019. Any extra money would be used for veterinarian bills, they said.

Maggie, the dog, would live with the Reeds and be trained by Tawater, they said. The Reeds say they were under the impression that the dog belonged to their family because she was purchased with funds raised for the purpose of getting Ava a service dog. They never signed a written agreement with Tawater.

Their agreement “was for the sole benefit and use of” Ava, the lawsuit says. The lawsuit maintains that Tawater broke that agreement when he failed to train Maggie to perform as a service dog for Ava.

Tawater says his organization maintained ownership of Maggie out of the dog’s best interest. This allows him to ensure that a dog isn’t trained with negative methods like a shock collar, he said. It also means someone can’t claim to want a service dog and then walk away with a donated pet that cost several thousand dollars, he said.

Over the past year and a half, the Reeds say they have asked Tawater for a training schedule and for Maggie’s registration — and that they were unhappy to see that Maggie was only receiving basic obedience training.

On July 7, Tawater told Jimmy, “FYI I’m dissolving K9 direction. I will continue training Maggie as we agreed.” The Reeds provided The Commercial Appeal with copies of their text correspondence with Tawater.

All $11,000 of the money raised for Maggie had gone through Tawater’s organization, as had Maggie’s purchase, Jimmy Reed said, so he texted Tawater on July 15 asking for “a breakdown of the funds received and a breakdown of what you have used them for (purchase price of Maggie etc.) along with the remaining funds that are reserved for Maggie.” After some back and forth, according to the texts provided by the Reeds, Tawater said, “That’s not how this all works” and that Maggie was bought using $2,000, but the rest of the money went toward operating K9 Direction, with him agreeing to train a dog for free for Ava. On July 17, Tawater texted, “If you don’t want me to continue to train Maggie for Ava, I’ll come get her and give her to the next person on the list who might appreciate the help.”

That day, Tawater began posting on his personal Facebook page as well as in a Facebook group used widely by Arlington residents about how “someone in Arlington we provided a free service dog for is upset about their free service dog” and was “trying to get ownership of the dog signed over to them and asking about how much of the money K9 Direction raised is left.”

Tawater said he made that Facebook post after Karon Reed posted on her personal Facebook calling him a “terrible person.”  In the comments on one of the posts, Tawater said he was “not concerned at all about the safety or health of the dog.”

“They take good care of her. But she can quickly be placed with another person who needs a service dog so we’re going to court to get her back if necessary. She’s easily already had $10,000 worth of advanced training.”

He later posted that he had five dogs available for adoption — as pets. Among them he listed a yellow Labrador who he said would likely be held up in court, Maggie.

Maggie isn’t the only dog Tawater has threatened to take away from a family. He repeatedly mentioned on Facebook another family that he was having trouble with and whose dog he might take back. The Reeds said they are in touch with that family, but that the family did not want to speak with The Commercial Appeal. Tawater said he wishes he had never made those Facebook posts.

“It’s definitely something the Reeds and I should have worked together to resolve,” he said. “Social media’s not necessarily the right place for things, but when things have been said about you, you feel the need to defend yourself.”

Through their lawsuit, the Reeds particularly want to clear up the issue of ownership. They love Maggie, they say, and would be devastated if they couldn’t keep her.

But they also say they have questions about Maggie’s breeding and her training that they need answered before they can know that she’ll be able to wear a harness and help Ava walk up stairs or get up from falls.

Another trainer evaluated Maggie as part of preparation for the lawsuit, they said, and looked at records of her parents. A service dog that does mobility work, like Maggie will need to do for Ava, must have good hips and elbows, and the trainer was concerned about the “fair” rating for Maggie’s sire’s hips, the Reeds said. An expert at the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals, which did the hip and elbow evaluations for Maggie’s parents, said they both had acceptable ratings to be a breeding pair for a mobility dog. At the same time, he said Maggie would need to be evaluated to see if she herself had the qualities to do the job.  Ava is about to enter the third grade. In February 2019, Tawater told The Commercial Appeal that this is when Maggie would be ready to go to school with Ava.

“She’s nowhere near ready to go,” Jimmy Reed said. In fact, it would be dangerous to leave Maggie alone with Ava, said Monica Timmerman, the family’s attorney. Not because Maggie is aggressive, but because she does get excited and can tug at the leash. She can’t go off with Ava alone, much less accompany her to school, Timmerman said. In an uncontrolled, natural environment, Maggie can do just one command, according to the lawsuit: sit. Tawater says that’s not the case. “Training a service dog is way different from training another kind of dog,” Tawater said. “What she has to do with Ava is be a steady platform for Ava to depend on for her balance, for helping her across obstacles or just helping her walk in general or long distance. The most important thing Maggie will do or ever learn is walk politely beside the handler, not forge ahead, not lay back, not jump up or turn to the side or other side, keep her focused on the handler, not on other stuff. That’s a huge part of her training and she has that nailed 100%.”

Maggie is just now coming out of adolescence, Tawater said, meaning she is still calming down. She still had training to complete, but he thought she might have been ready to accompany Ava to school by the spring.

