giving people the power to be superman a profile of Jo-Ann Ranish by Devon Bartlett o-Ann and Lois, the dog, go hiking often. One day they are hiking when a friend of Jo-Ann’s and her friend pass them, “Hello Lois Lane,” she says to the dog as they walk by. The next day Jo-Ann sees her friend again, “After we
passed you yesterday, my friend asked me, what kind of person names their kid Lois Lane. I had to explain to her it was the dog!” While Jo-Ann’s current dog may only be Lois, not Lois Lane the intelligent journalist and supporter of Superman, Jo-Ann gives these dogs the opportunity to become a Lois Lane to someone with a disability. She prepares these dogs to
help someone else become a Superman. Jo-Ann equips these dogs with the tools to become the supporter and assistant of someone with a disability. Jo-Ann Ranish is an energetic, passionate, funny woman. She lives with her husband Terry in a house in Old Mountain View. Miko, a neighbor and long time
friend of Jo-Ann’s says, “...Jo-Ann is just someone I can always rely on, but at the same time I can rely on her to laugh with me as well… someone that always gives me her straight opinion about things… she’s a great friend and a little crazy, so a lot of fun to be with too” (Yamaguchi). Jo-Ann has two daughters, Tessa and Thea. Tessa lives in New York and Thea works for Whole Foods. Jo-Ann enjoys hiking, cooking, doing things such as going to San Francisco, and collecting the letter R. Jo-Ann says the R collection started because she and her husband were interested in lettering and calligraphy, “...then because, we like letters, we started collecting J’s, because that’s the letter of
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my first name. They really couldn’t stand up on a table or something, they would fall down” (Ranish). Since J’s did not work so well, JoAnn and Terry started collecting T’s for Terry, Tessa and Thea. Then
one day Jo-Ann found a light up nish). At Sur La Table Jo-Ann had R, which started the R collection. a lot of exposure to chefs and cookAfter that, “We just kept going ing classes, as she was coordinating different places and started col- a lot of it. Terry, her husband, says, lecting a lot of R’s. “We just kept going different Some of the R’s are from New York... places and started collecting one’s from New a lot of R’s. Some of the R’s are Zealand. And… from New York... one’s wherever we would from New Zealand.” travel or go we Jo-Ann Ranish would collect different letters… in the other rooms there’s like letters, “She learned a lot that way… Plus R’s, all over this house. It’s gotten a it was inspiring…” (O’Donnell). little bit out of control.” (Ranish). About Jo-Ann’s cooking, Miko Every R tells a story, whether it was says, “And the… thing I have to picked up during travel or a gift say is essential to our relationship from a friend, every R is unique. is food. So you know we eat toJo-Ann also enjoys cook- gether and we cook food together ing and food. She says she doesn’t and she’s a great cook...” (Yamaguknow when or why her love of chi). Food is not only something that is fun and delicious, it has the ability to bring people together. Loving to cook, especially for others, shows that someone cares for the ones they cook for.
cooking started, but she loves to cook, “You know I’ve always liked to cook, I mean even years ago… we used to like to cook like Indian food and stuff… and then I started working at Sur la Table…” (Ra-
Loving to cook is not the only thing that shows Jo-Ann cares about others, Jo-Ann also raises service dogs. She has raised 14 dogs and Lois, her current dog, is number 15. Not only has JoAnn provided countless dogs and people with a lot, the dogs have provided Jo-Ann with a lot, “If I have a dog with me, people always want to talk to me. If I don’t have a dog then I’m just a person, nobody wants to say hello... I’ve met amazing people because of these guys, these wonderful dogs” (Ranish). The dogs have allowed Jo-Ann to meet new people as everyone loves
dogs, so everyone wants to pet the dogs. This can often lead to conversation. When Miko first met Jo-Ann, it was before Jo-Ann started raising service dogs. Miko says, “...I think it was really interesting to see her with the dogs because… there was a big shift in Jo-Ann… she fell in love with the dogs and... the process of raising them…” (Yamaguchi). Jo-Ann started training raising service dogs when her younger daughter, Thea, was in 6th grade. Thea wanted a dog, however since their
family liked to go places and do things, Jo-Ann thought it would be too much work. So they turned to a something seemingly shorter term, “...we thought well maybe we should raise a dog for somebody else so we started raising Guide Dogs for the Blind. Thea and I raised several until she left for college” (Ranish). For a while it was a mother daughter team. When Thea left, Jo-Ann didn’t stop, “...after Thea graduated from high school and was no longer living there, Jo-Ann continued to do it just because she loved doing it so much” (O’Leary). Now Jo-Ann raises for a different organization called Canine Companions for Independence. These dogs can go to people with an assort-
ment of disabilities or situations “Canine Companions trains four types of assistance dogs: Service Teams - assist adults with physical disabilities by performing daily tasks. Hearing Teams - alert the deaf and hard of hearing to important sounds. Skilled Companion Teams - enhance independence for children and adults with physical, cognitive and developmental disabilities. Facility Teams - work with a professional in a visitation, education or healthcare setting” (Facts and FAQ’s). The dogs can provide people with a disability with a huge service, and therefore need to be well trained, “Assistance dogs go
