Seven dogs in training to assist disabled - Daily Athenaeum

Kristen Basham/The Daily Athenaeum

Service dogs in training demonstrate their ability to respond to the command “stay” at the West Virginia University Animal Sciences Farm Monday.

West Virginia University's Division of Animal and Nutritional Sciences has been working with Hearts of Gold, a service dog training program, to assist people with disabilities for the past five years.

Hearts of Gold trains and places dogs to help individuals with mobility impairment, post traumatic stress disorder and other health conditions.

Seven dogs are enrolled in the WVU program; five golden retrievers and two poodles.

Golden retrievers are used because of their friendly nature, while poodles make for good service dogs because they don't shed, said Lindsey Parenti, a behavior analyst and cofounder of Hearts of Gold.

"It's a two-year program and starts when the dogs are only eight weeks old," Parenti said.

Since the program got its start at the University in 2006, students have successfully trained and placed three dogs into full-time service.

Training requires the dogs learn more than 100 commands, including opening doors and turning on lights.

"Training the dogs can be really tough," said Anne Foreman, a doctoral behavioral analysis student who teaches the program. "Dogs really just want to play, and here we are telling them to be still and perfect."

Foreman said though most trainers are WVU students, the most important trait to have is simple.

"The best advice I can give on training dogs is to be patient and love dogs," Foreman said.

Parenti said though trainers have a passion for animals, the process isn't always easy due to funding and safety limitations.

"We have to rely on donations, so getting dogs suited to this isn't always easy," Parenti said. "Also, if a dog growls or snaps at a kid, it's immediately removed from the program."

For more information, visit www.humananimalbond.org.

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