Our Mission

The Dog Guide Users of New Hampshire is a totally voluntary support group that promotes the use of Service Dogs for the disabled through peer support, advocacy, education, and public awareness. The Dog Guide Users of New Hampshire also embraces all individuals who are interested in the care, handling, and/or raising of Guide, Hearing and Service Dogs for independent living

THE SERVICE DOG EXPERIENCE - Stories by Our Members, and Archives

CeCe, and The Prison PUP and NEADS Partnership

She’s a working gal named CeCe. CeCe, a golden lab mix is a service dog I received from NEADS. Her daily activities can be anything but ordinary.

My juvenile rheumatoid arthritis has resulted in a severe walking disability, inability to reach items on or near the floor and to get up after a fall.

CeCe makes life much easier for me. She picks up and retrieves items and helps with my balance when walking. CeCe nudges accessible door plaques to open doors and can press elevator buttons. At home she brings the phone when I fall so I can summon help. At the market, she picks up and hands me low placed small items such as cat food cans.

CeCe accompanies me everywhere I go from the market, various meetings I attend, to an occasional restaurant. Until recently, she accompanied me at work in a retail establishment as well. She has become a familiar presence at the Legislative Office Building in Concord where she frequently attends both House and Senate hearings as I testify on legislation concerning disability and service dog issues.

But CeCe’s greatest glory may be the year she was named the official mascot for the Seacoast Cat Club. She’s the first dog to attend CFA cat shows. Since her feline playmate, Puck, is a show cat, CeCe accompanies us through the show hall and watches him in the judges rings. CeCe is not at all bothered by being the only dog in the hall. For CeCe it brings its own rewards. She receives a lot of attention from cat show friends and judges alike. One of her favorite judges even gave her first—“winner’s ribbon” which she proudly wore throughout the show hall for the rest of the day.

When asked about all she does, CeCe replied, “For a service dog, it’s all in a days work.”Sandra Teti, Service Dog User 2009.

The Prison PUP and NEADS Partnership
by Barbara Parsons, Puppy Raisor, 2009

York Correctional Institute for Women in Niantic, CT started the Prison PUP. Partnership January 20th, 1999. The program is run in conjunction with National Education for Assistance Dog Services (NEADS). A nonprofit organization,

NEADS has been training dogs to assist people who are deaf, hearing impaired or physically disabled since 1976; and since 1998, they've been placing puppies with inmates in various correctional facilities. The prison program's goal is to speed up the training process for assistance dogs.

Because the dogs in the prison program live with the inmate 24/7, the inmates are able to focus on the dogs and do more advanced training than the 16 months it typically takes volunteers in their homes. It also reduces the time a dog needs to spend with a professional trainer. But not just any inmate can become a puppy trainer. York inmates must undergo a rigorous screening process that demands they have a clean discipline record at the facility, a high level of maturity and motivation and at least 18 months left on their sentence ( the maximum time it takes to train a dog). The puppy handlers also learn about dog grooming, basic health, training material, complete written assignments, keep a daily log of the puppy's activities and attend weekly classes with trainers.

The puppies are usually 8 weeks when they are assigned to an inmate puppy handler. There is a period of adjustment that consists of the puppy becoming comfortable in his crate, the new environment and the challenge of potty training. Once this is mastered, the basic commands begin: sit, down, shake (puppy gives you their paw). As the puppy matures the puppy handler begins to work on harder commands; down stay, carry, bring, take. The dogs will learn to turn light switches on and off with their paw and/or nose, pull open a refrigerator door, retrieve a portable telephone. The dogs must be taught to put all items in their trainers hand.

Before a dog leaves the inmate handler they should be able to walk "heel" beside a wheelchair or walker, stay in a down position for hours, in case their new client is not mobile. and put items asked for directly in to the hand of their new owner. Some of the York graduated dogs carry laptops, retrieve dropped keys, are used for balance as a walker dog instead of the client using a walker or crutches. All of the puppies entering the prison program are trained the same. Once they are returned to NEADS they determine if a dog will be a Social dog, Service dog, Walker dog, Hearing dog, etc..

Training puppies in prison is a winning situation for the puppy and its trainer. Unconditional love.

 

WORKING WITH A GUIDE, HEARING OR SERVICE DOG

Learn about Guide, Hearing and Service Dogs through the Video presented by the Disability Rights Center of New Hampshire and Concord Public TV. For accessibility for the blind tab to first button or reads button 3 or 4 hit enter wait 15 seconds to begin or link to Google Video for automatic play.

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