Dumbledore, a yellow goldendoodle wearing a Cleveland Indians bandana, paced excitedly by his handler as he awaited for the Puppy Panel at Schoonover Center on Wednesday night to begin.
The event, hosted jointly by the Office of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance and 4 Paws for Ability, featured dogs who work in various departments of Ohio University.
While many OU students may be aware of Dumbledore and fellow 4 Paws for Ability dog, Peeves, due to their consistent presence at football games, Baker Center or their handler’s classes, there are several other service dogs that call OU their home.
4 Paws for Ability, an organization which breeds dogs specifically for service, sends the animals to prisons for basic obedience training before the animals end up at OU.
“Mostly everyone loves them, but there’s still a bit of an unknown about service dogs and how to interact with them,” Maria Martin, the founder of OU’s chapter of 4 Paws for Ability, said. “We try to educate the public.”
Since service dogs are specifically trained for one purpose, they become very precious assets, Martin, a senior studying communications, said. The dogs are worth approximately $22,000 at the end of their training.
OU police officer Tim Woodyard started the night off by planting a container of gunpowder in the bag of Morgan Marshall, a freshman studying pre-nursing.
Later in the evening, Alex, one of two OU Police Department bomb dogs, successfully sniffed out the explosive. Following his success, Alex received a treat from the food bag Woodyard was holding, as he only gets fed a treat when he successfully finds explosives.
Alex, who was bought by a grant from Homeland Security after the Boston bombing attacks, is often deployed around campus before and during major events, like sporting events and visits by politicians.
“(Alex) wouldn’t be a very good pet,” Woodyard, Alex’s handler, said. “Bomb dogs don’t have a lot of discipline. If we’re walking through the crowd at a football stadium and someone walks by with a bomb, we want that drive for food to make him pull you away,”
Also in attendance was dog Buddy, a familiar presence at Counseling and Psychological Services, and his handler Rinda Scoggan, a senior counselor and outreach coordinator at the center.
Buddy, like the 4 Paws for Ability dogs, started his career helping others in a correctional facility. Now, Buddy serves as a comforting presence on Mondays for clients at Counseling and Psychological Services.
“In therapy sessions, he will get up on the couch with clients, he will sit at their legs, he will let them pet him,” Scoggan said.
Both Martin and Scoggan stressed that not every dog is suitable to become a service dog.
“They have to pretty much be ‘bomb-proof,’ ” Scoggan said. “The handler will grab them everywhere to make sure they don’t bite.”
Furthermore, Martin explained that dogs who fail to pass their service certification exam are adopted out to families.
Scoggan said students living in residence halls should think twice about getting an emotional support dog.
“You have to think of the dog first, how many hours is the dog going to stay in a kennel, how many hours is the dog going to be locked in a room,” Scoggan said.
