Canine Assistants on CBS Evening News

[rabernet]

No matter how many times I view this video, it brings me to tears. I am so proud to be a volunteer (for six years now) with this wonderful organization that trains service dogs for people with physical disabilities.

This story was on this past Thursday evening, and I wanted to share it with you guys. It's always so nice to see these animals that we've nurtured and love go on in their partnerships!

Oh, and the past two years, at Daytona, some of you may have seen a gentleman with a service dog. That's one that was trained at Canine Assistants as well. I got the opportunity to speak to him this year and tell him how wonderful it was to see one of our dogs at work in person!

http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_vi...ml?id=3283884n

[Sunny1]

Thanks for sharing this with us Robin. That is so awesome that you volunteer there, and it seems like a great organization. Kudos!! I just think that it is really amazing that someone can basically be given a new life with the help of a dog. It is very heartwarming!!

And I totally believe in dogs being able to sense not only seizures but other health conditions as well. Dogs are truly amazing animals!!

[rabernet]

Thanks Pamela. It's an organization near and dear to my heart. The story behind Canine Assistants is also an amazing story.


http://www2.canineassistants.org/199...azine-article/

Here's some more videos from past graduations. They do these videos at every graduation, and I can guarantee you, there's not a dry eye in the house! And graduation is always standing room only.

http://www2.canineassistants.org/

[recycling goddess]

just one more reason why i love and respect you robin! this isn't new news to me, as i've known about your volunteer work for a long time but i want to thank you for posting these videos. i shared them with my kids...

[recycling goddess]

k they have some questions robin.

how old are the puppies when YOU get them.

how long do you train them.

how many dogs have your trained in total.

thanks robin!

[tigerlily]

That's awesome that you are part of such a wonderful organization. Kudos to you and the group, and to all the dogs that work so hard to ease another's burden.

[rabernet]

k they have some questions robin.

how old are the puppies when YOU get them.

They are born there, we have breeder mom and dads in volunteer homes, but the moms come to Canine Assistants to have and raise their babies. We start training them at a week old, their first command is "Settle" which we start with holding them on their backs and rubbing their bellies.

I've even had the honor of helping with a few "C" sections when we've had Wednesday night outings (out to dinner and the movies) and get a call from the staff vet to send folks back to assist. We assist by forming a line of volunteers, each with a warmed towel to get the puppies breathing and remover the mucus from their mouths and noses. Always wonderful to witness!


It's very cute on puppy outings when we go to the grocery store or a sandwich shop with puppies in baby slings! Since they are in training, even as pups, they have access.

how long do you train them.

Most are a year and a half to three years old. We don't have many 3 year olds now that we're not doing pure bred labs any longer, but rather breeding the labs with goldens, which retains the lab look, but it's a much calmer dog. I love the labs energy, but some of our pure bred labs have been so high strung that some have failed out of the program. We always take the high energy ones to the local drug enforcement agencies to be tested to see if they'll be good drug dogs. If not, they are placed in private homes as pets (usually with one of our volunteers).

how many dogs have your trained in total.
As a certified volunteer trainer, my role is to take dogs home with me at least once a month for at least a weekend (but sometimes as long as two weeks, and they go to work with me then). We reinforce the training that their staff trainers have done, expose them to our pets, teach them house manners, house break them, etc. I'd say over six years, I've worked with over 100 dogs.

My local grocery store always says "no dog?" when I don't have one with me! They love them!

thanks robin!

[Kara]

What a fantastic organization, Robin. I'm willing to bet the rest of the folks there are as dedicated & compassionate as you are, so it's no wonder you've all had such a positive impact on the lives of others through your work.

[recycling goddess]

thank you so much for taking the time to answer their questions... only one more is asked from your answers:

how do you not fall totally in love with them and not want to let them go?

[rabernet]

What a fantastic organization, Robin. I'm willing to bet the rest of the folks there are as dedicated & compassionate as you are, so it's no wonder you've all had such a positive impact on the lives of others through your work.

It is a wonderful organization, or else I wouldn't have dragged myself out of bed at 5 yesterday morning to set up for our first garage sale. You should have seen all the stuff that was donated! Huge hit! In the two hours that I was manning the table, I think we raised over $500 and it still had six more hours to go.

I'm looking forward to next month when we're having our third annual pumpkin patch. We have a bake sale, a candy tent, face painting, Canine Assistants in training dressed up in Halloween costumes and a picture booth where kids can have their pictures taken with the dogs.

Even before they are partnered with their person, many of our dogs are already working. We have several schools with reading programs where our dogs go and let the kids read to them. We've been doing this for about five years now, and we have more and more schools signing up for the program.

We also visit the Ronald McDonald House with our dogs. Did I mention I love this organization?