Post on 09-Jul-2020
sight.
Maddux’s parents,
Tonya Thornton-Karper
and her husband Dave, had
also been praying for an
autism service dog for
their son Maddux to help
with emotional support.
It had been difficult for
them to do a lot of things
with their family that many
people take for granted.
Maddux would have
difficulty in public settings
with all of the sensory
stimulations. Tonya
learned about service dogs
from a friend and found
SSD. After applying for a
service dog, she got the
call that her son was
matched with Sedona.
In the months before
Sedona finished his
advanced training, my
family and Tonya’s family
often teamed up for
fundraising events to help
them get a service dog.
Sedona was taught to
search for Maddux, so
Tonya and Dave could find
him in public when he
wandered away. For the
first time since Maddux
was born, neither one of
them had to sleep with
him because Sedona was
there, and he still sleeps
with him to this day.
Sedona instinctively knows
SEE “SEDONA” PG. 2
by Ted Thomas, volunteer
This is the story of two
families and one incredible
dog that brought them
together.
As puppy raisers for
Susquehanna Service Dogs,
my wife Darlene and I had
always known our fifth
puppy in training was
special. At an early age,
earlier than most of the
previous dogs we had
raised, SSD Sedona started
coming to work with me
every day.
Shortly after we got
Sedona, my company
sent me to our office
in Maryland, which
required me to drive
there first thing
Monday morning and
stay in a hotel through
Friday. As the primary
puppy raiser in the
family, I took Sedona with
me, and this routine
continued on and off for
six months. He adapted
easily to his new
surroundings, and the
people I worked with
enjoyed watching him
grow and learn new skills.
I was always concerned
about one thing, though.
He always shied away
from people who used
walkers or wheelchairs. I
used to tell him, “This is
not good man. This is
what you’re supposed to
do when you grow up.”
Darlene and I prayed he
would be able to be paired
with someone who really
needed him.
The time came for him
to go to Meet the Dogs to
meet potential partners,
and true to himself, he
wanted nothing to do with
everyone he was
introduced to. That is, of
course, until Maddux
walked into the room.
I was told that from the
moment Sedona saw
Maddux, it was love at first
SSD Sedona Unites Two Families
April-June 2016
Independence
Unleashed
Mission
Susquehanna Service
Dogs raises and
trains services dogs
to assist children
and adults with
disabilities to
become more
independent.
Contact Us
Susquehanna
Service Dogs
1078 Gravel Hill Road
Grantville, PA 17028
Phone
717-599-5920
Fax
717-469-4268
@SSDOGS
Contact Us
Susquehanna
Service Dogs
1078 Gravel Hill Road
Grantville, PA 17028
Phone
717-599-5920
Fax
717-469-4268
@SSDOGS
Facebook.com/
susquehannaservicedogs
have volunteered in a number of
capacities for a variety of organizations.
This year, I celebrated 10 years of
volunteering at Center for Champions, a
non-profit organization that provides
mentoring and after school programs
for children living in inner city
Harrisburg. Many children now have a
piece of my heart, which has simply
made my heart bigger. I love those kids
and I love the organization. I believe in
their mission and I’m thrilled to be a
part of it. Volunteering energizes me.
So even though I marvel daily at SSD’s
volunteers and their capacity for giving, I
get it. I understand what drives them to
keep giving.
Our volunteers love this program and
they believe in our mission. It’s not only
time that they give. They give their
intellect, their expertise, their
connections, their compassion, and their
heart. They love this organization and it
shows.
Everyone who is familiar with
The Dish from the Director
SSD Volunteer Bulletin • Page 2
When I was in high school, I made a
decision that would impact the rest of my
life. I decided I wanted to work with
people. I went off to college to learn how
to most adeptly do that, and for the past
35 years, I’ve been employed in roles that
have allowed me to be a change agent,
supporting people to live their very best
life.
College also taught me about the spirit
of volunteerism, and over the years, I
Susquehanna Service Dogs knows it
would not exist without the volunteers.
From its inception, SSD has been
founded on volunteerism. Nancy Fierer
volunteered the entirety of her years as
SSD’s Founder and Director. Truly,
Susquehanna Service Dogs reflects
volunteerism as its best—offering one’s
services, making oneself available, signing
up.
Even our employees do this. All
current staff members have volunteered
time to the organization in some
capacity, whether they’re puppy raising,
sitting, whelping, fundraising, and more.
