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SACRAMENTO, Calif.
— Perhaps Sonny the miniature schnauzer was nervous
about his new assignment.
Perhaps
he just craved a little freedom.
Minutes
after he was introduced last week as a future service
dog who would be trained to help a war veteran cope with
the anxieties of civilian life, Sonny made a run for it.
He dashed across the grass at
Mather Community Campus
, eluding a posse of volunteers before one of them
corralled him. Then Sonny and eight other dogs, most of
them rescued from death row at the
Sacramento, Calif.
, city animal shelter, met their new caretakers and
began their serious careers.
Their
trainers are people who have been rescued themselves.
They are residents of a transitional living program at
the Mather campus and are learning to train service dogs
that ultimately will be turned over to war veterans.
"I
liked her the first time I saw her,"
Rachelle Ferro
, 39, a former drug addict who lives on the campus,
gushed of Raina, the rambunctious fox terrier puppy she
will train. "She is my responsibility. I need that.
Maybe she can help me change my life and help
others."
That is
the goal of the Four Paws for Vets program, which the
nonprofit
St. Francis Pet Education and Training Center
in
Fair Oaks, Calif.
, kicked off last week at Mather.
For three
decades, center director
Terry Sandhoff
has trained dogs to perform tasks for people with
disabilities. The service dogs can do everything from
carrying groceries to picking up dropped keys to
"bracing" people from falling. Now she intends
to coach dogs to help veterans deal with stressful
situations that may trigger emotional outbursts.
The
animals are trained, for example, to block people from
coming too close to their veteran, or from sneaking up
on them. They learn to turn on lights in dark rooms
before veterans enter, and to alert veterans when they
start to engage in repetitive behaviors, like toe
tapping, that often precede an emotional episode.
The new
trainers, most of whom have had drug addictions and been
homeless, will spend the next eight months teaching and
living with the dogs and will get certification at the
end of the course. Then, the animals will be matched
with veterans. Sandhoff offers the training and the dogs
for free.
"Today
represents a lifelong dream that has become a reality
for me," Sandhoff said
Sept. 15
before introducing the restless canines to their
trainers.
Four of
the pups arrived in a van from the
Sacramento
city shelter, where as many as 60 percent of animals
must be put to death because of overcrowding. Among them
were Sonny and a mop-haired
Shih Tzu
named Taffy.
The
pint-sized Taffy licked her new trainer, a towering man
in blue jeans and sneakers when he leaned down to pick
her up.
"Who
loves you?"
Tony Austin
cooed, ruffling Taffy's hair. "Who loves you?"
Austin
jumped at the chance to become a dog trainer. "My
main goal is to give service to someone who really needs
it," he said.
After the
introductions Wednesday, Sandhoff fitted each of the
animals with red vests identifying them as service dogs,
and then began coaching.
She
preached "positive reinforcement," and armed
each trainer with a small bag of treats to use as
incentives for good behavior. She taught the trainers
how to approach their dogs, most of which appeared
jittery, without appearing threatening. She arranged for
bathing and grooming for some of the grimier canines in
the group.
It was
just a beginning. But for Sonny, Taffy and all the
others, it was a fine start to a noble career.
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