By LAUREN ZUMBACH ;(Peoria) Journal Star ; July 24, 2013
WASHINGTON, Illinois — Erika Agans traveled eight hours to meet the tiny yellow lab puppy with a green mark on his ear — a perfect fit for his name, Yoda.
She couldn't stop smiling the entire trip home, but she was also a little overwhelmed.
Yoda wasn't any new pet. After 15 months with Agans and six months of advanced service dog training, Yoda was placed with a new owner, Jeffrey Burt, a Roscoe man with muscular dystrophy.
"He seems to have made a really big difference in Jeffrey's life," Agans said. "The family adores him."
Yoda is one of more than a dozen puppies Agans, 18, and her adoptive mother, Vanessa League, have raised for Canine Companions for Independence, the largest not-for-profit organization that places service dogs with people with disabilities in the U.S.
League, who also runs a kennel and obedience "boot camps" for local pets, started raising puppies for CCI in 2002, and is now on working with her 13th.
She also loves sharing her passion, so when Agans, then 14, asked if she could be League's junior puppy-raiser for a few hours a week after League visited Agans' home-schooling co-op, League eagerly agreed.
It wasn't until 2010, when League brought Agans to the graduation ceremony where service dogs are matched with their recipients, that Agans fully understood the impact service dogs like Yoda can have.
"To see that I could train the animals I loved while helping people at the same time was just really thrilling for me," Agans said.
Agans decided to apply to raise a puppy on her own. Not only was she eager to help, her mother had recently passed away and Agans thought it might help her work through her grief.
PHOTO: In this June 14, 2013 photo, Vanessa League hugs 10-month-old Iris at the home of Erika Agans in Washington, Ill. League and Agans have helped raise more than a dozen puppies for Canine Companions for Independence, the largest not-for-profit organization that places service dogs with people with disabilities in the U.S. (AP Photo/Journal Star, Nick Schnelle)In this June 14, 2013 photo, Vanessa League hugs 10-month-old Iris at the home of Erika Agans in Washington, Ill. League and Agans have helped raise more than a dozen puppies for Canine Companions for Independence, the largest not-for-profit organization that places service dogs with people with disabilities in the U.S. (AP Photo/Journal Star, Nick Schnelle)
"Even though I knew I'd be raising Yoda as someone else's companion, he was a companion for me, too," Agans said.
She spent three or four hours a day making sure Yoda mastered the 25 commands puppy-raisers teach their dogs. League said their biggest job is "teaching them good public manners." Service dogs can't try to play with dogs they see on the street, chase squirrels or sneak table scraps in restaurants.
"We go to Logan's, and they learn to just chill out, go under the table and lay on the peanut shells," League said. "That's when you know your dog is ready."
Yoda's blue and yellow vest always drew questions, but Agans enjoyed the attention. "It brought me out of my shell to talk more freely about something I'm passionate about," she said.
League said the question she's most often asked is how she can bring herself to let the dogs go.
"You look at the end possibility," she said. "There's this precious dog that you are in love with and you're crying about letting him go, but for the greater good of the recipient, you do it, and you do it again, and again, and again."
Agans was heartbroken to let Yoda go, but it helped that CCI trainers told her Yoda and Burt clicked from the start — almost as if he'd chosen Burt. At their graduation ceremony, on Valentine's Day, Agans handed over Yoda's leash and a photo album that would help Burt get to know his new companion.
Agans will take a break from puppy raising to attend Parkland College this fall, where she will study to be a veterinary technician. Eventually, she hopes to work for CCI as an advanced trainer. But she definitely plans to keep raising puppies. "They're stuck with me," she laughed.
Source: (Peoria) Journal Star, http://bit.ly/19TIe8W
Information from: Journal Star, http://pjstar.com
WASHINGTON, Illinois — Erika Agans traveled eight hours to meet the tiny yellow lab puppy with a green mark on his ear — a perfect fit for his name, Yoda.
She couldn't stop smiling the entire trip home, but she was also a little overwhelmed.
Yoda wasn't any new pet. After 15 months with Agans and six months of advanced service dog training, Yoda was placed with a new owner, Jeffrey Burt, a Roscoe man with muscular dystrophy.
"He seems to have made a really big difference in Jeffrey's life," Agans said. "The family adores him."
Yoda is one of more than a dozen puppies Agans, 18, and her adoptive mother, Vanessa League, have raised for Canine Companions for Independence, the largest not-for-profit organization that places service dogs with people with disabilities in the U.S.
League, who also runs a kennel and obedience "boot camps" for local pets, started raising puppies for CCI in 2002, and is now on working with her 13th.
She also loves sharing her passion, so when Agans, then 14, asked if she could be League's junior puppy-raiser for a few hours a week after League visited Agans' home-schooling co-op, League eagerly agreed.
It wasn't until 2010, when League brought Agans to the graduation ceremony where service dogs are matched with their recipients, that Agans fully understood the impact service dogs like Yoda can have.
"To see that I could train the animals I loved while helping people at the same time was just really thrilling for me," Agans said.
Agans decided to apply to raise a puppy on her own. Not only was she eager to help, her mother had recently passed away and Agans thought it might help her work through her grief.
"Even though I knew I'd be raising Yoda as someone else's companion, he was a companion for me, too," Agans said.
She spent three or four hours a day making sure Yoda mastered the 25 commands puppy-raisers teach their dogs. League said their biggest job is "teaching them good public manners." Service dogs can't try to play with dogs they see on the street, chase squirrels or sneak table scraps in restaurants.
"We go to Logan's, and they learn to just chill out, go under the table and lay on the peanut shells," League said. "That's when you know your dog is ready."
Yoda's blue and yellow vest always drew questions, but Agans enjoyed the attention. "It brought me out of my shell to talk more freely about something I'm passionate about," she said.
League said the question she's most often asked is how she can bring herself to let the dogs go.
"You look at the end possibility," she said. "There's this precious dog that you are in love with and you're crying about letting him go, but for the greater good of the recipient, you do it, and you do it again, and again, and again."
Agans was heartbroken to let Yoda go, but it helped that CCI trainers told her Yoda and Burt clicked from the start — almost as if he'd chosen Burt. At their graduation ceremony, on Valentine's Day, Agans handed over Yoda's leash and a photo album that would help Burt get to know his new companion.
Agans will take a break from puppy raising to attend Parkland College this fall, where she will study to be a veterinary technician. Eventually, she hopes to work for CCI as an advanced trainer. But she definitely plans to keep raising puppies. "They're stuck with me," she laughed.
Source: (Peoria) Journal Star, http://bit.ly/19TIe8W
Information from: Journal Star, http://pjstar.com
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