I like to think I made a wise decision
years ago when I decided to work with
people. It has led me to a community of
people who make themselves available
so others have the opportunity to live
their very best life.
To all of you, thank you. It is an honor
Nancy and Robert Fierer Spirit of Volunteerism Award
Honoring Nancy and Robert Fierer
in a most relevant and enduring way, along
with honoring our devoted volunteers, is
very important to Susquehanna Service
Dogs, which is why we have established
the Nancy and Robert Fierer Spirit of
Volunteerism Award.
At next year’s graduation in May,
we will recognize the first recipient of this
award.
Nancy has been the epitome of a
volunteer, starting and running
Susquehanna Service Dogs for 21 years as
a volunteer. She understood the
importance of honoring every person
volunteering their time and energy to SSD.
Because we continue to be a volunteer-run organization, we are pleased to
honor our volunteers and keep Nancy and Robert’s legacy alive.
You will hear more details regarding the Nancy and Robert Fierer Spirit of
Volunteerism Award in the next few months. For now, let’s just say thank you
to Nancy and Robert!
SEDONA
(CONT’D FROM PG. 1)
when Maddux is stressed
and will perform tasks to calm him
down, such as licking him or applying
pressure.
Sedona has filled a gap in the
Karpers’ lives that nothing else could fill.
He gives them all emotional support and
has even offered Tonya physical support
when she has balance issues after her
daily runs.
As Sedona gets older—he’s eight
years old now—the family has begun
talking with Maddux about the day when
his service dog will no longer be able to
support him. Maddux is 14 now and
recently asked his mother if it would be
possible to get another service dog
when Sedona is no longer with them.
When she said yes, he said, “Good,
because I cannot live without one.”
SSD Volunteer Bulletin • Page 3
SSD Nikon’s Journey
Nikon has been very busy over the past three months—growing to 70 pounds,
learning new cues and experiencing new things. He’s been very successful with this
semester’s behaviors (fix, under, back) and we continue to proof his early
socialization behaviors, with special focus on leave it and stay.
This quarter brought a few challenges! We’ve made significant progress as a result
of discussing our challenges with Amanda, Lauren and Katie, and following up on
their suggestions.
First challenge: Nikon developed the habit of stopping midway down every flight
of stairs at work and refusing to go any further. I talked with the trainers and after
some questioning, they suggested that I was being so consistent with clicking/treating
Nikon at certain points, that I had actually trained him to stop there, expecting a treat. Back to the stairwell we went for additional
training! It took some practice and being very conscious of when I click/treat. And I continue to think about this so that I don’t
revert to my very predictable pattern. By mixing it up and clicking/treating at different points, we moved past that issue!
Second challenge: All Labrador Retrievers are not natural retrievers! Nikon was very interested in running after the bumper
that we threw, but not so interested in returning with it. Maybe he had an aversion to bumpers? So we tried a stick, a tennis ball,
a stuffed toy… Nope, not retrieving those either. This is an important skill for our partners and one of our “star behaviors,” and
we really wanted to see progress.
When we are shaping a new behavior, we have to break things down and look for small successes. This process took a number
of days and we kept the training sessions short, so that we ended on a positive note each time and before Nikon got bored. I
began by removing distractions; at our house, that means three other dogs have to spend some time inside. To start, I did some
clicking and treating for attention. The next step was to put one of his toys on the ground and click/treat when he looked at it.
From there, we progressed to movement toward the toy, sniffing the toy, touching the toy, picking the toy up (major treats for
that step), holding the toy for a few seconds, holding the toy for a few more seconds, looking at me with the toy in his mouth,
walking toward me with the toy in his mouth, and finally carrying the toy all the way back to me.
Let me reiterate that this did NOT happen in one training session. Lots of short sessions and lots of patience paid off! We’re
now working on retrieving other objects, and hoping to soon demonstrate that “star behavior” for the trainers.
It hasn’t been all work for Nikon. He had the opportunity to visit the Whitaker Center for his first movie. There were lots of
school groups there for field trips, and he did many greetings before we took our seats. And as for the movie, he snored!
By Sue Knode, puppy raiser
Paws Prints: Happenings at SSD
SSD Volunteer Bulletin • Page 4
Who doesn’t love graduation? We had a wonderful time celebrating the
graduating teams and their puppy raisers on May 6, not to mention a
heartfelt thank you to all our dedicated volunteers! Good friends, good food,
and congratulations all around!
