
{"id":13095,"date":"2010-10-14T09:30:40","date_gmt":"2010-10-14T17:30:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=13095"},"modified":"2010-10-14T09:30:40","modified_gmt":"2010-10-14T17:30:40","slug":"expanding-repertoires-of-assistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2010\/10\/14\/expanding-repertoires-of-assistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Expanding repertoires of assistance"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>RECENTLY . . .<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Valarie Schwartz<br \/>\n<\/strong><br \/>\nAssistance dogs have come a long way since the days when they only led the blind. Today they can be trained to detect a dangerous shift in the blood-sugar level of their human partner, bring the medical kit when needed or, if their partner becomes groggy or unresponsive, use the telephone to get assistance. <\/p>\n<p>That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only some of what they can do for diabetics. Dogs can gain long repertoires of abilities to assist all manner of disabled humans. <\/p>\n<p>But they have to be trained as puppies. And after training with their \u00e2\u20ac\u0153puppy parents,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the people they will assist need training. The closer, geographically, all of this happens, the better the outcome.<\/p>\n<p>Until two years ago, no place in the Triangle provided this training. Then a local couple founded Eyes Ears Nose and Paws (EENP) in Carrboro. They find the puppies, recruit the volunteer puppy parents, provide weekly training (after an intensive weekend-long training) and pair each trained dog with a client living within a two-and-a-half hour radius. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The closer they are, the better service they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re able to get,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Maria Ikenberry, executive director of EENP. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Our puppy parents tend to be quite close \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Chapel Hill, Carrboro and Durham.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d That helps ensure the parents make it to the end of the 18-month-long commitment. <\/p>\n<p>Ikenberry didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intend to get into the assistance-dog business, but when her partner, Deb Cunningham, discovered that this was a way she could make her career dreams come true while providing a means to continue living in this community, Ikenberry volunteered to begin the 501(c)(3) process during the year Cunningham trained in Santa Rosa, Calif. <\/p>\n<p>Cunningham grew up in Rolla, Mo, the youngest child in a large family where no animals were initially allowed. By the time she was 12, the rules were relaxed and her persistence paid off with a puppy she named Fenner. <\/p>\n<p>When Cunningham went off to college, her father insisted that Fenner go with her. Fenner followed her around campus and (more persistence) was eventually allowed into all classrooms except computer labs, libraries and the dining hall. After she and Ikenberry moved back here to Ikenberry\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hometown, Cunningham and Fenner, a shepherd\/Lab mix, had their first formal training with a local search-and-rescue team. There Cunningham learned the power of the partnership between human and dog. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We searched 300 acres of land for a person I couldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t find, but Fenner could,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>When Cunningham learned about the training at Canine Companions for Independence, and of the absence of an assistance-dog program in the Triangle, she knew starting such a program was what she was intended to do. <\/p>\n<p>While she learned the training side of it, Ikenberry started learning the business side. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I realized the need for someone to do administrative work,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ikenberry said. Cunningham\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dream turned out to be big enough for both of them.<\/p>\n<p>Now they spend their days recruiting puppy partners, puppies and clients from their office on Lloyd Street. <\/p>\n<p>Gretchen Aylsworth has been a puppy parent several times. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Deb is a good teacher who tells you all you need to know. If you just listen to her, it will be fine,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she says.<\/p>\n<p>As to the fear most people would have of falling in love with the puppy: \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very much like having a foster child that you love as best you can until it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for them to go and you have to let go,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Aylsworth explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s easier than you think; but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not to say it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not poignant and a little painful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d <\/p>\n<p>The graduation ceremony at the end, when puppy parents hand over a well-trained dog to a client in need, helps a lot.<br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It was the most joyful moment,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Aylsworth said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We could be proud of what we had done and what the dog had done; and happy for the person getting the dog.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>A fundraising event at which the community can learn more about the program was originally slated to be held at the Hogan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Magnolia View Farm. But due to the tragic accident and resulting death of Rob Hogan, it will now take place at the newly opened Maple View Farms Agricultural Center on Dairyland Road from 3 to 6 p.m. this Sunday. Barbecue, home-baked desserts, live music by The Bluegrass Experience, hayrides and a hay-bale maze are among the fun elements of a great family outing. <\/p>\n<p>See: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.eenp.org\/main\/\">eenp.org<\/a> for more details and advance ticket rates.<br \/>\n<em><br \/>\nValarie Schwartz can be reached at 923-3746 or valariekays@mac.com <\/em><figure id=\"attachment_13098\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-13098\" style=\"width: 400px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/recently.100710.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"recently.100710\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-13098\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/recently.100710.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/recently.100710-113x84.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/recently.100710-150x113.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/recently.100710-360x270.jpg 360w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/recently.100710-106x80.jpg 106w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-13098\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTO BY VALARIE SCHWARTZ. Deb Cunningham and Maria Ikenberry of Ears, Eyes, Nose and Paws with a phone that assistance dogs learn to use.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>RECENTLY . . .<\/strong> Assistance dogs have come a long way since the days when they only led the blind. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":13098,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13095"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13095\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13146,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13095\/revisions\/13146"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}