Freedom Service Dogs

A Freedom Service Dog hits the handicapped door trigger to open the door for its master.Freedom Service Dogs rescues the animals from shelters, trains them and gives them to disabled people free of charge. The organization is holding a canine love affair event Sept. 13 at Centennial Park to show off the abilities of mixed-breed dogs and raise money for the program.


A Freedom Service Dog hits the handicapped door trigger to open the door for its master. Freedom Service Dogs rescues the animals from shelters, trains them and gives them to disabled people free of charge. The organization is holding a canine love affair event Sept. 13 at Centennial Park to show off the abilities of mixed-breed dogs and raise money for the program.

Dogs and their owners have their day Sept. 13 when Freedom Service Dogs brings the Italian canine love affair to Englewood.

“We decided to bring the event, called the Festival of the Bastardino, to the area to showcase all things Freedom Service Dogs and mixed-breed dogs can do,” said Colette Palmer, director of development. “We have a lot of events, demonstrations and activities to showcase the wide and varied skills of mixed-breed dogs.”

The free event will be from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 13 at Centennial Park which is east of South Federal Boulevard and West Union Avenue.

Owners can enter their dogs in a variety of events — such as bobbing for tennis balls — and there will be demonstrations by police canine units and Ruff Flyball.

Palmer said the festival is being put on with help from businesses and residents. Also, a number of organizations are putting on demonstrations to showcase the talents and skills of their animals.

The event is will also raise funds for Freedom Service Dogs. There will be a small fee for the dog wash and other services, vendors pay a small fee for space and there will be locations to drop off donations which will go toward training a service dog.

There will also a place to sign up as a volunteer with Freedom Service Dogs, which moved to new, larger headquarters at 2000 W. Union Ave. in Englewood.

The organization was established in 1987 to create dogs to provide assistance to people with handicaps. Freedom Service Dogs rescues dogs from shelters with the goal of training each animal to perform services for a handicapped individual such as turning on lights, opening doors and even helping do the laundry. To achieve that goal, each animal must complete a two-year course at a cost of about $20,000 but the dogs are provided to the clients free of charge.

The organization works to match the client’s needs to the dog’s abilities. The trainers are persistent and frequently give dogs more than one chance to complete the training. However, even with all the patience shown by the trainers, only one of 10 dogs rescued from shelters is able complete the training. But no dog is returned to a shelter because Freedom Service Dogs finds homes for the animals that aren’t able to complete the training.

The organization has placed 109 service dogs with clients since it was founded. Of course, there are many more applications from prospective clients than the organization can fill.

For information about Freedom Service Dogs, call 303-922-6231 or visit the Web site at www.freedomservicedogs.org.

303-566-4108 | tmunds@ccnewspapers.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Workers free dog trapped in sewer pipe

MANKATO, Minn. (AP) -- The sound of barking underneath a street Tuesday led a team of city workers to a dog trapped in a narrow culvert - and you might say they used a backward approach to rescue the mutt. The sickly, scared dog was about 50 feet from the nearest entry point, but since the culvert was just 15 inches in diameter, the workers couldn't fit into it themselves. Not even offers of food could draw out the dog. "He was exhausted," said Tony Talamantez, a public works foreman. Then Talamantez and his colleagues had an idea. They rigged up a long video camera used to inspect drain pipes, and approached the dog from the back. They used the camera to nugdge the dog forward until he reached an entry point big enough for a person to pull him out. The camera recorded the rescue, showing the dog scampering ahead in fits and starts as the camera pokes him in the rear end. The dog wore no tags, only a worn collar. But Julia Gosen, animal control officer for the city, said
Read more

Axe Me A Question

Go ahead and ask. Ask the questions you always wanted to ask someone in a wheelchair. Nothing is too embarrassing. You might as well ask me on this blog since you are somewhat anonymous and don't have to look me in the eye. What have you always wanted to ask someone in a wheelchair? Here, I'll start: Q: "Hi, my name is LaLaundria! I wanted to know how do you take a shower?" A: Well, LaLaundria, I sit down. On a shower chair. I have grab-bars installed in my shower/tub and my commode rooms to give me extra balance. A shower chair is a hard plastic chair made to fit in showers and tubs. I have a shower massage type shower head that helps get the water closer to my hair. Howze that? Ask away, no question is off limits! (Oh Jeez, what am I getting myself into!)
Read more

Here Doggie!

While shopping at Sprouts today, I had a guy in the next checkout lane actually whistle at Frankie. WHAT?! He whistled to him like he was calling the hounds back from the barn. Then he went to reach for him. I actually placed my hand on this guys chest and said: "He's not a ranch dog, you shouldn't be distracting him, he's working." Mr. Cowboy didn't even apologize... but he got schooled! Oy.
Read more