Remington is another dog trained by Tawater through K9 Direction, this time as a service dog for 19-year-old Grace Richardson, who has balance issues after having stage 4 cancer and more than 50 surgeries.

Kim Richardson, Grace’s mother, agrees with the Reeds that Remington’s training has not brought him to the level of a fully trained — or even partially trained — service dog. She cut off ties with Tawater when his conflict with the Reeds began.

Unlike the Reeds, Richardson purchased Remington directly, so there’s no question of ownership. She plans to find another trainer.

“I don’t think he knows how to do that advanced training that our dogs need to make the jump from being a well-behaved dog into the next step of a very well-trained service dog,” Richardson said.

When Richardson split off briefly from Remington and Grace at a store recently, she then had to stop the dog from nearly pulling Grace over in excitement when he spotted her at a distance, she said. Remington can do some neat things: picking up a dropped cellphone, getting a water bottle out of the refrigerator, but he’s not consistent. He can’t help Grace take stairs, he’s too excited to accompany her to church, he can’t go with her on doctor’s visits.

Tawater says that Remington isn’t the dog he would have chosen as a service dog, but that he has done very well.

“We were getting close,” he said. “We were definitely in the last quarter of his training.”

Remington is able to focus on Grace, help her over curbs and accompany someone to a movie theater, Tawater said. But, he agreed that he still needed to learn to walk upstairs and have other training.

As for Maggie, Tawater said he still believes she is on track to be an excellent service dog for Ava and that despite everything that’s happened between him and the Reed family, he wants to resolve things.

He doesn’t put a deadline on training a dog since they, like people, can be unpredictable, he said.

“We would have continued to train the dog for as long as it took,” Tawater said. “I want just as anybody does for Maggie to fulfill the role that she was intended to have.”

The Reeds say they wouldn’t take Tawater up on that offer. Their trust has been broken, they say.

The lawsuit by the Reeds asks that any funds raised on behalf of the Reeds be placed in a trust for the use and benefit of Ava, that the Reeds be awarded $11,000 in compensatory damages, that the court assess punitive damages against the defendants and that the court enter an order restricting Tawater from contacting or harassing the Reeds. The lawsuit also asks for an order restricting Tawater from taking any steps to take possession of Maggie.

It’s the family’s preference that any money be put into a trust for Ava, Timmerman said.

If the Reeds get to keep Maggie, they hope to find out whether she can still do mobility work for Ava and, if so, want to hire another trainer.

And if Maggie isn’t able to be a service dog, a question they don’t yet have an answer to, they want to keep her anyway. Ava has grown attached to her since she nicknamed her Maggie Moo-Who.

The Reeds say it was especially difficult to see Tawater threatening to take Maggie away from Ava and to put her in another home as a pet.

“He sat in the room with us when we sat there with Ava and said, ‘Hey Ava, you’re going to get a service dog,’” Jimmy Reed said. “There were all the promises, all the hope of you’re not going to have to use a walker at school. You’re going to have a dog to help you.”

Guide Dogs In Training

TransLink has opened the Vancouver Transit Center to host guide and service dogs in training.

The new recruits will be familiarized with several buses repeatedly to accelerate their training.

“COVID-19 has been a real challenge for everyone, and I’m pleased to support the training of service and guide dogs in any way we can,” said TransLink CEO Kevin Desmond. “I hope this training can help get trained guide and service dogs to the people who need them as quickly as possible.”

As part of a guide or service dog’s training’s graduation process, trainers must be able to determine they are well-behaved on buses, and that they are able to board and disembark. The puppies from BC & Alberta Guide Dogs are usually introduced to buses in the field and gradually trained, however this method has been suspended during the pandemic.

“Because of unforeseen difficulties from the COVID-19 pandemic, guide and service dog training is far behind where we’d like it to be,” said BC & Alberta Guide Dogs CEO Bill Thornton. “We are excited to seek out unique partnerships and opportunities to try and speed up training wherever we can, and we thank TransLink for this opportunity to socialize guide and service dogs-in-training to their buses.”

While only one day of training is currently scheduled, BC & Alberta Guide Dogs and TransLink say they are in discussions about how this training could be replicated to assist with training in the future.

Dog-Walking Business

A 14-year-old St. Anthony boy who found himself with extra time on his hands thanks to coronavirus outbreak started his own dog walking business in July.

“I started looking into ideas for jobs to raise money,” Jamison Orme said. “I have a friend who’s already mowing lawns. I didn’t want to be competition. Me, my mom and dad brainstormed. I really liked the idea of pet care and started out small in walking dogs.”

The family later dubbed the endeavor James’ Dog Walking Business.

The son of Lisa and Nick Orme, Jamison was fortunate that his first customer was a dog groomer. The dog groomer saw Jamison’s flyer at Broulim’s and called him.

“She knew her dogs could benefit with her and her partner being gone all day long,” Lisa said. “She thought it was a great idea. I’m grateful for her giving him a chance.”

That dog groomer gave Jamison the names of other potential customers who needed their dogs walked.

