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One 13-year-old girl shares her experience.
Imagine giving the right command and your playful Labrador retriever instantly turns into a personal assistant that can fetch your bag, carry your groceries and even help you get your socks on and off.
For a person with multiple sclerosis or muscular dystrophy, this canine personal assistant can make everyday living, livable. And in Oklahoma, you can get one of these service dogs free of charge through Therapetics Service Dogs of Oklahoma, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
But for these animals to become so highly trained requires the time and effort of volunteers.
Thirteen-year-old Rachel Dow, daughter of Stacy Schusterman and Steven Dow, is one such volunteer. An advanced puppy raiser for Therapetics, she has been training Porthos, a 2-year-old black Labrador retriever, for the past year.
Dow got involved with Therapetics as part of the service project for her bat mitzvah in November, and asked that guests donate to Therapetics instead of giving her gifts; the total cost to train one dog is $15,000 and the process takes two years.
“She raised over $17,000 in that effort for us,” says Sandy Willmann, executive director of Therapetics. “That’s unbelievable. Watching the philanthropic spirit in a young person like that makes it hit home what people can do if they want to make a difference. It’s impacted Therapetics to see a young person give of her time like this. She’s one of the youngest to do it on her own.”
Training Porthos
Dow attended classes at Therapetics and read a training book before she received Porthos, one of about nine service dogs that began training at 8 weeks old and will graduate this summer.
Dogs learn skills in weekly classes and trainers reinforce the lessons at home.
In advanced training, Dow helps to socialize Porthos and solidify his abilities, such as fetching, opening and closing doors, pushing buttons and pulling a wheelchair.
A major part of training is taking the service dogs out in public.
“It’s been really amazing going places with him,” Dow says. “I get a different feel with him. People stare when I have him with me.”
She also took him to her summer camp, making Porthos the first service dog to ever attend the camp.
“At camp the kids liked the idea and wondered if they could do something like that,” Dow says. “Going through the whole process, I’ve learned a lot. It’s a lot of repeating things. They go through a stubborn phase, but then it will click with them and that’s really nice.
“It’s been a great experience. I’m glad I did it.”
Partnering Porthos
Dow knows that letting Porthos go is part of the deal: This summer he will be partnered with his new owner.
“It’s going to be hard and sad, but it’s a lot of responsibility having him; that part will be relieving,” she says. “I will miss him a lot; we’re really close. After he’s placed, I probably won’t see him again. So that’s goodbye.”
How to get involved
Call 270-4226 or visit www.therapetics.org for more information.