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everywhere with their owners, so a lot of time raising these dogs, first get them, some of them, they they need to be confident in all her job is to socialize the dogs, “So don’t sleep through the night, they situations… Things we take for Lois goes with me to restaurants, chew on stuff, you have to housetrain them” (Ranish). It takes a lot of time, energy and patience to “If I have a dog with me, people train a puppy. It can also be a lot of fun, but there are also things the always want to talk to me. If I don’t dogs are not supposed to do, such have a dog then I’m just a person, as “...Attend Canine Companions approved obedience classes. nobody wants to say hello... Teach the puppy manners and baI’ve met amazing people because of sic commands. Provide financially for the puppy’s food, medical and these guys, these wonderful dogs” transportation expenses... Provide Jo-Ann Ranish the puppy with age-appropriate socialization opportunities such as public outings and medical apgranted--such as phones ringing, we go to dentist appointments, pointments…” (Puppy Raising couples hugging, cars, and kids-- when I get my hair cut. Of course Program). Training a puppy is not are likely to send the dog into a we go up to Rancho San Antonio simple, it is not something you can barking frenzy or scrambling for for hikes… you know she goes to do quickly. Raising a service dog is the nearest hiding place” (Kahn). Costco a lot. It’s just taking them not like raising a family dog, “... One dog Thea and Jo-Ann raised, all sorts of places someone with a it’s not just fun and you’re playMolly B, became a facility dog. disability might take their dogs” ing with dogs, but you’re doing She works in courthouses to pro- (Ranish). Raising a service dog can it for a good reason and working vide emotional support in stress- be fun, but it can also be difficult. toward these dogs becoming work ful situations. On the Courthouse Every time you get a new puppy it dogs and I always think it’s sort dogs website it talk about Molly is a new challenge, and a new ad- of this wonderful thing because B’s training, “Molly B spent the venture. “You know puppies take you do this, it’s a very giving thing first eighteen months of her life a lot of time, you know when you too…” (Yamaguchi). Another with her puppy raisers... During that time, Thea and JoAnn taught Molly B basic commands and provided her with a number of experiences with different people, places and things” (Molly B - Facility Dog). Molly B is just one example of a successful dog that Jo-Ann, and Thea, raised.
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Jo-Ann has trained many successful dogs. She gets the dogs when they are two months old and keeps them until they are a year and a half old. Jo-Ann spends
difficult part is when the puppies return to Canine Companions, “...when you have to send them back, you know they’re kind of like your kids. you put a lot of time and effort into them and then you send them off. You know, it’s a little sad. But then, if they do make it, you just, you see what amazing help they are to other people, so that makes it a little easier” (Ranish). After the puppies are raised by selfless people such as Jo-Ann they go to back to Canine Companions for Independence where they go through 6 months of intensive training and screenings such as health screening. “About 50% of the dogs that are sent back are released. They get stressed, they just don’t want to work, all sorts of reasons” (Ranish). The puppy raisers have first choice for a released dog, but if they don’t keep them, there is a list of people waiting to get one of these dogs. The puppy raisers are not in the dark about what happens to their dogs, “... every month we get a report, like a little report card and they’ll say all the things they’re doing really well in a n d
the things they’re not doing so great in, those things” (Ranish). However, if the dogs make it all the way through the training, they are matched to a person. Once matched the person and their dog go through a couple more weeks of training before they can work together. When I asked Jo-Ann how long she plans to keep raising service dogs, she says, “As long as I can. Lois goes back November the 6th. And... two months before one goes back, I usually raise another one but there’s a little bit of a shortage of dogs so I have to just wait. Plus I’m a little fussy now because I really like the black labs, and the females. A lot of people will just say, and I used to say, whatever comes up I’ll take, but now I kind of want a black female, so sometimes it takes a little extra
time.” For a while Jo-Ann did not know which puppy she would be getting next and when, however in early October Jo-Ann texts me a picture of a yellow lab surrounded by about eight little yellow puppies and one black puppy:
Guess which puppy I’m picking up next month!
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Wo ks Cited “Facts and FAQ’s” Canine Companions for Independence. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. Kahn Luttrell, Sharron. Weekends With Daisy. New York: Gallery Books, 2013. Print. “Lois Lane” Superman Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2015. “Molly B - Facility Dog” Courthouse Dogs. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Oct. 2015 O’Donnell, Terry and Ranish, Jo-Ann. Personal Interview. 7 Oct. 2015. O’Leary, Aidan. Personal interview. 27 Sept. 2015. “Puppy Raising Program” Canine Companions for Independence. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2015. Ranish, Jo-Ann. Personal Interview. 23 Sept 2015 Yamaguchi, Miko. Personal interview. 27 Sept. 2015.
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