Patti's Blog - Advocate for Elders, People with Disabilities and Their Families

Therapy dogs help calm people under stress

Excerpt from: USA Today (click for full article)

 

Michigan is among a growing number of states where dogs are moving into courts, schools, prisons and juvenile facilities on the heels of new research that shows the emotional and physical benefits of dog-person contact, particularly for people in pain or in trouble.

Studies show dogs -- and cats, too -- can reduce stress. A study in the American Journal of Cardiology found pets can be linked to the heart's ability to adapt to stressful events. And the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology reported that pets provide the same emotional benefits as human relationships.

Fake Service Dogs, Problem or Red Herring?

Excerpt from: Planet of the Blind (click for full article)

 

One of her assertions is that dog show people routinely cheat by passing off their pets as service dogs while traveling to dog related competitions. I have no doubt that people do this. As Ms. Lou correctly points out, the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require people with disabilities to provide documentation for service animals when accessing public places. By way of analogy ask yourself what it would be like if, as a non-disabled individual, you had to produce your Passport every time you went into a grocery store or movie theater or restaurant, or wanted to board a bus. Clearly you'd find yourself without the documentation because you changed your handbag, left your briefcase on the desk, or forgot the Passport in the pocket of your other coat. The ADA is a Civil Rights law and not a "hall pass" to the bathroom in Junior High.

Not long ago I was denied access to a tony restaurant in New York City. The doorman and the night manager wanted me to "prove" that the yellow Labrador beside me, wearing a leather harness that says "Guiding Eyes" across the back strap, was really a service dog. We had a frank conversation and I told them they were violating the law. Later the owners apologized. They offered me a free dinner but I won't go back. I did have an ID card from Guiding Eyes for the Blind in my wallet. But the doorman is not permitted to demand this and frankly he shouldn't be permitted to demand this. Civll Rights are "rights" and they are not conditional on having the proper paper work.

Pacific Coast gives grant to empower veterans with disabilities

Excerpt from: Sacramento Press (click for full article)

 

Pacific Coast Building Products Foundation and Pacific Coast Companies of Rancho Cordova recently awarded UCP of Sacramento and Northern California a grant of $7,500 to fund UCP Saddle Pals Heroes Astride, which provides adaptive horsemanship opportunities to disabled servicemen and women at no cost so they can recover from physical and emotional trauma.

“Our nation’s heroes serve their country around the world, but when they are injured, often have trouble finding the care they need close to home, “ said Doug Bergman, president and CEO, UCP of Sacramento and Northern California. “We are very thankful to Pacific Coast for its generous donation that will empower wounded veterans, servicemen and servicewomen to heal physically, mentally and emotionally.”

Helping others find their greatest accomplishment

Excerpt from: Orange County Register (click for full article)

 

San Juan Capistrano's Shea Center for Therapeutic Riding was founded in 1978 with one therapy horse, one rider and two volunteers.

Today, the center serves more than 400 riders every year, with 26 horses and more than 200 weekly volunteers. The center offers a variety of riding classes specifically designed to address and improve the lives of clients with disabilities.

Dogs work their magic in Autism therapy

Excerpt from: Blue Ridge Now (click for full article)

 

The friendly canines are used as therapy for autistic children, who are often nonverbal and have trouble communicating or expressing what they want. The dogs are a learning tool, said Lisa Lane, director of the nonprofit organization that provides in-home and in-school treatment in Greenville, Spartanburg, Pickens, Anderson, Union and Cherokee counties in South Carolina.

“Instead of using flashcards to teach a child to say commands, we are using a dog,” she said.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 1 in 88 children are identified with autism spectrum disorder, which are defined as a group of developmental disabilities that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.

The 12 children who participate in the Hope Unleashed Program at Hope Reach Clinic can learn verbs such as running, jumping, sitting and actually see what each word means.

A Truth Journal: Why Wont Pentagon Pay For PTSD Service Dogs For Returning Soldiers?

