After many scary nights of her daughter, Shayanna, 7, running off, Charla Gretz finally has some peace of mind in the form of a dog named Spring.
Gretz, a resident of The Plains, purchased the female black Labrador retriever after finding her daughter, who was diagnosed with autism in 2009, in the neighbor’s yard when she had snuck out in the middle of the night. Spring is trained in search and rescue and behavior disruption.
Getting Spring was not an easy task, Gretz said. It required time and research. She finally decided on purchasing from 4 Paws for Ability, an organization that provides access to a qualified service dog, trained specifically for children’s needs. The next obstacle, however, was the payment.
“We had to raise $13,000 for fundraising, and then our trip to Xenia was about $2,000,” Gretz said. “We sold stuff, we had an anonymous donor and a group called Wrestle Against Autism was a big help with Spring.”
It was a long process to receive the dog because service dogs are specifically trained for each child. It takes approximately one year to train the dog.
“It’s a lot of training during the dogs’ development from the time that they’re born up until the time that they’re ready to learn the more advance skills for the child,” said Whitney Hitt, media relations director for 4 Paws for Ability. “It works well for us because we have a high success rate.”
The agency has a special system before handing the dogs over to the families, Hitt said.
“We make letters for all of our students. They always get a picture of their dog and a letter,” said Hitt. “We always personalize it because we know enough about the kid to know some of the things that they like, and it’s a cute touch”
Assisted living dogs help families out in many different ways, so oftentimes they become another member of the family.
“It’s absolutely rewarding,” Hitt said. “I’m lucky because I get to see firsthand some of the changes that are made in the families lives as a whole.”
Gretz said she has definitely felt Spring’s impact.
“I’ve been around animals my whole life and know that animals in themselves are relaxing,” Gretz said. “But it’s amazing having them trained to do this and to see how it has changed our lives.”
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