The Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) non-profit organization, which has paired service dogs with people with disabilities in need for 40 years, is preparing for its annual Hearts & Heroes gala for the North-East region at the Grand Hyatt in New York City on Thursday evening.
The point of the event is to raise money so the organization can continue to give away trained service dogs at no charge to needy recipients. It costs CCI approximately $45,000 to raise and train each service dog, said John Bentzinger, who handles public relations for Northeast Region Canine Companions for Independence.
The service dogs are all Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers and crosses between the two that are bred at the CCI national headquarters in Santa Rosa, Calif.
When the puppies reach 8 weeks old they are flown to one of CCI's six regional headquarters across the country, where trained volunteers raise them and teach these special dogs basic commands and socialization skills.
Soon afterward – when the puppies are 18 months old – they head back to the regional headquarters where they start phase two of their intense training. For the next six months they will learn and master following more than 50 commands, while the instructors evaluate each dog's strengths and weaknesses so each can be matched to the right eager recipient.
Among the many commands these dogs learn include picking up objects off the floor – an extremely common issue in serving special needs owners – turning on and off light switches and opening doors.
The goal is for the dogs to help the people with disabilities become independent in their everyday lives, said Bentzinger.
CCI's evaluation protocals are extremely stringent; only four out of 10 dogs (40 percent) make it though the entire process to get paired with people with disabilities, explained Bentzinger. Dogs that don't make it are donated to hospitals, rehabilitation centers and criminal justice systems.
Once a dog is paired with a recipient, the two become a team and work together during a two week "Team Training" session at their regional headquarter. The point is for the two to bond and learn to communicate. Humans are schooled in the art of giving commands while the dogs learn how to respond to orders from new special needs owners. At the end of the two-week period the service dogs are handed off to their disabled owner for good in what is always an emotion-filled "graduation" ceremony.
This week's Hearts & Heroes gala will be chock full of donors and recipients and four service dog recipients have been invited to give speeches at Thursday's gala.
"Working with athletes who have disabilities and seeing the value that a trained service dog brings to the well being of the team has been tremendous, and I'm very excited to be able to share what we do with the people who are going to be at the gala," said Betsy Alison, whose service dog, Morrow (the second), works in service of the Paralympic division of the U.S. Sailing Association.
"[Morrow] is a constant in their lives when they are training and travelling," explained Alison, pointing out that CCI trianed Morrow. "So if they're having a bad day on the water and not as receptive to conversation because they are frustrated with their performance Morrow totally changes their psychological perspective to communication and really puts them back on track again."
Kevin Tinsley, another Hearts & Heroes speaker, is looking forward to sharing his daughter's experience with the attendees.
His 15-year-old daughter, Jasmine, is nonverbal and has limited mobility due to her cerebral palsy but her service dog, Ohio, transformed her into a social person within just a few months.
"I'm just going to talk about how this one little dog can possibly change a girl's life and make her go from being a wallflower who doesn't say anything to anybody, to now a young lady who is not afraid to be in public – not afraid to express herself," said Tinsley. In fact, Tinsley calls Ohio Jasmine's "true best friend."
His daughter requires 24-hour supervision, but with Ohio she can be alone in her room, where she enjoys listening to her music on her iPad.
U.S. Staff Sargeant Sam Cila, who was injured by an improvised explosive device (IED) blast while in service to the nation overseas in Baghdad on July 4, 2005, and Cara Miller, who was confirmed deaf at 18 months old, will also reveal how their CCI service dogs changed their lives profoundly.
Registration is closed for the event, but those who want to donate to the program can do so here.