Excerpt from: Denny's News (click for full article)

 

 This new fledgling effort service dogs project in Louisiana between two vets has the potential to significantly lower the funding necessary for mental health costs for our soldiers returning from the battlefield.  Yet the Pentagon and Veteran Affairs slough it off as meaningless.  In the home for 24 hours a day, service dogs are always cheaper than years of talk and drug therapy with expensive psychiatrists on a weekly or monthly basis.

Incarcerated veterans train dogs for other vets

Excerpt from: Marine Corps Times (click for full article)

 

Hazard Wilson’s new cellmate is a hairy bundle of energy whose playful zeal can’t be contained by steel doors: a 5-month-old golden retriever. Yardley is one of three canines assigned since September to inmates at a maximum-security prison in western Maryland for training as service dogs for disabled military veterans.

The number of programs nationwide using inmates to train service dogs is growing, but the program at Western Correctional Institute might be the first to use incarcerated veterans to train dogs for other veterans.

Professional trainers say prison-raised dogs tend to do better than those raised traditionally in foster homes, because puppies respond well to consistency and rigid schedules. That’s just what they get in prison.

It’s not all work and no play.

Local woman trains deaf Dalmatian to understand sign language

Excerpt from: WNEM (click for full article)

 

A Bay City woman has been busy training her dog to be a therapy dog. That in itself isn't strange, but what's out of the ordinary in this case is that the dog is deaf and is learning through sign language. 

Jill Chanel's Dalmatian Whitney can't hear.  But that doesn't matter to Chanel, who is a dog lover. She also owns two beagles, one of which is a therapy dog. She wanted another Dalmatian after the one she owned for 15 years died last January.

"They are wonderful and they make wonderful pets, I had no previous experience with a deaf dog," said Chanel, who wanted a rescue dog, and she found an organization out of Pennsylvania that adopts out deaf Dalmatians. 

Sesame Street Features Service Dog

Excerpt from: Planet of the Blind (click for full article)

 

A real service dog named Hercules will be featured in Episode 43 of Sesame Street, which will air on November 30, 2012. Hercules will be helping a new Sesame Street Muppet character named Brandies learn how to be a service dog. Brandies is a yellow Labrador retriever Muppet who is looking for a job. After unsuccessful attempts at working at a laundromat and sweeping floors, Brandies learns about being a service dog. Brandies starts training by learning how to open drawers, pick things up, and turn on light switches. After training for weeks, Brandies becomes an official service dog and meets Liliana, the person he will be helping. Liliana is a wheelchair user and Brandies helps her by picking up her bag when it drops and opening doors. The organization Canine Companions for Independence worked with Sesame Street to create this episode to increase awareness of service dogs that help people with disabilities.

Leader Dogs teams with tech on GPS

Excerpt from: Crain's Detroit Business (click for full article)

 

Leader Dogs for the Blind is using technology to help clients navigate their communities in combination with a cane or guide dog.

The Rochester Hills-based organization, which operates on an $11 million budget, began exploring handheld audible GPS technology for its clients in 2005, working with Quebec-based HumanWare Group Inc. to pilot a device called the Trekker.

But the device costs about $2,000. In 2008, Leader Dogs began piloting the scaled-down GPS Trekker Breeze for HumanWare, in the hope of bringing the cost down and making the device more user-friendly.

Relying on Google internal maps, the Trekker Breeze can announce stores and buildings as a pedestrian approaches them, and can state the direction that person is facing, the closest intersection and verbal directions.

Leader Dogs has about a year's worth of stock of the $295 model, which Kapsys has discontinued, Haneline said, and continues to make it available to its clients. When that store is gone, it will offer its clients the more costly Kapten Plus and GPS Trekker Breeze, he said.

The organization continues to provide the technology to clients at no cost, President and CEO Susan Daniels said. About 2,000 people are using the system currently, and Leader Dogs plans to train another 220 people on it this year.

"We continue to be the only organization in the Western Hemisphere that provides this service to our clients," Haneline said.