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Eagles
Wings
Service Dogs
began four
years ago as a dream of Presidents
Cindy Sortman.
Sortman, herself suffering
from MS, had a vision to help people
like herself and save unwanted dogs at the same time. "Eagles Wings" comes
from the book of
Isaiah 40:31. "They will
soar on wings
like eagles; they will run and not grow
weary, they will walk and
not be
faint."
EWSD is based out of the Lycoming
County SPCA. Dogs from the SPCA are
evaluated by Eagles' Wings trainers to
find potential service
dog candidates.
Dogs should be people orientated and
responsive
to human
interaction.
Response to play and/or retrieval is also
desirable. If a dog is deemed a good candidate
they are taken into a trainer's home to learn basic house manners. This
phase can be tricky as shelter
dogs may have been
abused or neglected. Some may never
have lived in a home before.
Once the dog becomes comfortable
living in a home setting
they are enrolled
in an SPCA run obedience
class. From there the dog begins its
service
skills
training. The
dogs are
taught basic skills,
such as (but not limited to)
behaving in public,
retrieval, opening
doors, paying cashiers
and aiding in balance.
This phase of the
training can last
up to 18 months.
The dog is then matched
with an applicant based on the needs, abilities
and personality and
lifestyle types.
Once the match is made,
the dog is
custom trained to meet the specific
needs of the applicant.
The dog and the applicant are then
teamed
together
for a three week intensive
training secession to learn to work
as a team.
The mission is EWSD is
to increase the independence and improve
the quality of life
for individuals with
various physical limitations by providing homeless
animals from the Lycoming County
SPCA who are trained for
service.
The group is a non
profit completely
volunteer run
organization. Sortman,
along with board members
Ann Sanders,
Donna
Brink, Tammy Cornelius,
Donna Cassleberry and Linda Byrant give
freely of their time and more than 50
years of dog training and handling
experience to improve the
lives of both people and unwanted dogs.
EWSD can be reached by
calling the SPCA
at 322-4646 or by visiting the web
site
at
www.eagleswingsservicedogs.org. |
