Samantha Dumrath and Jade first met in January and they have been inseparable ever since. So much so that they’re running together in the Scotiabank marathon later this month.
Ms Dumrath, 24, is a foster puppy raiser living in Thornhill for the Autism Dog Services, an organization that trains, places and provides support for service dogs for autistic children across Ontario.
Jade is an 18-month-old yellow labrador retriever puppy that she is raising for ADS’s Foster A Puppy program.
The Foster A Puppy program receives puppies donated by different breeders from across Ontario. ADS pairs each puppy with a foster volunteer who will help train and raise them to be future service dogs. The organization provides all foster puppy raisers with puppy food donated by Eukanaba and all necessary training equipment. It also covers all veterinary care costs that the puppy may need.
Interested volunteers fill out an application online listing their background in raising dogs. After this initial stage, Ms Lynn Theander conducts an in-person interview, during which she determines the applicant’s commitment to the training and their overall “dog sense”.
The process usually takes about a year for an applicant to be paired with a foster puppy, depending on the breed preferred. However, Ms Dumrath was a special case.
“Usually, you get [the puppies] at eight weeks. I got her at eight months,” she says of Jade. “I’ve done dog training before, so they needed someone with a little more experience to take her on.”
Volunteer puppy raisers are responsible for taking ADS puppies to public places in their service dog jacket. It is important that the puppy has a positive experience to a wide range of environments to prepare them for their life as a service dog.
An autism service dog becomes an autistic child’s best friend. The service dog is attached to a harness around the child’s waist and will go everywhere with the child. The dog will act as a bridge for the child to interact with people and the environment around them.
It’s also a comfort to the parents of the autistic child because if the child should have an outburst or run away, the dog is trained to stop the child and give them comfort.
“The biggest thing is socialization,” says Ms Dumrath. “They need to be around as many people as possible at different environments, so I take her to my classes, to the grocery store, everywhere.”
Puppy raisers are also responsible for taking their puppy to training classes twice a week. Vaughan foster puppies attend class at the Vaughan Mills Shopping Centre. In class, the puppies learn different exercises, practice distraction drills and more.
Once the puppy is at 15 to 18 months of age, they move on to the advanced training program. Foster puppy raisers will give them back to ADS staff members who will then train the older puppies at their homes full-time.
After another few months, the puppy will be ready to be paired with an autistic child and their family.
“I really don’t have [Jade] for that much longer,” says Ms Dumrath. “The trainer the other day said that she’ll be ready for advanced training in about a month or so.”
But before they part ways, Ms Dumrath and Jade hope to run together for ADS at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon Oct. 20. They will be running with a team of Ms Dumrath’s co-workers from the John Street Animal Hospital. Together with seven other teams registered, they aim to raise $75,000 for the organization.
“ADS isn’t government funded, so all their money comes from donations and Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon is their biggest event of the year,” says Ms Dumrath.
The Scotiabank Toronto Marathon supports three charities every year. This year, organizers have included ADS with Engineers Without Borders Canada and St. Christopher House. The marathon supports almost 200 charities this year.
~ Courtesy of York Region
Tags: dog runs marathon, foster dog, future service dog, marathon runner, puppy raiser, service dog
