“We breed about 50 percent of the dogs we use, and the rest are rescues,” says Carol. “With a rescue, we’re restoring two lives: the person’s and the dog’s.” Four full-time trainers and numerous volunteers work at Guardian Angels, putting in the enormous amount of time necessary to fully train a medical service dog. With the dogs bred on the premises, by the time a puppy is 14 weeks old, it knows all the basic obedience commands and already has 170 hours of socialization. “Everyone here—from pooper scoopers to trainers—plays a vital role in getting these dogs to the people,” says Carol, a dog trainer for nearly 50 years, who also has a business management background. More intense training begins around six months of age. Many of the skills start out as games—having the dog pick up something you drop and bring it back to your hand. Eventually, the dog will be able to turn on lights, open doors, retrieve dropped items, open the refrigerator and take out a bottle of water, close and open doors, even call for help by pressing the emergency button on a special phone device. In addition to many helpful skills, a medical service dog can alert their recipient to insulin changes or seizure onset, gently wake them from nightmares and provide comfort and courage around the clock. At any given time, Guardian Angels is home to 50 to 60 dogs of various ages and in different training stages. Currently able to pair 100 dogs with vets each year, Carol hopes to see that increase to 300 to 500 dogs a year in the near future. The application process to obtain a dog is extensive, and obviously, if veterans had to
pay for their dogs, it would be totally costprohibitive. Not only does Guardian Angels donate the dogs to the recipients, but they provide the training necessary to make the pairing effective. Approved recipients work with their dog and a Guardian Angels’ trainer for several days. It takes between 500 to 1,500 hours of training until a dog is ready for pairing with a recipient. Dogs are typically 1 to 2 years of age by this time, and they have a working life of eight to 10 years. “These dogs are with their person 24/7,” says Carol. “They’re different from pets in that the only one who plays with or feeds the dog is the recipient. This is what keeps the bond strong. But because dogs think in a pack mentality, the dog considers everyone in the family as part of that pack.” “Bishop,” a middle-aged German Shepherd, is a perfect example of a rescueturned-medical-service-dog. Found by a “puller,” someone who works with Guardian Angels by making regular visits to shelters, Bishop was discovered one day before he was to be euthanized. Extremely underweight and plagued by skin infections, Bishop’s ears were bloody and mangled, but his kind disposition was still apparent. Bishop spent several weeks in a quarantine foster home, which is standard for rescues. After recovering from his health challenges, he went into training and within a few months was paired with Robert, a Vietnam vet who suffers from diabetes and PTSD and was totally reclusive before Bishop entered his life. “For most people, if you make a serious impact on someone else’s life, that’s huge, but in our business, we’re impacting thousands of lives,” says Carol. “Not only do the dogs impact the recipients themselves, but it’s also their family members and caregivers who are touched. We’ve given all these people their lives back. It’s really a feel-good story.”
Want To Know More? To learn more, to donate or become a volunteer or foster home, visit medicalservicedogs. com. If you are a veteran currently undergoing treatment for PTSD at a Florida VA facility and are interested in getting a dog, contact Guardian Angels to see if you qualify through email at carol@medicalservicedogs.com.
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