Source #1
Service dogs to the rescue
By Dallas Morning News, adapted by Newsela staff 09.11.14
Brian Boone, 39, who lost his lower left leg while serving as a soldier in Afghanistan in 2011, holds the leash to Brindle, his 2-year-old Labrador-golden retriever mix at Home Depot in Irving, Texas, on Sept. 3, 2014. Photo: David Woo/The Dallas Morning News/MCT
DALLAS — Brian Boone, a soldier who lost his a leg while serving in Afghanistan, looks down at Brindle.
The 2-year-old pooch is a Labrador-golden retriever mix. Brindle is also a highly trained service dog. Service dogs help children and adults who are living with physical and mental challenges.
“Good boy,” Boone says. Sarah Koch, Brindle’s trainer, suggests that Boone sound a little sillier.
“I want you to get a little silly with your praise,” she says. Boone, 39, tries again. “Goooooood booooooooy,” he coos. Brindle looks up gently at his new master and seems very pleased with himself.
Matching The Perfect Dog And Patient
Brindle and Boone were united through an unusual new partnership. It is between a California service-dog organization and a Texas health care company.
Canine Companions for Independence, based in California, will train the service dogs. It usually costs $50,000 to train each service dog. The health care company, Baylor Scott and White Health, will find patients who could be helped by having a service dog. It will also provide the money to train the dogs and their owners.
There is a need for service dogs among their patients, says Joel Allison. He is the head of Baylor Scott and White Health. “We think of it as part of our commitment to serve and meet the needs of all the patients that we serve.”
More than 25,000 Americans use service dogs, according to Assistance Dogs International.
Some service dogs can sense when their owners are about to fall and protect them. Other dogs help people who have trouble seeing. Canine Companions train dogs to pull wheelchairs, pick up keys from the floor and tug off clothes.
The partnership plans match 60 clients with service dogs next summer. It will build a special training center with six rooms and 24 kennels in Irving, Texas.
Boone was one of four Texans who were matched with a service dog. He was joined by Stacey Odom, Melanie Knecht and Mackenzie Dunckelman, who is 13. Odom is a special-education teacher. She hopes the dog will help her work with autistic students. Melanie Knecht is a music therapy student.
There Are Many Ways The Dogs Help Out
Boone is thrilled with his dog. Back pain makes it difficult for Boone to pick things up and he hopes Brindle will save him “lots of wear and tear” on his back.
Boone says he heard about Canine Companions through a friend. The friend, who also lost part of a leg, has a service dog.
"I saw how well-behaved and helpful his dog was," Boone said.
Boone was an officer in charge of disarming bombs when he was injured in 2011. Boone made them harmless so they wouldn't explode.
A bomb destroyed his left leg and injured both his shoulders.
Boone was unable to use his right arm for a year, but months of therapy helped him regain some strength. He hopes that working with Brindle will make him even stronger.
One recent morning, Brindle is joined by four other dogs. The fifth dog serves as a backup in case one of the other dogs doesn’t work out. They stand silently, because a bark would mean instant failure.
"Dogs Are Very Soothing"
Only 40 percent of the dogs raised by Canine Companions successfully complete the nine-month training program. The dogs that make it to Texas are the best of the best.
Stacey Odom, the special education teacher, is the first to volunteer for a training exercise. The service dogs are taught at least 40 commands.
“Illia. Down. Don’t! Down. Good girl!” Odom says to Illia, a shiny black dog. “I just want to cuddle her,” Odom says. She fights the urge to snuggle and instead asks Illia to obey a second command. Illia does and eagerly plants herself on the teacher’s foot.
Odom and Boone have waited more than seven months to start training. They are the lucky ones. More than 100 people ask to join the program each month, says Simi Balter, a Canine Companions program manager.
“We get to witness small miracles,” Balter says. She remembers a child with learning difficulties who never spoke. He said his first word to a service dog.
Boone isn’t asking for a miracle. He said it's not just the physical tasks Brindle will help him with. He hopes Brindle will help lift his spirits. “Dogs are very soothing,” he says.
“Especially these calm dogs. Just being around them brings your spirit up. That’s hard to beat.”