The day after graduation we had a terrific Partner’s Day at the SSD facility.
With a Summer Olympics theme, we re-certified working teams and had a
great time doing it!
We held our first Puppy Raiser Day of Fun on June 4 and had over 90 people
attend! Everyone enjoyed food, games, stations for the dogs, lots of
comradery, and FUN with fellow raisers. We’re
already looking forward to next year’s event!
For his Senior Project, Matt Makara, the son of
one of our long term puppy raisers from the
Northeast group, has decided to build play stations
in the kennel yard for the Advanced Training dogs.
We should see some things beginning to happen
by summer’s end. Thank you, Matt!
Girl Scout Troop 11967 has gotten involved with
SSD in a big way! Not only are they going to whelp
a litter for us under the oversight of their lead,
SSD volunteer Dana Little, but they have also
designed four digital billboards for us that have
been running in various locations for a few weeks
in June. The billboards are designed to recruit puppy raisers.
SSD was asked to be part of a grant proposal being submitted by Dr. Brian Allen of the Penn State Center for the Protection of
Children. The grant will involve a study of the benefits of having dogs involved in therapy sessions between children and their
clinicians. We are honored to be part of this proposal and will keep you posted on whether it was accepted.
Eleven teams went through June’s Team Training. Congratulations to the hard working partners, staff, volunteers, and dogs!
Volunteer Services
SSD Volunteer Bulletin • Page 5
Making oneself available—that’s what over 250 people do
for SSD. These volunteers offer their time, energy, gifts talents,
expertise, ideas, dedication, and enthusiasm to this program.
What does that look like? From an emotional perspective, it
looks like love. It looks like a group of people pouring liveliness
into something that matters to them.
From an operational perspective, it looks like success, an
orchestration of roles that add not only value but sustenance to
SSD and to the accomplishment of our mission and vision. The
volunteer functions interrelate impeccably with paid functions
and the overall business of the program.
People often envision the volunteer roles in broad strokes, a
more generic perspective. In reality, there are numerous,
specific volunteer tasks that are vital to operations. Without all
our volunteers, we would need close to 190 full time employees
to do everything that makes SSD successful.
What are some of these specific volunteer roles?
(*means special training is required or provided by SSD and/or special
clearances)
Puppy Hugger: Sign up to hug, cuddle, and play with our eight-
week-old puppies to help socialize them. Available several times
a year, depending on when we have litters.
Puppy Raiser*: Raise a service dog puppy in your home for
approximately two years. You are responsible for socializing and
training the dog, as well as attending puppy classes
and outings.
Puppy Sitter*: Care for a puppy in training for a
shorter time (a day, week, or maybe longer) when
the raiser is unavailable.
Kennel Volunteer: Help at the kennel in various
ways, including cleaning and general maintenance,
grooming dogs, letting dogs out to play and potty in
the evenings when their “work day” is done.*
Team Training Volunteer*:
Support new partners and dogs
learning to work together as a
team during the two and a half
weeks they’re at our facility for
Team Training.
Partner Liaisons*: Serve as a
volunteer liaison for a service team to provide follow-up for the
working life of the dog. Each team is assigned a volunteer liaison
and a staff liaison.
Home Visits*: Visit a potential partner’s home to assess the
home dynamics, including the house itself, other pets, yard, and
neighborhood. Home visits allow SSD to make the best
decisions about partner matches. Home visits also occur for
each potential puppy raiser.
Retesting*: Retest our working teams annually to ensure they
are still able to pass the public access test and are still working
well together.
Puppy Raiser Council:
Provide support and direction
to the puppy raiser program.
The PRC meets quarterly to
discuss issues that will help
SSD and raisers.
Public Volunteers*: Meet
every Tuesday and Thursday
morning at various locations in
the local community to work
on important public skills and
behaviors with the dogs in
advanced training.
Transportation*: Transport puppies, older dogs, and
breeding dogs to other service dog organizations
throughout the continent and help transport dogs
locally to vet appointments.
Property and Facility Maintenance: Provide assistance in
organizing, cleaning, doing laundry, changing light bulbs, fixing
fences, landscaping, building shelves and ramps, making signs,
cleaning vehicles, painting, maintaining the kennel, and more.
