By Christina Martinez | Project Leader
Canines With a Cause held its annual retreat this past month in Park City, UT, giving the staff a chance to bond and brainstorm for the upcoming year. A hot topic of discussion was the development of a fun, reliable foster program for our canines entering and/or exiting our program. As many of you know, a unique trait that makes CWAC different from other service dog programs is that we often source potential canine candidates from rescues, shelters or by donation. That being said, timing can be tricky when it comes to pairing our candidates with our new veterans because they are in need of transitional housing until they find their forever home. CWAC’s long-term goal is to find property in the Salt Lake City area to use as a boarding and training facility but until then we turning to the public to help us short-term. So expect to see a fun, revitalization of the Paw Squad, CWAC’s foster program in the coming months!
In Reno, we have 5 on-going teams training with trainer Seamus. In Utah, we have 4 teams working with trainer Harleigh. Nick & Puzzola, CJ & Renji and Troy & Megatron are all in Beginner class while Chelsea & Poptart are grinding through Advanced level. Those in our Beginner classes are working on instilling basic commands in their canines like, “sit,” “wait,” “down.” Veterans are also training their canines harness/leash-up manners, plus directional changes and touch/hand targeting. After roughly 56hrs of training and 8 weeks of working the program, these beginners will prep to take the Canines Good Citizen (CGC) test.
Some can already see and feel a positive shift from training their own service dog. For instance, Megatron has given Troy a new purpose in life, getting him out of the house to exercise and train, developing a daily routine. Same can be said for Bill & Rocky, our Reno team going through Beginner's class. John is more active with Max and takes advantage of and engages in more opportunities. CJ & Renji are also a very happy pair. Renji gets along perfectly with both CJ’s son, partner and their other dog. Renji follows them around everywhere and remains very sweet and gentle inside the home. Not to mention, Renji has great leash manners which makes it easy for both CJ and his partner to walk.
It is quite a privilege to see the transformation in veterans as the work towards something both significant and lifesaving. We look forward to updating you all with progress and exciting news to come. And as always, thank you for supporting Canines With a Cause!
By Christina Martinez | Project Leader
By Christina Martinez | Project Leader
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