Photo by Dana Kacedon

We didn't believe it either, until we saw it. Cynthia Good of Kingwood Township has good reason to smile upon her faithful dog Thor.

Alexandria Twp. - Can you imagine a dog that will put your dishes in the dishwasher or retrieve your phone? even turn lights on and off for you? Susan Greenbaum, director of Dogs in Service trains dogs to do all that and more.

Mrs. Greenbaum has been training dogs for Dogs In Service, a soon-to-be nonprofit organization she founded a year ago. She started Dogs in Service because it was what she always wanted to do. She started training "assistance dogs," for the disabled several years ago, working for a company in Manhattan.

Assistance dogs help people who are hearing-impaired, subject to epileptic seizures, unable to walk or are disabled in some other way.

Mrs. Greenbaum wanted to devote her energy full-time to training assistance dogs and pet assistant therapy dogs.

Dogs in Service is run by herself, with eight volunteers. Mrs. Greenbaum is the main trainer. The volunteers help to housebreak the dogs and socialize them. The volunteers take the dogs wherever they go, whether it be on a plane, to the movies, out to dinner or shopping. New Jersey laws require that dogs in training for assistance or companion programs must be allowed everywhere, as if they were already official assistance dogs.

Mrs. Greenbaum said, "Mostly we’re treated very well by store owners, rarely are we treated badly." She added, "Hopefully our clients don’t have to do much in public education."

More of a problem, she said, is people wanting to pet or play with the dogs. She said it isn’t helpful because they are training the assistance dogs to be "invisible."

The first dog she trained in Hunterdon County is a German shepherd named Thor. Thor is different from other dogs she has trained because he was already a pet to his owner, Cynthia Good of Kingwood Township. Usually Mrs. Greenbaum finds the dog, then trains and places it. But this time, the dog-owner sought out her services. The two jointly trained Thor to meet her needs.

Thor can load a dishwasher, retrieve items like a telephone, pick up dropped items like change and credit cards or carry the laundry basket down stairs and open doors. Mrs. Good gets around by using an electric cart. In a store, she hands money to Thor who takes it in his mouth and presents it to the cashier. Change is returned the same way. Out in the parking lot, he can take the bagged purchases from the basket on Mrs. Good’s cart and put them into her van.

Although assistance dogs are trained to be all-business when they are on duty, when their vests come off, they revert to the role of household pet. Back home, when Mrs. Good says, "Hug-a-bug" Thor puts his front feet up on her cart so she can hug him. Mrs. Good said, "Thor is my best friend, he helps me in a way that no one else can... He gives me moral support." She added, "Thor is security, he makes me feel that nothing can go wrong."

Unlike Mrs. Good, many owners don’t realize how capable their dogs are, commented Mrs. Greenbaum. The most difficult part of the training is getting the client to realize what the dog can do.

Mrs. Greenbaum is training two dogs for the assistance dog program now. One is a Chesapeake Bay retriever the other a chocolate Labrador retriever. Both dogs were donated to the program. She said they originally had 25 dogs available to them. Out of the 25 only eight had the right temperament for the program. After extensive medical testing only these two were suitable. Mrs. Greenbaum said very few dogs are suitable for the program. She said they mainly use adult dogs that have been very socialized and have good house manners. She said the dogs must be comfortable with traveling on planes, buses, trains and cars. The dog must not get scared when a car back-fires or a motorcycle rumbles by. The dogs can not be overprotective of their owners because in the case of an emergency, medical personnel must be able to get to the owners without a problem.

The aim of the program is to make a good match between dog and client. Mrs. Greenbaum said she wouldn’t give an active dog to someone who doesn't leave the house often.

If Dogs in Service were to charge a fair price for their efforts, the price would be $18,000 to $22,000 to train one dog, according to Mrs. Greenbaum.. Besides medical testing and basic care-and-feeding expenses, the dogs must be trained for a variety of situations, so expenses include airline tickets and meals in restaurants. Hours and hours of attention are lavished on each dog.

But after all that, Dogs in Service charges only $1,000 to $3,000 for a trained dog. The price depends on the amount of training the dog gets. Mrs. Greenbaum said it takes 4 to 10 months to train a dog. It all depends on the needs of the client. Mrs. Greenbaum’s main goals while training the dogs are to make them as invisible as possible and meet the needs of their owner.

The average dog spends eight years in service, according to Mrs. Greenbaum. After that, the dogs are retired and adopted out to families as pets. Rarely do they stay with their original owner because the dog would likely be jealous of the new assistance dog.

Recently she was approached by St. Joseph’s Hospital in Paterson to start a Pet Assistance Therapy program in the hospital to work with kids who are there long-term.

She uses the specially trained dogs to help kids understand what is happening to them; motivate them to move, get out of bed and assist them in their own therapy programs. She accomplishes this through Storm, a small Shetland sheepdog. Storm lets the kids take his temperature and check his blood pressure. This allows the child to relax while a nurse takes the child’s temperature and blood pressure.

Storm motivates the children to become more active, He plays fetch with he kids and is taken on walks by them. Mrs. Greenbaum said, "Storm can pick but the sickest child in a room; he’ll run right up to them."

Barking Hills Country Club on the Frenchtown-Milford Road, home of Dogs In Service, offers dog-training classes for pets at the Pattenburg VFW on Saturdays. Call 996-9911 for details.

Photo by Dana Kacedon

Being a dog is no handicap for Thor.

Photo by Dana Kacedon

Even Rin-Tin-Tin was no help at removing socks. The highly trained Thor performs that service for Cynthia Good, thanks to his Dogs in Service training.

1271 Route 22 East - Suite 23, Lebanon, NJ 08833
908-996-9911 FAX 908-236-8883

We'd love to hear from you, whether you need more information,   want to share your experiences with dogs in service, or just want to ask a question.

 

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