“It’s making connections. It’s by word of mouth,” Lisa said.

So far Jamison has two customers and five dogs to walk.

“When I see him walk the dogs, they look good,” Lisa said. “I’m really proud of him with what he’s accomplished and with what he’s doing.”

Jamison spends 30 minutes a day walking each dog. He finds that walking Fido is as much fun as it is therapeutic — on top of that he gets paid.

“My business is my relaxation. You’ll walk, and they’ll follow,” he said. “There’s a feeling of appreciation from walking for both me and for them. You don’t have to worry about them except when they poop.”

Jamison picks up after his dogs and says he will invest some of his money into a Pooper Scooper.

Jamison is the only boy of seven children.

“It’s another reason for walking the dogs — it gets me out of the house full of females,” he joked.

Someone who has always loved dogs, Jamison has his own dog he enjoys taking out for a stroll.

“She’s 9 years old and is very anxious. She likes walks,” he said. “I’ve pestered my mom to pay me to walk that dog.”

Dogs need to get out of the house and exercise just like people do, Jamison said.

“Walking helps calm the dogs in the fresh air,” he said. “I believe dogs are very much like humans. They get bored. They will last longer and be healthier if they’re being walked.”

Jamison recently received his first paycheck from his first client while his second client paid him advance.

“It was nice to see that money and to do something with it,” he said.

Lisa said that first paycheck meant a lot to her son.

“It’s a good feeling to know somebody appreciates the work that you’ve done, and that they’re willing to compensate you financially for the services you offer,” she said. “He was pretty excited about that. It was a sense of accomplishment.”

Jamison Orme donates 10 percent of his earnings and sets aside 15 percent of it toward his college fund.

“The rest I’m saving up for whatever,” he said.

Jamison will be a freshman at South Fremont High School in the fall, and he plans to continue his dog walking after school.

This is Jamison’s second business.

“I started working for money when I was 6 picking up sticks at my great-grandma’s yard while dad mowed the lawn,” he said.

During school, Jamison finds his favorite classes to be math and science. He would someday like to work for NASA, designing space missions.

“I just find space very interesting,” he said. “Space shuttles and computers, the things of this age, are very interesting. I’m willing to plan the mission to calculate the moon’s trajectory. I do not want to go onto a space shuttle. I prefer to keep my feet planted on Earth and just watch it through camera.”

Jamison isn’t sure where he’d like to go to college and says that for now he’s focusing on high school and his business. He encourages young entrepreneurs who are considering starting their own business to invest in something they enjoy.

It also helps to find a service that no one else is providing and take it from there, Jamison said.

“I would say, ‘Do something that you love.’ I would say, ‘Look at the options in the community.’ I haven’t seen too much dog walking in St. Anthony,” he said.

Lisa said it’s important to let children take a chance on starting their own business, and if they fail, they can always try again.

“I’d say, ‘Let them try, let them fail.’ When they fail again, encourage them to try again,” she said. “Let them try. Let them fail until they find just what it is, and find just what’s right for them.”

PTSD Service Dogs

While recent studies have found the ways pets can help consumers ease stress stress levels — particularly in families with children with autism — a new study is exploring how service dogs can benefit veterans.

Researchers from Purdue University found that service dogs provide countless benefits to veterans struggling with PTSD, though dispelling anxiety is the number one benefit.

“There has been some debate on what kind of training PTSD service dogs need to be effective and how their assistance may be different than what a pet dog can provide,” said researcher Kerri Rodriguez. “This study suggests that veterans are, in fact, using and benefitting from the specific trained tasks, which sets these dogs apart from dogs or emotional support dogs.”

The researchers conducted a survey of over 215 veterans for this study. They were looking to assess how the dogs were aiding the veterans on a daily basis and what kinds of specific roles the dogs were fulfilling.

The study revealed that service dogs are trained to assist their owners in a myriad of ways. Whether in public, at home, or in the middle of the night, these dogs are always ready to help their owners through troubling experiences.

The biggest takeaway from the study was that service dogs were most useful in helping their owners get through anxiety-ridden moments. Though the dogs can’t completely cure their owners of anxiety or make it go away forever, they’re trained to draw their owners’ attention away from the present, stressful moment.

“These service dogs offer valuable companionship, provide joy and happiness, and add structure and routine to veterans’ lives that are likely very important for veterans’ PTSD,” said Rodriguez.

The majority of the veterans interviewed for this study already had service dogs at home; however, the researchers also interviewed a group of over 80 veterans on a waiting list for a service dog. The researchers compared the responses of both groups of veterans and found that those on the waiting list were overly optimistic about the ways a service dog could help them.

While the researchers don’t want to understate the benefits of a service dog, they do want to stress that these companions can’t cure PTSD alone.

“Veterans on the waitlist may have higher expectations for a future PTSD service dog because of feelings of hope and excitement, which may not necessarily be a bad thing,” said Rodriguez. “However, it is important for mental health professionals to encourage realistic expectations to veterans who are considering getting a PTSD service dog of their own.”