Raising dogs who'll train to help disabled

Packer was only 8 weeks old when he started "kindergarten" at Jeanne and Don Houser's home in Massapequa Park.

The Labrador and golden retriever mix -- a wiggly, tongue-lolling, ears flapping bundle of love and energy wrapped in a warm and fuzzy coat of caramel-colored fur -- quickly captured the couple's hearts.

And those hearts will be near breaking, says Jeanne, 61, in November when, at 18 months old, Packer will "matriculate" from their care and enter the next phase of his education, on his way to graduating as a fully trained Canine Companion for Independence.

The nonprofit CCI, founded in 1975 in Santa Rosa, Calif., matches highly trained assistance dogs with qualified disabled children and adults. In five regional centers across the country, CCI has brokered more than 3,500 such partnerships to date.

The Northeast region's center is in Medford. There have been 559 dog and recipient partnerships since Long Island's program was established in March 1989. There are currently 78 active canine-companion recipients on Long Island, according to CCI's Northeast director, Debra Dougherty.

The organization is managed by professional administrators and animal experts, along with a contingent of volunteers. CCI receives no government support and is funded by donations, corporate grants and fundraisers that enable the organization to provide the dogs at no cost to about 42 recipients annually in the Northeast region, which spans 13 states along the Eastern Seaboard, from Virginia to Maine.

The Housers, who are CCI newcomers, are among 180 puppy raisers who enter the Northeast program each year, motivated by affection for dogs and compassion for the disabled. They absorb all costs of housing, feeding and caring for the puppies in training.

CCI's Northeast headquarters, a sprawling 39,000-square-foot, 3-year-old building in Medford, houses an array of facilities within its concrete block walls. For two weeks every three months, comfortably appointed dormitories become temporary homes for rotating groups of 11 disabled recipients while they undergo Team Training with their new canine companions.

Administration offices and state-of-the-art kitchens, bathrooms and laundry rooms designed for use by disabled residents line a maze of hallways wide enough to accommodate wheelchairs side by side. The infrastructure is warmly lighted and immaculate, including the kennels where as many as 60 dogs live in units with radiant-heated floors, even in the outdoor runs.

Dogs must make the grade
In a gymnasium-size training room, staff trainer Flora Baird, 29, hops into a wheelchair and puts 2-year-old Caleb through his paces. The polished floor is littered with small objects which Caleb picks up on command and gently drops into Baird's lap, rewarded with much praise and nose-rubbing affection. Then Caleb grips with his teeth a strip of cloth that's tied onto a drawer handle and tugs the drawer open.

Another command and he pushes the drawer shut with a final flip of his nose, and then he turns on a light by swiping at a wall switch with his paw.

"Good dog," says Baird. "Now you're due for a nice nap."

These are some of the 40 commands a dog must learn to qualify as a CCI graduate, all tasks that can help a disabled person with limited mobility maintain an independent lifestyle.

"Only 40 percent of the dogs are chosen," says Dougherty. "The standards are very high. A dog can be rejected even for minor infractions of temperament or skill. One dog failed simply because he had an overbite. It seems petty, but that would make it impossible for him to pick up a thin, flat object like a credit card if it should fall to the floor."

One dog that made the grade, Gillian, a black Labrador and golden retriever mix, was paired in February 2010 with Army veteran Sam Cila, 37, of Riverhead, who lost his left hand in a roadside bombing in Iraq on July 4, 2005. Nationwide, there are 32 wounded veterans who have received CCI dogs. Cila is the first and, so far, only Long Island recipient.

"She makes it easier for me to function with less stress; just having her at my side is a comfort," said Cila, who also heads CCI's Long Island volunteer program, which recruits and trains people as puppy raisers as well as demonstrating  to organizations how the dogs perform. "In reality, she's my teammate. We give demonstrations and lectures to promote the program; we work together to show how assistance dogs can help."

Cila said Gillian helps alleviate muscle stress on his right side by easing tasks like lifting and carrying objects, a frequent problem with amputees that can eventually lead to paralysis, and helps him retrieve dropped objects when his right hand is holding something.

