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Dec. 15, 2006
Pawsing to help others out
Canine volunteer program brings assistance dogs to those in need.
KELLEY KORBIN
For some people, a dog can make the difference between a life of
reliance on others and the opportunity to live independently.
Pacific Assistance Dog Society (PADS) trains dogs as supportive
companions for people with disabilities in Western Canada. There
are 500,000 people in British Columbia with mobility, agility or
hearing impairments. Many of them could benefit from an assistance
dog.
Take, for example, 22-year-old Sarah Lapp. She has cerebral palsy
and has been in a wheelchair all her life. When Leo, her canine
companion, arrived two-and-a-half years ago, her life changed dramatically.
"I used to have to ask for help all the time," said Lapp.
"Leo has basically allowed me to live on my own and given me
a sense of safety and security when I'm alone."
Like other service dogs trained by PADS, Leo is able to pick up
items that Lapp drops, turn on and off lights, open the fridge,
pick up the telephone and push buttons. He also gives Lapp a lot
of love.
In addition to service dogs, PADS also trains hearing dogs, who
help deaf or hearing-impaired people by alerting them to important
sounds like ringing fire alarms, telephones, doorbells and even
crying babies.
About 15 dogs a year graduate from the PADS programs and many people
have to wait three years or more to receive a dog.
Service dogs tend to be larger breeds like Labradors and golden
retrievers, while hearing dogs are generally smaller, and smarter,
breeds like shelties or smooth fox terriers. But not just any member
of these breeds can become a PADS dog. Before they are accepted
into the program, PADS puppies are subjected to a careful selection
process to determine whether they are suitable and trainable.
This is important because, even with the stringent selection process,
just less than half of the 50 dogs PADS is training at any one time
in British Columbia will graduate to be full-fledged assistance
dogs. The dogs who don't succeed are given to families with special
needs or become facility dogs – working in seniors homes or
hospitals to help create a sense of community in those places, by
uniting people through their common affection for the well-trained
animal.
As might be expected, PADS dogs receive intensive and expensive
training. It costs about $35,000 to train an assistance dog. Perhaps
more importantly, it takes thousands of volunteer hours.
Shona Taner is a volunteer puppy sitter with PADS. She is currently
working with a golden retriever called Corr.
Corr spends his work week in the PADS kennels in Burnaby, but Taner
takes care of him on weekends and some evenings.
Other volunteers at PADS include puppy cuddlers, who do just that
with the newest PADS trainees, and puppy trainers, who take care
of PADS puppies full time, until they are ready to move to the PADS
kennels at about 12 months of age for their formal training period.
Puppy trainers and puppy sitters both make a significant time commitment,
but it's one that Taner said is rewarding on two levels: first,
because you get to spend time with a loving, well-trained dog and,
secondly, because you make a contribution that directly helps to
improve another person's life.
Taner said she decided to get involved with PADS after she saw the
difference her own dog, Oots'in, made in the lives of her critically
ill mother and the rest of her family. "The pleasure my mom
got out of time with my dog and the way [Oots'in] helped our whole
family deal with [my mother's illness], that's when I started working
with PADS," she said. "It's hard when you're figuring
out where you want to direct your volunteer time to say you want
to direct it at dogs, but the reality is that it makes a difference
in the lives of people and so you're working with both dogs and
knowing that they're making
a big contribution to people." She added that since her mother's
death, "My involvement with PADS and bringing puppies home
has helped my dad cope. You direct your concerns towards something
other than your grief."
Taner said her commitment to PADS is also a tribute to the values
her parents instilled in her. "It comes from the way I was
raised to give back and donate to the community," she observed.
PADS is a nonprofit organization and relies almost solely on donations
from corporations, community groups and the public for its operating
expenses. It is currently in the middle of a capital campaign to
develop a new facility. Alison Pringle, director of communications
for PADS, said the organization has found a donor who is willing
to pay for the land if PADS can find a three-to- five-acre site,
preferably in Vancouver, Burnaby or Coquitlam.
Pringle added that her organization is also desperate for volunteers
like Taner, who are willing to give some time to the dogs. She invites
any interested dog lovers to "love it, hug it, squeeze it"
for a year and then give it back. You don't have to know a lot about
dogs – PADS provides volunteer training – you just have
to be willing to learn and to share your home and your time with
a cute, cuddly puppy.
For more information about PADS, visit www.pads.ca.
Kelley Korbin is a freelance writer living in West Vancouver.
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