SEATTLE – There is a long waitlist in western Washington right now for people with disabilities who are waiting to get a service dog.
Canine Companions is a national non-profit organization with a field office in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood. It works to enhance the lives of people with disabilities by breeding, raising, and training service dogs.
Whitley, a fully-trained Canine Companions service dog, has taught Brooks Abel a lot of lessons ever since he got her nearly four years ago.
Abel, a 6’6″ former offensive lineman, was in a pretty dark place after a diving accident on the Columbia River in 2016. It left him paralyzed from the chest down, he said.
Whitley is a big reason why.
She’s been trained to pick up things – like television remotes – that Abel drops on the ground, opens the refrigerator door with her mouth, and even pushes drawers closed with her nose.
All simple tasks for someone who is not in a position – like Abel.
“She sometimes seems more emotionally in tune than some people I know. Like she seems more humanly at times. Cause she’s so smart. It’s weird,” Abel said.
The need for service dogs like Whitley is longer than Canine Companions would like.
Linda Stefanini has raised 12 service dogs since being introduced to Canine Companions in 2008, she said.
Each one stays with her for approximately 18 months.
“We teach them about 20 tasks. Like the sit, the down, the shake, the lap. Up. Off,” Stefanini said.
It’s a lot of work, yes.
But it’s well worth the hours and hours of commands, repetition, and reward, Stefanini said.
“It feels like an act of love. It really does. Because there is not one person who receives these dogs who doesn’t love what you’ve done,” she added.
Abel is certainly grateful.
He’s about to head into his fourth year of coaching football at Kentwood High School in Covington.
It’s an opportunity to pass along the lessons he’s learned since his accident to a younger generation.”Just because you’re in a bad situation doesn’t mean you can’t get out. Like you don’t need to be stuck where you are. Yeah, circumstances are tough at times. But it’s how you look at it,” he said.
ट्विटर पर साझा करें: Critical need for puppy raisers to get service dogs to recipients faster
