Review by Bob Lane, MA - Metapsychology

This sixty minute PBS program features Jennifer Arnold, founder of Canine Assistants, one of the country's leading service dog organizations. With the excellence that one expects from PBS a multi-faceted story develops with a mixture of science and art. We watch as the pups, bred at the Canine Assistants location, are born and start their lives with play and love; and then at about seven months begin the training which will allow them to flourish as service dogs for disabled persons. We meet several disabled people both adult and kids who when matched with their dog will benefit throughout the rest of their lives from the love and assistance provided by these animals.

On the way we learn about various disabilities (Ms. Arnold herself is an MS patient whose father arranged for her to have a service dog and as a result she opened Canine Assistants and devoted her life to providing service dogs to others), and about various dogs, and most importantly about the bond established between dog and recipient. We also learn that the exiting dog training paradigm that holds that the owner of a dog must establish control of the animal by becoming an "alpha dog" is not the only way to train a dog. Arnold prefers a system predicated on the notion that dogs have been created by humans as a species co-dependent on ours and hence they are animals who want and need human approval.  The result of this approach is a lot of positive reinforcement using minimal movement cues to get the dog to perform the necessary tasks to help their human partners.

We track a few specific people as they are matched with a service dog, learn how to function with their dog in a two week session, and finally take their new partner home. One lad, Aiden, suffers from cerebral palsy and is wheel chair bound. He is a bright beautiful child who copes with his disability with acceptance and grace and looks forward to getting his assistant. His first dog does not work out (the dog bonds with Aiden's Mom) and he has to return for a second matching. His second dog becomes his partner and we learn that about nine out of ten initial matches do work out, but that on occasion there are difficulties that require a return.

One adult we follow is a Mr. Casey who returned safely from a tour in Iraq only to be injured in an automobile accident. His life is changed by his new dog and we watch as he meets his dog, trains with the dog, takes the dog home and reports that his life has been completely changed by the animal. The dog goes on walks with him, gets the mail, turns on lights, opens and closes doors, but most importantly provides new confidence and brings a dramatic change to Mr. Casey's attitude.

One of the most exciting moments comes when an epileptic's life is saved by her dog who somehow (no one knows just what it is dogs can sense) senses the approaching seizure and alerts the girl's parents. A scientist reports on research showing that some dogs can sense an oncoming seizure ten minutes before the EKG registers brain seizure activity. We watch as the recipients first get their dogs (the claim is that the dogs choose them), train with their dogs on site and in a hotel and then after two weeks of training go home with their dogs.

It is a heart-warming story of dogs and people showing the close bond between them and also high lighting the excellent work of the Canine Assistants and Jennifer Arnold, a loving and caring woman.

© 2011 Bob Lane

Bob Lane is an Honorary Research Associate in Philosophy and Literature at Vancouver Island University in British Columbia.

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