During our graduation ceremony, Sarah Holbert, the CEO of CARES gave a grateful speech to all the people who helped them get the dogs trained successfully. If they were bred by CARES, they start at a home that welps the pups, then they go to a puppy raiser who trains them the basic commands. From there they go to a correctional facility to finish the training. When they are done, they come back to CARES to be tested and get health evaluations. Once they pass the test, we are invited to come to Concordia for the final assessment. We are trained as handlers how to give the commands and what the expectations are for the dogs. After a few days of that we have public access tests when we take the dogs out in public to see how well they behave with us and how they listen to our commands. IF they pass that test we are granted a handler license. Because it is such an intense program, they dogs are granted public access based on the Americans with Disabilities Act, Kansas law 39-1011 thru 39-1013. Some dogs do not make the cut. They can be adopted out as "career change" dogs. They are still excellent dogs, they just may not be cut out for the rigorous work that assistance dogs are expected to do.
I got off of the subject a little, but I wanted to show you pictures of our graduation ceremony. We were presented the dogs by either their puppy trainer or by the donator. We were lucky enough to be able to meet our breeder for Ronday. She is pictured with us.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Our training
We had some very intense training on how we need to maintain Ronday's skills once we got home. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were all training days. We went to the park and the dogs were petted by about 75 kids one day, we went to Pizza Hut and had a training on restaurant etiquette one evening. Another evening, a friend of mine, Emily, who got a golden retriever named Crosley and I took our kids and dogs to see Kung Fu Panda. Trenton and Ronday were a little scared in several of the scenes.
Thursday was our public access test. We took the dogs to the Salina mall to make sure they would behave properly in public. They had to sit and wait while we left them and then they had distractions to see if they would get up or not. Then food was dropped in front of them to see if they would try to eat it. (which they are obviously not supposed to do.) Ronday did excellent on his test. He heeled by the stroller walking around the mall very well. I don't know if he was half as tired as I was, but we went back to the hotel that night and I didn't even want to take Trenton swimming. I just wanted to sleep!
We also went to Ellsworth correctional facility on Thursday. Most of the dogs were trained by inmates at either Ellsworth or a correctional facility in Colorado. It was incredible to see the impact that the dog program had on the inmates. They said that it taught them responsibility, commitment and work ethic that they did not have before they went into jail. (One of them even said that was probably the reason he was in jail.) He also said that working with the dogs was an incredible part of the healing process for them. It was clear they took great pride in their jobs as dog trainers. Some of them were getting emotional about how much it has affected their lives. That made us Moms get emotional about how much their hard work is going to help our children. I never dreamed that first of all, I would willingly take my not-quite-5 year old to a jail and second that I would feel so indebted to a prisoner. It was a bizarre but rewarding feeling that I think all the new dog owners felt. One inmate told me that the dog program was "A Gift from God" and that it has changed his life, with his eyes welling up with tears.
Thursday was our public access test. We took the dogs to the Salina mall to make sure they would behave properly in public. They had to sit and wait while we left them and then they had distractions to see if they would get up or not. Then food was dropped in front of them to see if they would try to eat it. (which they are obviously not supposed to do.) Ronday did excellent on his test. He heeled by the stroller walking around the mall very well. I don't know if he was half as tired as I was, but we went back to the hotel that night and I didn't even want to take Trenton swimming. I just wanted to sleep!
We also went to Ellsworth correctional facility on Thursday. Most of the dogs were trained by inmates at either Ellsworth or a correctional facility in Colorado. It was incredible to see the impact that the dog program had on the inmates. They said that it taught them responsibility, commitment and work ethic that they did not have before they went into jail. (One of them even said that was probably the reason he was in jail.) He also said that working with the dogs was an incredible part of the healing process for them. It was clear they took great pride in their jobs as dog trainers. Some of them were getting emotional about how much it has affected their lives. That made us Moms get emotional about how much their hard work is going to help our children. I never dreamed that first of all, I would willingly take my not-quite-5 year old to a jail and second that I would feel so indebted to a prisoner. It was a bizarre but rewarding feeling that I think all the new dog owners felt. One inmate told me that the dog program was "A Gift from God" and that it has changed his life, with his eyes welling up with tears.
Ronday the Dog!
Hey Everyone! I am new to this blogging thing so please bear with me!
We have had an amazing week. I was so excited for it to happen and now I am just plain exhausted. Here's our story: While researching different ways to reach children with disabilities, I came across this animal assisted therapy program using dogs with children who have a multitude of disabilities, from physical to emotional. A good friend of mine is a veterinarian and she also helped me research this kind of program.
I teach special education and my son has Down Syndrome; therefore I am very interested in programs such as this. I met another teacher from another school has has a therapy dog named Tux. Tux is a golden retriever (a beautiful one, by the way) and he comes to school with Sandy. To make a long story short, we became friends and I decided to apply for a therapy dog for Trenton, my son.
We found out June 18 that we needed to be in Concordia June 23rd for training because they had a dog that would be great for us. They wanted to surprise us with the breed so we had no idea what we were getting until Monday. That was quite the experience - to sit in a room and watch dogs come in and be placed with people and they keep going past you - and then one is placed in front of you and you know it's just perfect!
We have Ronday, a tri -color Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
We have had an amazing week. I was so excited for it to happen and now I am just plain exhausted. Here's our story: While researching different ways to reach children with disabilities, I came across this animal assisted therapy program using dogs with children who have a multitude of disabilities, from physical to emotional. A good friend of mine is a veterinarian and she also helped me research this kind of program.
I teach special education and my son has Down Syndrome; therefore I am very interested in programs such as this. I met another teacher from another school has has a therapy dog named Tux. Tux is a golden retriever (a beautiful one, by the way) and he comes to school with Sandy. To make a long story short, we became friends and I decided to apply for a therapy dog for Trenton, my son.
We found out June 18 that we needed to be in Concordia June 23rd for training because they had a dog that would be great for us. They wanted to surprise us with the breed so we had no idea what we were getting until Monday. That was quite the experience - to sit in a room and watch dogs come in and be placed with people and they keep going past you - and then one is placed in front of you and you know it's just perfect!
We have Ronday, a tri -color Cavalier King Charles Spaniel.
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