Ugh. Yesterday, I had to take a sick day. It was absolutely zero fun. The one bright spot was getting to catch up on my DVR.
One of the programs I watched was called Through a Dog’s Eyes. It’s a wonderful documentary that aired on PBS in April (and again in September), and it follows a group of people as they visit Canine Assistants to meet their service dogs for the first time. Canine Assistants is a group that breeds, trains, and places service dogs with people who have physical disabilities, seizure disorders, and other needs. (Canine Assistants provides the dogs free to the recipients through donations and sponsorships.) The stories of the recipients are moving and interesting – and it gives a whole new perspective on the human-canine bond.
Here’s a preview for the show – if you missed it on PBS, you can watch the entire program on the PBS website. (Bonus: it’s narrated by Neil Patrick Harris.)
Learn more, after the jump.
PBS has a wealth of useful information and great links on its page dedicated to the program. (There are even outtakes, training tips and a section simply called “More Puppies” – talk about knowing your audience.)
The founding of Canine Assistants is a great story. Jennifer Arnold was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis at the age of sixteen. Jennifer’s father suggested she get a service dog. An organization denied her application, which provided the inspiration for Jennifer to found Canine Assistants. (The organization is truly a family affair.)
Jennifer’s training philosophy is also a great one – it’s based on the idea that the dogs want to please their people, and it’s about positive reinforcement rather than domination. (I’m sure our friends at Never Shock a Puppy would approve.) The program also briefly touches upon the science behind the dog-human bond. (Through the PBS site, I found a link to the Family Dog Project, which is dedicated to researching this bond. Interesting stuff.)
Paw Nation is doing a series of posts about another recipient who is getting a dog from Canine Assistants. The first post appeared earlier this month – I’m looking forward to reading more. (You can also read an interview with the After-care Coordinator for Canine Assistants.)
If you’d like to learn more about Canine Assistants, visit them here. I’m also considering picking up Jennifer’s book (also called Through a Dog’s Eyes)… after the documentary, I’m sure it will be good!
Have you seen the documentary? What did you think?
Dis wuz a wunderful program, mom and me watched it togethers. 🙂
WOofs and Licks,
Maggie Mae
Thanks for sharing this – we'll have to watch it! Mom volunteered for a short time many years ago with a local Canine Companions group. She had wanted to be a puppy raiser, but realized she probably wouldn't be able to give the pup up when it was time 🙂 Plus, she's not very good at the discipline stuff 😉
The Road Dogs
Kirby and I haven't seen this one! I do like the preview. A friend of mine, who has MS, has a service dog. It has made a complete difference in her life! Thanks for post!
Kirby and his mom!
We caught part of this show, it was very good.
We can't wait to start our Therapy Dog Training next week. Ryker is so good with Grandma that I think he will be a great Therapy Dog. I am a School Nurse now and look forward to taking him to children's wards, senior citizens groups, schools and perhaps reading programs as well.
Just saw this book in the shelf yesterday – "Every Dog Has a Gift" by Rachel McPherson. Rachel draws on her experience as the founder and executive director of The Good Dog Foundation, the largest animal-assisted therapy organization on the East Coast, to share the amazing stories of dogs that bring hope and healing into our lives.
Great clip, will be going to PBS to watch the documetary. Thanks for letting us know.
I haven't seen this one… we'll definately have to catch the full version. I'm SO in love with service animal stories. Especially the stories where they take a dog and rehabilitate and socialize it to become a service or therapy dog… gets me teary-eyed every time!
~Alicia
Oh, I will have to check this out! Thanks.
Your pal, Pip
Thanks for mentioning that, we were going to watch it but we completely forgot!
I saw part of it and it was so amazing!! Thanks for sharing to get the word out about it!
I LOOOOVE my DVR
Great! I'll watch more later, but oh those tiny little puppies 🙂
Wow… great discussion! Thanks for your thoughts, everyone! 🙂
@ Road Dog Tales – that's cool that your mom volunteered with a Canine Companions group. I don't know that I could give up a pup after spending all of the time with it either! (I'm also not the best disciplinarian… I'm a pushover.)
@ Ryker – that is beyond awesome that you're training to be a therapy dog! I bet you'll be awesome at it, and will be able to help lots of people. And thanks for the book recommendation – I will defintiely check it out!
@ Ali – I'm with you there. Did you know that some of the Vick dogs were rehabilitated and are now therapy dogs? Gives me happy tears.
We watched that one last spring when it was on and it was just wonderful. Hope you feel better!! Lots of love, Holly and mom
Thanks guys! I'm feeling much better than I did on Monday. 🙂