SEE “VOLUNTEERING” PG. 8
Owner-Trained Dogs
SSD Volunteer Bulletin • Page 6
The Road to Independence: The Owner-Trainer Route by Katie Burland, service dog owner-trainer
As a service dog handler, one of the most common questions is “where did
you get your dog.” This can be a bit of a landmine question for someone like
me, an owner-trainer. This has multiple answers: Where did he come from?
The Quakertown SPCA. Who trained him? Me. Who certified that he met the
training standards of ADI and gave him his ADI certification? SSD. Every single
thing about owner training is complicated! In the United States, it is legal to
train your own service dog. Many people choose this option, and sadly, many
people do not realize how difficult it truly is to do it correctly. The motivating
factor for many novice owner-trainers is time and money. They assume that
they can get a dog, any dog, and quickly turn it into a disability mitigating
companion in a matter of weeks. This, of course, is naive at best, and dangerous
at worst. They also assume it will be less expensive than a program dog.
Neither assertion is accurate.
Selecting a Dog
The first pitfall many new owner-trainers (OTs) make is in selection of the dog. The selection
process can take months; I evaluated over 120 dogs in 8 months to find Dexter! Many want to go
and pick their own, which is a mistake! You should have the shelter behaviorist or breeder
(depending on where you get your prospect) pick out your dog with a selection criteria you provide
to them. They know the dogs better than you.
Oftentimes people will pick a breed that is perceived by the public to be “tough.” While no
breed specific legislation applies to service dogs, picking a restricted breed is very much asking for
future headaches with access challenges.
The dog will then need to undergo health-checks: eyes, hips, elbows, heart, and any breed-specific testing will need to be done.
Training
You will need to then begin training. Every day, or on a schedule that accommodates both
your disability limitations and your dog’s learning style. Training starts basic, with
socialization, basic obedience, housebreaking, exposure to lots of new situations. You need
to understand fear periods, body language, training methodologies and learning theories
and be able to apply them in situations that you yourself might have difficulty managing.
Imagine, you’re disabled, and now you’re trying to teach a dog to do for you what you
struggle with, in a situation that is hard for you to manage on your own, let alone while
having a super-unhelpful, uneducated canine with you. It’s super easy (said no owner
trainer ever!).
People often see the flashy stuff, the task work, and think, “Wow, that must be hard to
train!” and on the whole, they would be wrong. Task training is the absolute easiest and
most fun part of owner training!
Training, done well, should take a minimum of 12 months (if you started with a young adult
dog that already had socialization) to 24+ months and will take hundreds upon hundreds of hours of your time.
The Other 75%
It is estimated that only 25% of owner trained dogs graduate to become full service dogs. This means that you will very
likely be left with a “washout”: a dog that began training, but for any number of reasons (health, behavior, temperament, drive)
didn’t work out. Now you are left with the task of rehoming that dog if you aren’t in a position to keep them as a pet, and start
over again, purchasing another dog, paying for the health clearances, and putting all the time in all over again. A dog can wash out
after 2 months or 2 years, there is no guarantee and no safety net; which is why it is often more costly and time consuming than a
program dog.
As an owner-trainer, you are left juggling the tasks of selecting the dog, being a puppy raiser, and the advanced trainer, as
well as managing your own disability!
It’s a difficult path to take, but for those who do it for the correct reasons, and understand the full scope of what they’re
getting into, it can be incredibly rewarding as well!
The Latest Cues: Long Down-Stays
SSD Volunteer Bulletin • Page 7
How to Train a Long Down-Stay
A long down-stay is one of the behaviors that many dogs
struggle with when they enter Advanced Training. Yet this
seemingly simple behavior is extremely important for working
service dogs. Their partners will use this behavior all the time. A
long down-stay is one of the behaviors that helps a service dog
become invisible in public. When they go to a restaurant, the
dog will be in a long down-stay under the table. Movie theater?
Long down-stay. Office or school? Long down-stay. Airplane or
public transportation? Long down-stay. As you can see, a dog
cannot be placed as a service dog until they have mastered this
behavior.
Service dogs must be able to hold a quiet down-stay for a
long time, without needing to be re-cued and without barking or
whining.
How do you train it?
