'Life changing dog': Lions Foundation hosting Walk For Dog Guides at High Park
· Toronto Sun
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When Emily Ackerman met her dog guide Yuki, her whole life changed for the better.
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“Being partnered with Yuki has positively impacted my independence and acceptance of my identity,” the Toronto resident said of her dog guide. “She helps me stay aware of my surroundings by alerting me to sounds and activity around me, which gives me confidence and security.”
Ackerman was born “profoundly” deaf and grew up in a hearing family.
“At work and in the studio, she supports both my mental health and my ability to interact with others by alerting me when someone calls my name,” Akerman said. “Whether I am commuting or working long hours, her attentiveness allows me to feel safe, capable, and at ease.”
On Friday night, the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides will be hosting its annual Walk for Dog Guides. The walk is scheduled for 6 p.m. at High Park.
“They are life-changing dogs. They provide confidence, independence, and security to our clients,” Travis Forbes, the national event manager for the foundation, told the Toronto Sun. “These dogs are sometimes an extension of people’s arms, people’s voice, ears, and people’s ability to live life with confidence and independence.”
Rallying behind the cause
Truly, it takes a community to get a dog prepared to perform its duties, but the quality and reliability of the service provided by the dog, never mind the emotional burden removed from the client, comes with a hefty price tag.
The cost to fully train a functioning service dog is $35,000. The process takes approximately two years.
“I don’t think a lot of people realize how much goes into it,” director of marketing and communications Maria Galindo said. “Besides the number, we are talking about a whole community of people.”
The dollar value arrived at covers a whole host of fees from training, food, vet bills, travel costs and accommodations for the client.
“(The dogs) need a hip check, shoulders and elbows, eye checks and we do a genetic line screening to make sure that everything is good (physically with the dog),” Galindo said. “A lot of the cost comes from trying to make sure the dogs are healthy to (enter) into this line of work.
“Once you understand how big a process this is, (you) understand why this is so expensive.”
The foundation has been providing dog guides for use in Canada for more than four decades. Over the years, they have figured out what works and what does not work.
“We pick specific dogs based on their socialization skills, their genetics, everything goes into the dogs we decide to breed,” Galindo said. “We work with Labs, golden retrievers and standard poodles because that is where we saw the most success rate.”
The foundation trains dogs for service in canine vision, hearing, service, seizure response, autism assistance, diabetes alert and facility support.
“We are the only one in the world that has seven programs, which means we have a range of dogs that we can accommodate into each program,” Galindo said.
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A range of skills required
Each service requires a different set of skills.
“If you are looking for a hearing dog, you are looking for a dog that is very energetic, and alert at all times,” Galindo said. “If you are looking in the autism program for children on the spectrum, you are looking for a dog that is calm and likes affection because those children need emotional support. But you are also looking for a bigger dog because a lot of dogs in the autism program hug the kids and that pressure helps to regulate the (child’s) emotions, so they go from a 10 to a 2 just by hugging the dog.”
Autism dogs are for children ages 3-12. Five of the six programs set a minimum age requirement at 14 years old. Hearing dogs are for people 16 or older.
Headquartered in Oakville, the foundation has been in business since 1983. More than 3,000 dogs have graduated from service during that time. Currently, there are about 1,000 dogs working in Canada. The foundation graduates approximately 150 dogs per year.
“We started with a canine vision program and slowly started to see that there was a need for more (programs),” Galindo said. “And since we are a charity, we have to do it in a responsible way. We don’t have any government support for our operations, so we have to make sure we were growing responsibly, according to our donations.”
Nationally, the goal is to raise $1.6 million this year. As on Thursday evening, the foundation had raised $595, 097. In Toronto, the goal is $40,000. As of Thursday evening, the total reached in the city was $12,837.
As mentioned, the foundation receives no government funding and relies entirely on the generosity of donors, sponsors, volunteers, and community-driven fundraising events such as the walk. Walks are planned for this weekend throughout the Greater Toronto Area.
To make a donation, for walk locations, dates and times, click here.
“We just encourage the community to come out and see what we are about,” Galindo said.