Imagine giving the gift of independence to people and helping a person participate in everyday activities they were unable to do before. The Saint Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation has the power to grant this gift. Named after the saint famous for his love of animals, Saint Francis has been providing service, hearing, and therapeutic social dogs for adults and children with disabilities since 1996.
Saint Francis service dogs are different from guide dogs for the blind. These dogs assist individuals with disabilities by helping them do everyday tasks. The dogs can perform over 100 household duties such as picking up dropped objects, retrieving food from the refrigerator and turning on lights. Hearing dogs are trained to alert those with hearing loss to sounds such as the ringing telephone, an alarm clock going off, or a baby crying. A therapeutic social dog’s main job is to contribute to a person’s emotional well being besides carrying out certain trained tasks. No matter how young or old, anyone with mobility problems can benefit from the Saint Francis service dogs.
Individuals or families that need physical and emotional support can apply at Saint Francis of Assisi Service Dog Foundation. They do their absolute best to select a dog suited to each person’s specific needs.
Brett Olson is a 12-year-old boy with cerebral palsy. Recently, Brett’s Saint Francis dog, Nugget, assisted him in walking up and down stairs for the very first time. He happily conveyed to his mother, the only good thing about having CP is his service dog.
There’s something to be said about Saint Francis’ unique way of raising the puppies to become service dogs. It’s difficult to find puppy raisers who will take a puppy into their home, turn around and give them up when they are old enough to be fully trained. Saint Francis has established a specialized “Prison Pup” program. Inmates in Virginia prisons are responsible for raising and providing early training for the puppies. The program not only benefits the puppies but the inmates too. The inmates love the experience and get a chance to do something worthwhile while being incarcerated.
Saint Francis recently purchased an 18-acre farm in Roanoke that will eventually become the new training facility. The new complex will greatly increase the number of needed dogs placed in homes yearly. This monumental development will provide Saint Francis’ with the tools they need to reach an important goal. The organization plans to make even more of a contributing difference to a greater number of people through the gift of providing service dogs.
For more information, visit their website: www.saintfrancisdogs.org
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