Cila works closely with CCI's newly formed Veterans Committee of the Northeast Regional Advisory Board, a volunteer group of 14 business leaders from across the region, in particular with retired Army Col. E. David Wovcik Jr. of Garden City. The group provides assistance dogs, at no cost, to veterans with physical disabilities from the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and to military hospitals and medical centers.

Preparing for 'goodbye'
During  their 18 months with  Packer, the Houser's goal is to socialize the lively pup, who is treated as a family pet while he's taught to obey about 20 simple commands such as sit, stay, heel and speak.

"In public, Packer wears a natty blue-and-yellow CCI cape that identifies his 'kindergarten' status," says Don, 58. "But graduate dogs wear an all-blue cape."

Houser adds that they expose their four-legged student to crowded sidewalks, malls and traffic as well as private events, and that he learns to maintain good behavior in all kinds of circumstances.

After his final hug with the Housers, who said they joined the CCI program because they love dogs and have always felt compassion for the disabled, Packer will enter an intensive six-month training program at the Medford campus.

If he makes the grade by learning to obey the specialized tasks, he will "graduate," and his leash will be handed over to a disabled person, his lifelong partner with whom his individual characteristics will have been carefully matched.

If he fails to measure up, he will be offered to the Housers for adoption. If the couple decides to become puppy raisers for another dog, Packer will be offered to the first of a long list of prospective owners.

CCI dogs are products of a 35-year breeding program, Dougherty says.

"It's conducted in our . . . national headquarters by a team of experts in the fields of genetics and animal behavior, plus veterinarians and trainers who study the dogs' lineage and match suitable mates; almost all breeder dogs are a Labrador-golden retriever mix, breeds that are noted for the desired traits of intelligence and disposition needed to become assistance dogs."

For the Benthal family in Riverhead, CCI has become "like an extended family," says 17-year-old MaryAngela. With the support of her parents, Eileen and Steve, who frequently volunteer at fundraising events and demonstrations, the teen has been a puppy raiser since she was 11. She has socialized three puppies and is now working with her fourth, Madias, who is 17 months old.

"We all get to love these dogs; it's hard to let them go," she says. "But we know it's for the greater good, that they will have such an important role to play."

The Benthal family has firsthand knowledge of that role: For six years, a CCI dog, Taffy, has been a constant companion for MaryAngela's sister, Johanna, 14, who has hydrocephalus, a birth defect that causes pressure on the brain and results in frequent seizures.

"Taffy provides comfort and security for Johanna," Eileen Benthal says. "They are together day and night, and any time Johanna needs attention, Taffy will alert me."

MaryAngela says her sister's relationship with Taffy inspired her career choice.

"I've been looking forward to becoming an instructor for CCI since I was 10 years old," she says. MaryAngela is studying a degree in human services at Suffolk County Community College, where she often brings Madias to class with her.

She will have to give Madias to his new owner at the CCI graduation ceremony May 13 at the Hyatt Regency in Hauppauge. But she's not the only trainer facing separation anxiety.

"It will be really hard to give Packer up, he's become one of the family," Don Houser says. "But we'll keep in mind that he will spend the rest of his life helping a disabled person live and function with a minimum of caregivers. We've been to graduations; they're very emotional, but to see children light up like Christmas trees when they meet their dogs is reward enough."

Despite the satisfaction of helping to school an obedient, well-behaved dog, Jeanne says: "Graduation is a real tear-jerker, both happy and sad."

They call it puppy love
Just as the companion dogs must meet certain criteria, so too must those who raise them and those who become their eventual owners.

Puppy raisers
Candidates assume all costs of caring for the puppy, including veterinary visits, food, grooming, etc., which are tax deductible as charitable donations.

The puppy must be under supervision at all times. It may not be allowed to roam outdoors alone.

Puppy raisers must bring the puppy to CCI facility in Medford for a two-hour training session every two weeks.

Disabled applicants
Must demonstrate that an assistance dog will enhance their independence or quality of life.

They should have a stable home environment with support from a family member.

For further information on group tours of the facility or to arrange a demonstration featuring CCI dogs in action, contact Canine Companions for Independence at 631-561- 0200 or go to  cci.org.