As part of The Rotary Club of Fair Lawn's Speaker Series, Caryl Swain spoke at the March 4, 2010 meeting about Canine Companions for Independence.
Canine Companions for Independence (www.cci.org) is a non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs and ongoing support to ensure quality partnerships. CCI graduates, volunteers and puppy raisers are found in many communities around NJ, including Basking Ridge, New Providence, Englewood, Emerson, Chatham & Westfield.
CCI has 4 different types of working dogs: Hearing Dogs, Skilled Companion Dogs, Service Dogs and Facility Dogs.
Hearing dogs are placed with adults who are deaf or hearing impaired. The dog is trained to alert their person when someone is at the door or something needs their attention.
Skilled Companion Dogs serve as working dogs to children under the age of 18 with the assistance of an adult caregiver. Often times, children with autism or young adults with a wheelchair may receive these dogs to help with the physical and social challenges they face on a daily basis.
Service Dogs are placed with adults with physical or mental handicap. Similar in their role to a Skilled Companion dog, assistance dogs often work with adults who use a wheelchair or have prosthesis. Several CCI assistance dogs have been placed with soldiers wounded in Iraq.
Facility Dogs live at home with an able bodied caregiver who brings them to work each day. A facility dog goes to works with his or her handler and interacts with countless number of people who can benefit from canine assistance. Kessler Institute of Rehabilitation in West Orange is home to two physical therapists with CCI facility dogs. ECLCSchool for special needs children in Ho-Ho-Kus is home to one facility dog and Westfield Senior Living in Westfield, New Jersey houses a facility dog as well.
After being bred at national headquarters in Santa Rosa, California, CCI puppies are shipped at nine weeks old to one of five regional centers throughout the country. Caryl is currently training July whom she picked up at CCI's Northeast Region in Medford, Long Island. Her job as puppy raiser is to teach July basic behavioral commands and more importantly, socialize him to be comfortable in the many situations he will find himself in as a working dog. Most outings usually turn into awareness events, as Caryl is constantly approached and asked about her cute pup with the yellow vest. July joins Caryl on her errands, he accompanies her to work at the Englewood Field Club and he joins her out for dinner or to the movies weekend nights.
At about 18 months old, July will be returned to CCI's facility on Long Island to begin 6 to 9 months of intensive training. It is a bittersweet parting mixed with hope for a successful result. Only about one in three dogs are able to master their commands and deemed in impeccable health to ultimately become a service dog for CCI. The dogs are placed free of charge (although each dog has an estimated value of $45,000) with the children and adults whose lives will benefit from having them. If July excels in his advanced training, Caryl will have the opportunity to attend his graduation and personally place the dog's lead in the graduate's hand.
