Liz Norris, the owner of a non-profit dog training service in Frankfort, has been training dogs for more than 20 years. On this Saturday, she’s guiding a group of thirteen people and their service dogs through various exercises.
Norris says people confuse service animals with therapy dogs all the time. “They interchange assistance dog with service dog with therapy dog or a therapeutic service dog and in reality a service dog is trained to do a specific task that mitigates the person’s disability,” said Norris.
The dog trainer says the specially trained pups help individuals with physical disabilities such as visual, hearing, and mobility impairments. These dogs can even detect certain diseases like diabetes and alert their owner if a seizure is coming on. Norris emphasizes that a service dog is trained to do tasks for one person while a therapy dog is trained to interact with and provide comfort for many people.
“It’s like come one, come all, everybody interact with us. When you have a service dog, it’s nobody interact with us except the person I’m working for because if you distract me and I miss a seizure or you distract me and I miss a blood sugar high or low , then, it can cost that handler a hospital visit or worse,” said Norris.
At one of Norris’ hour-long classes, Nicole Symon is leading golden retriever, Oakley, over a small wooden bridge and through a dog agility obstacle course, as part of his training to be her service dog. Symon came from Chicago to attend the University of Kentucky. She began Norris’ classes with Oakley earlier this year. Symon was in a serious car accident in high school that left her with traumatic brain issues. Symon is coping with several issues, including anxiety, migraines, and constant vertigo.
“Basically the equilibrium in my body is non-existent. So, my body can’t tell when I’m leaning left or right. So he’ll be having a fully trained harness, basically to act as a cane or support whenever I’m walking. He’ll learn to pull me up hills so I don’t get as tired and just kind of block me in crowds to avoid anxiety attacks too,” said Symon.
Symon’s fiancé, Austin Bray observed the service dog class in February this year. He says Symon’s dog, Oakley, is more than a dog.
“He’s basically medical equipment too and part of the family as well. When I was younger I thought service dogs were only for people who needed seeing- eye dogs. But now I know they do so many different things and I noticed it’s helped her out. When she has her blackouts she’ll fall down sometimes. I’ve had to catch her in the grocery store. I know I’ve had to catch her but now she has the dog,” noted Bray.
A bill to provide service dogs to veterans with PTSD passed in the U.S. House unanimously, earlier this year. Congressman Steve Stivers of Ohio’s 15th district authored the bill. The Brigadier general of the Ohio National Guard says, currently, the Veterans’ Administration will get vets service dogs for only two conditions: one is for people with a visual impairment, the other is a mobility impairment. Stivers spoke about a Vietnam War vet who’s suffered from PTSD for 50 years.
“And when he got his service dog, he got his life back and he can go and do almost anything you and I can do now. He was able to come be my guest at the State of the Union. He is living a full life again and he was close to suicide before that happened,” reported Stivers.
Florence resident, Mike Hammons, served in the Army for seven years. During his time in the military, he sustained an injury to his left foot. Now he has nerve damage and wears a leg brace.
Hammons says he was able to get his service dog, Sonny, due to his mobility issues. But he tells how Sonny has become a constant companion. He believes any veteran with PTSD could benefit greatly by having the chance to get a service dog. “ It’s amazing what they can do. I have depression and anxiety too with the chronic pain and he helps so much with that,” said Hammons.
Liz Norris says training service dogs is a lot of work and very rewarding.
“I like being able to change peoples’ lives. I like being able to give them quality of life and I like being able to know that I can change a dog’s life,” said Norris.
Norris says the service dogs are taught everything from recognizing anxiety to calling 9-1-1. Many of her students refer to these canine companions as best friends and lifesavers.
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