Sherry Magness and Macy are now a Facility Dog Team in Smith County, Texas where they will be working with survivors of violent crimes in the DA's office. Macy was raised by Laura Arneson of Salt Lake City. Congratulations to Laura, Sherry and Macy!
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Glenna Foremaster introduces Misty, her CCI service dog, at a recent puppy shower. |
Whether wandering the halls of the Main Building or reading the W&I offline, many of you have met the Puppies in Program for Canine Companions for Independence. Ogden is happy to welcome Misty, its first CCI graduate service dog. Misty joins the ranks as a service dog for Glenna Foremaster, tax examiner, who learned about CCI through a co-worker when they began bringing their CCI Puppy in Program to work. “I soon met more puppy raisers and became friends with them,” said Glenna. “They were very helpful in the application process and teaching me all they knew about CCI.”
Glenna said the process to obtain a service dog included fi lling out an application, a phone interview and flying to Oceanside, CA for a personal interview. She was then put on a waiting list that ranges from six months to two years. Glenna waited eight months before heading to California to attend a two-week training session with the dogs.
“We had to take quizzes every day,” said Glenna. “We learned more than 40 commands, how to groom the dogs, and took field trips to places like the mall and restaurants to learn how to handle a service dog in public.”
Glenna was born with spina bifida and is paralyzed from the knee down. Misty assists Glenna by retrieving dropped items, such as keys, pencils, pens or stamp pads. Misty has also been taught how to open a handicapped-accessible door. At home, Misty helps Glenna by pulling a laundry basket from room to room with a rope, and she can open the refrigerator.
Glenna says she has a better attitude about life since having Misty, and at home, Misty gives her something to think about besides herself. “Misty has opened many opportunities and makes me feel more confident in going out and doing more things,” said Glenna.
Rowdy Loenshal, a puppy raiser in Ogden’s Entity area, says not all graduate pups come back to the area where they were raised and that Misty is a special case. “It was one of those moments when Misty was ready for a companion, and Glenna was attending two-week advanced training — it was sort of destined for the two to get together,” said Rowdy.
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Misty retrieves keys, one of many commands she learned in CCI Professional Training. |
There is a teacher's pet in a Vista special education classroom. He's a four-legged friend named Fairfax. Robin Hooper, a young energetic elementary school teacher works with students with moderate to severe disabilities at Hannalei Elementary. They face everyday challenges and sometimes need a little extra motivation, so she brought in Fairfax, a specially-trained Labrador/Golden Retriever mix. The students love taking care of Fairfax and that helps improve their fine motor skills, and much more. Fairfax encourages students to verbalize or use their communications devices in order to tell him to "sit" or praise him for a job well done. Best of all, Robin uses play with Fairfax as motivation for her students to complete their assignments and work extra hard.
The dog is much more than a teaching tool, he's also their friend.
"It just makes that much of a difference for some of these students who just need a companion," said Robin Hooper. "They need someone to sit with them who is a friend, no matter what happens."
Fairfax completed an intense training program with Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) in Oceanside. The dogs train for about two years before they're ready to help people with disabilities.
