Why I decided to do this.

I work for a non-profit in my town and our funders will visit from time to time. One of our funders is the State of Minnesota and they have grants analysts. Ours was Ann. She has been in a wheelchair for years. She may have been in a wheelchair since birth I'm not sure. I was the bookkeeper at the time and spent a lot of time with Ann when she'd come. The second time she came for her annual visit - she brought Boomer. He was this beautiful yellow lab. I immediately sat with her and talked to her about him. In our conversation, I asked her what difference he made for her. She told me three things.

1) He gave her security. We take for granted that we can run if we are about to be the victim of a crime. She can't. She always felt like a sitting duck. Boomer gives her the feeling that criminals will leave her alone because he will protect her.

2) He gave her independence. She no longer needed to rely on people for help with things like picking something up off the floor, pushing her up a hill, opening a door, carrying something, helping her put her shoes on, etc. We don't need help with those things and don't understand how humbling it is to have to ask.

3) She said Boomer made her a person. This one puzzled me the most. Ann explained that before Boomer people wouldn't look at her in public. They wouldn't say "Hi" when passing or "Good morning". They told their children not to stare. They would avoid eye contact. She felt invisible. Boomer came along and now complete strangers will look at her and smile. They will stop to talk to her about Boomer and they will stay talking to her just in general conversation. Boomer made her human - is what she told me. Even writing this I want to cry. I cannot imagine an existence where you don't feel human.

She is why I got involved many years later. I talked to her about how someone like me could help. Of course there is the regular cash donations but that goes outside of my ability. She then suggested puppy raising and talked about what that is. I thought about it for years. I got married, had children, got divorced and had many dogs along the way. Two of them I trained from puppies but my training ability was limited to basic obedience.

Then a year ago, I had my Golden Retriever stolen the night I was in the hospital having my appendix out. It was very heartbreaking because there is nothing I could physically do. My friends from work drove me around so I could holler out the window to see if she was around. They put 100's of posters up for me. They really helped me a lot. I couldn't do it by myself because I just had surgery. It was such a helpless feeling. I knew that she had been stolen though because she NEVER left my yard or left me. I never got any leads on her at all.

I still had my other dog Kiya. She was about 14 months old and really needed another dog to play with. I remembered my talk with Ann so many years before and decided to pursue it. I went on the internet and found 3 organizations that train service dogs. I got a response from one of them. I filled out the application and within 1 month they were placing Crosby with me. He was a beautiful yellow lab. He was also bred for field trials which meant that he needed to "be on" all the time - and he was! At one point, I tried to wear him out. We walked several miles and then went to the mall. He was just as energetic as he was before we walked. We walked a couple more miles until I was exhausted. When we got home, he immediately started wrestling with Kiya. It was unbelievable and I knew he was out of my league.

I called the coordinator of that organization and after talking decided it was best for her to take him personally and train him. I don't know if he ever made it or not. Hopefully, I will find out.

On my last entry I touched on the laws regarding service dog organizations. I also pointed out that there isn't a governing body. This is a huge problem because no one is making sure these dogs aren't being abused and that the training methods are humane and positive. There were too many questionable practices regarding volunteers, training methods, and treatment of clients with this organization. A group of us left that organization and shortly thereafter KSTP (one of Minneapolis' TV stations) ran a story about a client of theirs. It reminded us why we left.
Now, we work for this newly named organization "American Assistance Dogs" but it has actually been in existence for a long time. They used to be called "Therapy Dogs of Georgia". The woman who runs it decided to expand into service dog work the same time our group left the other organization. It was a win-win situation.

Our company is all about the dogs! We use ONLY positive training methods, the volunteers are treated with respect and dignity (I am one and can attest to that), and we deeply care about our clients and their needs. It's a wonderful organization to be a part of.