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Collared community assistants: * Mother, daughter duo plan launch of a service dog school in Fort Scott
A local mother and daughter team are in the process of starting up an assistance dog school in Fort Scott.
Elizabeth Cochrane and her mother, Robin, who moved to Fort Scott from Orange County, Calif., are currently in the early planning phase of a new training school that will help provide assistance dogs, or service dogs as they are also called, to elderly people and people with disabilities who need help performing daily tasks and activities. The most common type of service dogs are "seeing-eye" dogs who assist people with sight impairments. Other types of service dogs help people with mobility, hearing, medical and psychiatric needs.
"We believe there is a need for SD's (service dogs) right here in Fort Scott," Elizabeth said. "A large percentage of the population here are elderly, and/or disabled. While those in the city may have better access to the resources that assist these people, here in Fort Scott there is definitely a need for assistance."
Both women attended the Leashes for Living Assistance Dog School in Poway, Calif., to train Duke, a service dog who helped ease the life of Elizabeth's grandfather, Ed Williams, who died two years ago after a 15-year battle with Parkinson's Disease. Duke helped her grandfather with such tasks as providing balance, retrieving his medications, pulling his wheelchair, and pushing buttons, and also helped her grandmother care for Williams. Duke was also helpful in public, and in keeping her grandfather active, Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth said there are benefits for a service dog owner who is taught to self-train the dog, which is the goal of the Cochrane's unique non-profit training school.
"There are SD orgs in Kansas, but none of them train the handler," she said. "Most of them produce very few dogs each year, and have long waiting lists. There are many organizations here that provide in-home assistance, but they cannot be with that person 24/7. A SD gives people greater independence and assistance when they need it, where they need it. They (owner) are also more likely to leave the house and do things on their own, since they don't need to rely so much on another person 'escorting' them to the grocery store, etc."
There are limitations to the assistance that a service dog can provide, but the dogs can help a person by picking up dropped objects, opening doors, alerting others to a medical condition and getting help when necessary. Service dogs should be outgoing dogs that can handle stress well; show affection; and be friendly but also able to focus and block out distractions, Elizabeth said.
There are benefits and disadvantages that come with a person training his or her own service dog, Elizabeth said.
"The obvious cons are that not all people with disabilities are mentally or physically able to train a dog, and they do not always have a family member willing to train the dog with them," Elizabeth said. "Also, the ordeals of puppy training can be frustrating as well as a hindrance."
Most service dog organizations train the dog first, then have the person receiving the dog come to their facility to live for an average of six weeks; a "boot camp" period that allows the owner time to learn how to use their dog properly, Elizabeth said.
"We feel that there are several pros that outweigh these negatives," she said. "The benefits are that the dog is in the home with the disabled person from the time the puppy is eight weeks old. They come to depend on that person for everything, and thus develop a very strong bond with that person. They then are more interested in taking care of this person."
Another benefit of the Cochrane's school is that the wait to have a fully-trained service dog is shorter. The average wait time for a typical service dog organization is about five years, Elizabeth said.
"Our program lasts two years; by the end of those two years, not only is the dog doing advanced tasks, but the student has learned a lot about training dogs," she said. "Our classes pretty much teach the person to become a dog trainer. For a lot of people, this (five years) is too long a wait. With my grandfather, five years was too long -- he wouldn't be alive in that time, or he would be so far progressed that he would have no benefit from the assistance of a dog."
Other benefits for service dog owners who learn to self-train their dogs include: a decreased chance that the dog will exhibit behavior problems; a better understanding by the owner of the dog's personality and how it learns; and the natural bond that is formed between the dog -- which starts the program as a puppy -- and the owner. Elizabeth said it is also important for friends and family members to be involved in the dog's training by attending weekly classes together with the handler.
Elizabeth added that while she feels that people who train their own service dogs will be more successful than dogs trained by organizations, she is not discrediting these organizations for the assistance they provide for people with disabilities.
"There are plenty of good dogs that come from these trainers," she said.
Dogs in the program will be provided to participants free of charge, while the classes will require a $200 start-up fee per person and a monthly tuition cost of $40 per month for the two-year program. All fees cover the Cochrane's expenses for the program, including printed materials, training tools, time and transportation.
Elizabeth said she and her mother are trying to get the training school open by February or March 2009, but have a few hurdles to clear first, such as obtaining financial assistance and transportation to start the program, and locating a facility to house the school.
More information is available on the Cochrane's Web site, www.freewebs.com/ranchodelavega.