((PKG)) TRAINING SERVICE DOGS
((TRT: 07:52))
((Topic Banner: Training Service Dogs))
((Producer/Camera/Editor: Jeff Swicord))
((Map: Ashburn, Virginia))
((Main characters: 2 female; 0 male))
((Sub characters: 0 female; 0 male))
((Blurb:
The demand for service dogs to assist people with special needs is growing throughout the U.S. We visit Heeling House, a non-profit organization that trains Psychiatric and mobility dogs for children and some adults.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
Hi, thank you. Thank you so much.
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
I’ve been in a wheelchair my whole life. I have cerebral palsy, and then I also have a GI [gastrointestinal] condition that causes me not to be able to digest food.
I’ve lived at home until about a year and a half ago. I definitely wouldn’t be able to live on my own without Nathan.
((NATS))
Get it.
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
Nathan is my arms and my legs. He helps me so much when I am out and about and when I am home.
((NATS))
Thank you.
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
When I’m home without my caregiver, he really is my caregiver.
I heard about Heeling House maybe a little before the summer of 2019. And we started training together in August of 2020.
((NATS))
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
He opens drawers and doors. He can turn off or turn on lights.
((NATS))
Get the light. Good boy.
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
He picks up dropped items.
((NATS))
Good boy.
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
And also can get me items that I can’t reach on my own.
((MUSIC))
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
When you’re training with a service dog, the training kind of never really stops. It’s hard to put into words everything that Nathan and Heeling House has done for me.
((MUSIC/NATS))
So, you didn’t tell him to wait.
((MUSIC/NATS))
Stay.
Yeah, I think I gave you one that one time like, “Is this good enough?” And then…
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
I had a dog who had a lot of behavioral problems, and she was kind of a…a problem child. And I loved her so much. I took her to classes and then I decided I was going to learn everything I could. And the program set me up with Kathy, who is the founder of the Heeling House.
And after doing this for like three or four years, I was like, “Hey, can I have a job? I will train dogs, do the service dog stuff.” Yeah. So, helping my dog brought me here to help other people with their dogs.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
So, still doing all of our same expectations. So, we’re all going to be waiting at the door when we enter. We are going to have some nice walking.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
The puppies in our program have come to us from breeders throughout the country. They are ranging between ten weeks old and six months old.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
All right, Rob. Two rounds.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
Our puppy raisers are volunteers. They’re not professional trainers or anything. They’ve been training with them as soon as they get home. At minimum, potty training and basic obedience. Lots of socializing. So, even if they are little, we take them on field trips so they can experience the world.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
In the elevator, they do love to swing out and lay in open spaces.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
The mall is a great place that we take our dogs to learn to work through a lot of distractions, different environments.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
All right, let’s see how many of you all we could fit.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
We have different textures. So, like tile floors and carpets. There's things that are dropped on the ground that the dogs need to ignore. There are lots of people around that they need to learn that they can't always say ‘hi’ to, in addition to all the sounds and the noises.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
Same thing. Yes, exactly. It's just the implied.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
It offers us this ability that we can work in those environments and be far enough away that we can work the dog successfully while putting in some controlled challenges.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
All right, cool.
We're going to walk them against this. They should be close. They don't have to be too tight, but we want them to feel comfortable.
Chuck, are you afraid of…you're not afraid of heights?
So, he's like concerned. So, his…he might have a height thing. So, you're going to give him more space against the rail. So right now, forcing him is just going to make him feel kind of worse about it.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
Good job, Bud.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
So, the dog that was afraid of heights, he is about six months old. So, he's on this kind of cusp of a bunch of developmental periods right there.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
All right, Rob. Let me take his leash.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
So, we want him to work through it because he's going to have to learn to deal with situations as a service dog.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
You're going to show the treat to him.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
Giving him something, incentivizing that he can do well, is the best way to approach it.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
He said, no, forget this. Good job, dude.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
We don't teach any task work until the puppies are over 14 months old and they've been placed because we train the task work for the person.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
Good.
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
But foundationally, we do try to kind of set them all up. So this way, that translates into task work that they could be doing as a grown up.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
Aww, there you go. You’re friendly girl. Hi. Hi, how are you all?
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
So, our older dogs right now are about 16 months old. So, they've gone through all of their socialization, their basic obedience training, and they're learning to work with their handlers. The service dogs gonna [going to] go to them. We train psychiatric, autism and mobility dogs.
((NATS))
Yeah. What brand is this?
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
What we, as trainers, are going for and need to see is that the handler is capable of managing the dog and that the dog is able to perform the tasks for their person in a variety of situations.
((NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
On the evaluation...
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
For our psychiatric and autism task work, there is some overlap. It's kind of dependent on what the person exhibits and then what they need.
((MUSIC/NATS))
((Ashlyn Cohill
Executive Director, Heeling House))
It is so satisfying to see the dogs on graduation day with their owners. So, we’ve learned that person and like how their life is impacted on the daily by their disability and then how these dogs come in and just change that for them.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
Thank you.
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
I definitely would recommend other people with special needs to look into getting a service dog.
((NATS))
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
Go through.
((Jackie Meline
Service Dog Owner))
I think for my mental and emotional well-being, I don't even know how much I need Nathan before he came into my life.
He’s made me a more outgoing person. I'm just a lot more confident. We know each other so well and I really feel like we work as a team.
((NATS/MUSIC))
