RE: [PyrNet-L] Service Dog for a person with MS

["Xerri, Tania (2318)" <txerri@baycrest.org>]

Hello June, would you mind if I forwarded this on the person I am inquiring
for?

Tania


	<<<<Hi Tania,

	I can pass along some training resources, though I do not know how
	applicable they will be for Pyrs. I know a woman, Samantha Burton,
who is
	training her Leonberger Fergus to be her service dog. (Leonbergers
in
	general are more easily trainable than Pyrs.) Samantha has severe
	fibromyalgia and on some days is forced to rely on a wheelchair. She
is
	training her Leo to do all sorts of wonderful things: he can pull
her
	wheelchair, help with laundry, pick up small dropped items--do all
sorts of
	fetching and carrying and pulling, as well as providing support when
she is
	having trouble walking or falls and can't get up. She has a very
useful web
	page, which should be a good place for this woman with MS to start. 

	I tried accessing it this afternoon, but couldn't connect, so I sent
	Samantha an e-mail and received this reply:

	>I just checked.  The server was down for about an hour, but it
should be
	>back up again.
	>>
	>Please direct this person to Fergus's website, specifically to the
"working"
	>pages.  http://fergus.fogg.net/working.htm
	>
	>Also, let her know that these pages are in dire need of updating.
They'll
	>be new and improved by Fall.  She can e-mail me at this address
	>sburton@mail.wesleyan.edu, and I will respond more quickly than I
generally
	>do to Fergus's e-mail.  (I still likely won't get a chance to
respond in
	>depth until end of May.) [Reason: Samantha is getting married in 4
weeks]
	>
	>In addition there are some great mailing lists out there.  The
service dog
	>list is good for information about laws and policy, but you must be
prepared
	>for some strongly worded debates.  I don't have the list
information here,
	>but the address I use to send mail there is
	>service-dogs@acpub.duke.edu   I've got the sign up information at
home.
	[Until the wedding, she is several states away from her home,
staying with
	her parents.]
	>
	>The other list, which is excellent, is OC-Assist@onelist.com.  She
can sign
	>up through onelist.  The OC stands for operant conditioning, and
this list
	>is for people clicker training service dogs.  I love this list,
BUT, if she
	>really doesn't want to use operant conditioning, this might not be
the best
	>place for her to go.  On the other hand, if she is open to learning
about
	>OC, than there are some terrific people here (including Morgan
Spector whose
	>recent book is up for the Dog Writers Award, and Debi Davis who,
with her
	>service dog Peek, was named Service Dog Partner of the Year by the
Delta
	>Society).

	Tania, I hope this information will at least will show the woman
that
	training is doable. Samantha has done all of Fergus's training
herself, and
	is very willing to share whatever she has learned along the way.

	Best wishes to her,
	--June Campbell, with Amos the obedient Leonberger and Star the less
	obedient, but absolutely adorable, Pyr >>>>>