Injured man trains own service dog

By S. Virginia De Herdt
Correspondent

Bill Wolfe, who suffers from a head injury, is training his dog, Newton, to become a certified service dog, with the help of Fort Collins dog trainer Debbie Petersen and "Teamwork I Training Manual" (Top Dog Publications).

The threesome came about partly through the efforts of Disabled Resource Services, which is holding its annual fund-raiser Wine Fest on June 11.

Wolfe suffered a head injury when he was 4 - the car he was riding in rolled over him in an accident. He cannot use his left arm or right eye, he limps and he can be difficult to understand. Wolfe's last job, before his health deteriorated in about 1998, was doing agency revitalization work on a half-time basis. He needs neurosurgery to remove a recently diagnosed aneurysm.

Wolfe recommends that those applying for a service dog for the first time be patient. The process takes time, whether persons with disabilities decide to apply for dogs already trained by professional organizations (the most common route), or whether they decide to get and train their dogs themselves.

According to Petersen, Top Dog says it takes about three years for the average person to train a service dog versus just six months for a trainer.

"Whether Newton gets certification is up to Bill," she said. "Newton may or may not be capable...it depends how badly Bill wants it." As long as he wants to continue training, Petersen is willing to help.

Wolfe's first contact with DRS was in 1985, when he started attending Colorado State University. Today, DRS continues to help both him and his wife, Connie, who also suffered a head injury. For example, case manager Jennifer Bell helps them to fill out complicated forms and walks them through the "mine fields" of applying for special equipment or requesting rebates.

DRS wrote a letter of support for Wolfe when he was applying for a service dog from Freedom Service Dogs in Lakewood. That's where he met Petersen, who interviewed him, but that's not where he got Newton.

Before Petersen would look for a dog for Wolfe, she needed to know he was committed. Wolfe needed $700, of which $200 served as a deposit (refundable at his dog's certification). The rest of the money pays for any dog equipment, including a special backpack or a harness identifying the dog as a service dog.

Petersen doesn't charge Wolfe for her time, and obedience-training classes taught by Petersen at the Canine Learning Center are free. So the cost to Wolfe is nominal, considering that assistance dog organizations estimate each dog they raise and train to give away costs them $10,000 to $20,000.

Petersen is not currently associated with any assistance dog organization. A friend at Noah's Assistance Dogs, located in Crete, Neb., will come to Fort Collins to administer the Assistance Dogs International service dog test when Newton is ready.

What will Newton learn? To work his canine charms to help strangers overcome their anxieties with the Wolfes, whose disabilities make many people uncomfortable. To pick things up, help load and unload clothes from front-loading washers and dryers, and let Bill know when someone calls out his name (by running back and forth between him and that person). He's not big enough to provide counterbalance.

Newton is not the first dog Wolfe has trained. He trained family pet dogs to help him as a child. He trained his first service dog, Lulu, with the help of Fort Collins trainer Gail Clark. A black Labrador retriever, Lulu was adopted from the Larimer Humane Society when she was 10 months old. She died last April. "There's Lulu now," Wolfe said, pointing to the decorated box that contains her ashes.

Like Lulu, Newton came from the Larimer Humane Society. He had just arrived the morning Petersen was there searching for a dog for Wolfe. She knew a purebred golden retriever would be quickly adopted. If Wolfe wanted him, they would have to adopt him through the usual procedures. Wolfe paid the necessary fees.

Different animal shelters have different policies when it comes to donating animals. The Larimer Humane Society will donate dogs they have difficulty adopting out, Petersen explained. An animal shelter that has a working relationship with an assistance dog organization, like Freedom Service Dogs, is more likely to donate a dog because it knows the organization will have the dog spayed or neutered, keep its shots current and place it in a good home.

Petersen took her first class in dog obedience about 30 years ago. She competed in AKC obedience trial competitions as a hobby. When she had to change occupations because of an accident, she decided to do something with dogs. After learning how difficult it was to break into guide-dog training, she opted for an organization that teaches trainers to train service dogs. Petersen worked for Freedom Service Dogs in Lakewood for five years and continues to work at the Canine Learning Center in Fort Collins.

Writer Ginny De Herdt served on the DRS Board of Directors for six years and continues actively supporting this center for independent living in other ways.