The key to training a long down-stay is to never treat the
dog during the stay. When puppies are very young, you can cue
them to “down,” give them a treat (but no click), and then cue
them to “stay.” Then they don’t get another treat until you let
them know the behavior is over by clicking and treating.
For older puppies, you should simply cue them to “down”
and “stay” without giving them a treat. They get the treat at the
end of the behavior, when the down-stay is over. Only then do
you click and treat.
What if the dog gets up?
If the dog stands up before you let them know the down-
stay was over, you can re-cue them to “down” and “stay.” But
don’t give them a treat! It’s extremely important that you do
NOT give them a treat when they lie back down. Why? If you
treat them to lie back down, the puppy learns that when they
stand up, they’ll
be given
something to do
and get another
treat. And since
these are smart
dogs, they’ll just
keep standing up
so they can get
another treat
for lying back
down.
If a dog
knows that
they’ll only get a treat at the end of the long down-stay, they’ll
learn to settle much better. The ideal long down-stay results in
the puppy completely relaxing with their head down.
Where and when should you practice?
A great place to start teaching your puppy is in your own
home! You can start at the kitchen table. Put them on a leash
during dinner and cue them to “down” and “stay.” That way, if
they bark or whine, they won’t interrupt anyone but you. Plus,
you won’t be tempted to treat them to make them be quiet. nce
your puppy can handle a long down-stay at your kitchen table
(or anywhere in your house), you can try other places.
Please remember, though, that the length of your dog’s
down-stay will depend on their age. A 10-week-old puppy may
not be able to do a 30 minute down-stay (unless they’re
sleeping).
With consistent practice, your dog will be able to settle into
a relaxed, long down-stay and become practically invisible when
they’re out in public.
SSD Volunteer Bulletin • Page 8
VOLUNTEERING (CONT’D FROM PG. 5)
Administrative*: Help with administrative tasks, such as data
entry, data collection, filing, and processing applications (both
partner and puppy raiser).
Training*: Mentor puppy raisers, support people and dogs
through specific training needs and challenges, and provide hands
-on assistance during numerous weekly puppy classes.
Emergency Preparedness: Assist to develop, implement, and
maintain emergency preparedness plans.
Whelping Team*: Help with the birth of puppies. Roles
include but are not limited to organizing and restocking whelping
supplies, cleaning whelping areas before and after whelps, doing
laundry, sleeping on-site and doing whatever is necessary to
support the birthing process for puppies and mothers. Must be
available 24 hours a day around due dates.
Whelping Families*: Provide a home and perform the many
duties associated with supporting a nursing mother and litter of
puppies for their first eight weeks, including the training that
begins at day one for future service dogs.
Two by Two*: Take home 2-3 puppies at a time for a night or
two when they’re 6-8 weeks old. This gives the whelping family a
break and helps socialize the puppies away from their entire
litter.
Animal Assisted Intervention*: Attend weekly therapy
sessions at a local in-patient psychiatric hospitalization program,
monthly sessions at a local residential facility for persons with
mental illness, and/or library reading programs for children.
Volunteers should have an SSD demonstration dog.
Canine Therapeutic Evaluations (CTEs)*: Children
applying for a service dog require extra steps before being
accepted into the program and matched with a dog. Volunteers
with SSD demo dogs or puppies in training spend at least 3-4
session with the child and family to determine if and how the
child will benefit from a service dog.
Demonstrations and Meet & Greets*: Give presentations
and demonstrations with your SSD demonstration dog to show
various audiences what service dogs can do and how they
change lives. Meet & Greets are less formal opportunities to
showcase SSD and service dogs at various events.
Fundraising and Events: Assist with our fundraisers and
events! Help spread the word about SSD and our needs and act
as good representatives of the program wherever you go. You
can also join the Development Committee.
Walk and Cuddle Program*: Visit the SSD facility for one
hour each week to walk the dogs, brush them, sit in a quiet
room and pet them, and play with them in the field. It’s a great
way for dogs to relax between training sessions!
Save the Date! Aug. 6: SSD Night at the Harrisburg Senators Game
Aug. 27: Dog Days of Summer in Linglestown, PA, 2-9 pm
Sept. 3: Doggie Olympics at Kipona, City Island, 11-4 pm
Sept. 12: Keystone Golf Tournament at Colonial Golf &
Tennis Club, 11:30 am
Oct. 1: A Perfect Pairing at Hauser Winery, 5 pm