This week's heroes is the organization called Assistance Dogs of the West, and the assistance dogs themselves. Earlier this week, the organization graduated a number of dogs in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Here's their success story!
A happy graduation day for assistance dogs
With wet noses and wagging tails, 35 newly trained assistance dogs and their owners attended a graduation ceremony Wednesday at New Mexico School for the Deaf’s James A. Little Theater, marking the completion of their training with Assistance Dogs of the West.
WHAT THEY DO: Assistance Dogs of the West is a local organization that helps people learn to become assistance dog trainers, pairing people who face disabilities with a trained service dog. The dogs help with various ailments, including mobility impairments, autism spectrum disorders, developmental disabilities, seizure disorders, diabetes and post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Assistance Dogs of the West has incorporated an innovative, powerful educational component where students of all ages, all walks of life, all abilities, learn to train service dogs under the guidance of our professionals,” actress and longtime animal advocate Ali MacGraw said during the ceremony.
Some dogs will go on to serve their owners; others will go to courthouses and hospitals to comfort people during their darkest days. Some, like an Australian shepherd named Hawkeye, will go on to use their training to help veterans cope with PTSD.
Army veteran Theodore “Ted” Skibyak recalled the night Hawkeye saved his life before going through the training program.
“I got Hawkeye when he was a pup, and I wasn’t sure if we were going to bond until one night he woke my wife up because I wasn’t breathing very well,” Skibyak said. “He was just whining and pawing at me, trying to wake me up. Since then, he has been really attached to me.”
Skibyak said he has faced trauma through much of his life, from a yearlong combat tour in Iraq to a horrific car accident that left him without the use of his right arm. He eventually was diagnosed with PTSD.
“I’ve been in situations when you’re trying to save a kid, and you can’t, and it eats at you. You wonder what you did wrong. And then you’re in combat and people are shooting at you,” he recalled.
Skibyak was a part of the organization’s Warrior Canine Connections, which unites veterans with service dogs and teaches them about the training. He said he tried to get a dog paired with him but hadn’t found the right match.
Organizers said Assistance Dogs of the West tries to make sure potential owners are paired with their perfect partner, allowing the dogs to “choose” their new lifelong companion.
“Their dogs can interview a whole bunch of people before they find out who the dog wants to work with,” Skibyak said.
Skibyak said he eventually decided to get a puppy from a breeder in Los Lunas and train the pooch himself under the organization’s self-training program, which allows owners to instruct their own dogs to become a service animal.
After going through the minimum six-month training period, Skibyak said Hawkeye is able to help him with all sorts of day-to-day tasks, such as retrieving items, opening doors and pushing buttons.
While Skibyak said his service dog mainly offers him physical support, many other veterans look to their partners for emotional aid.
Army veteran Chuck Zobac said his golden lab, Mitzi, helps him stay calm and manage his PTSD symptoms. “When the animal is there, and I can talk to or pet the animal, that reduces the tension,” he said. Zobac went through the Warrior Canine Connections program and was paired with Mitzi.
“I think the experience has been very positive because not only do they dot the i’s and cross the t’s, but they want to make sure that there’s a compatibility and understanding between the animal and the recipient,” he said.
Since coming together, Mitzi and her owner have formed an inseparable bond.
“The dog looks at me — and, you know, if you’re there and no matter how pretty you are and what kind of candy you have in your hand, the dog will look at me,” Zobac said.
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