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 Service dog trainer Dakota Wall met disabled Army
veteran Jim Champion.
Overwhelming emotions turned into tears as the two joined together
with family, friends, and staff of Logan Correctional Center,
Illinois Correction Industries, and Paws Giving Independence, as
well as other trainers of Helping Paws to tell their side of the
story.
Dakota Wall worked at a shelter when she was a
teenager but had not even walked a dog on a leash until she started
training dogs at Logan Correctional Center (Logan CC). Wall entered
the program there and has been training service dogs for about four
years.
Bowie, her third dog, a Border Collie/Labrador mix, is her favorite.
Border Collies are not made for being a service dog and Bowie came
from an animal shelter, when he was six months old, so he already
had some problems when he got to Logan CC. He was insecure and
scared and Wall had to build up his confidence before Bowie could
get started with training.
When the dogs come for training, they bond with their trainer for
the first 30 days and then start to learn simple commands like sit,
down, heal, and side before they start the hard directions.
According to Wall, “Bowie was interesting to train because he was
definitely my hardest dog. For a while I wasn’t sure he was going to
make it.”
Jim Champion was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis while still
enlisted in the Army. “A medical discharge was not my plan, but you
live your life the best you can with the situation you’re given,” he
said.
Champion applied for a service dog in 2005. He was turned down
without reason. So his family bought a Labrador and trained her. She
passed away in 2017. In 2016, Champion applied for a service dog
again and waited for two years.
“My wife, Sandy, found out about Paws Giving Independence, and here
I am. They need more of these programs, so people don’t have to wait
so long,” Champion said.
It was a special day for both Wall and Champion to be able to meet
each other. Wall told everyone, “We don’t ever get to see what the
dogs do for recipients once they leave. We get stories, but we don’t
get to meet them.”
The meeting on Friday came about because Champion requested it.
Wall explained, “My dog, Bowie, saved his recipient from a fire five
days into service.”
Champion told his story about the fire, how Bowie saved his life
and how much Bowie means to him
“I heard a “pop” and opened my eyes and I didn’t see anything. Bowie
was growling and I told him quiet. He continued to growl and then
started barking.
The next time I opened my eyes there was a spark,
like a welder’s spark, and the smoke in my room was choking. I
yelled FIRE and Sandy came running and got the fire out.
"My fish tank was charred, the timer was gone, the cabinet under the
fish tank was gone, and boards (on the wall) were scorched.
Shocked and amazed how much and quick it all happened, Champion
said, "That was after just a few seconds of the fire."
"As a quadriplegic, I can’t exactly jump out of bed, and Sandy, as
good as she is, would not have had time to get me up in time. So
yes, Bowie, literally saved my life that day and I am forever
grateful!
“If saving my life didn’t seal the bond between Bowie and I, I don’t
know what did. Bowie is my little buddy. In the morning I wake up to
kisses. We have a bond that I’ve never had with another dog.
"I let him be a dog, but he always finds his way to be in the room
with me. If no one else is home, he stays with me all day.
"Not only did he save my life, he gives me the confidence to stay
home alone. I sleep better at night knowing Bowie is watching for
fires or anything else that might happen.
"He has given me the confidence to go places. Before Bowie when I
went places, I felt like everyone was staring at the vet in the
wheelchair. Now when I go in places, everyone says, 'Oh, look at the
pretty dog.'
“I’ve had MS for 31 years and my wife has been on
probably 20 MS walks. This is the first year I ever went on an MS
walk and it’s all because of Bowie. I want to go places because I
don’t feel like I’m going to be the center of attention anymore! He
is emotional support, my buddy, and he plays with me, and everyone
in the family loves Bowie, even the cat.
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"I am thanking them (trainers) on behalf of every recipient who has
received from PCI. They would all give their left arm to be here
today.
It’s a
win-win-win:
- it
saved the dog’s life from a shelter,
- it gives the girls something to do,
- it gives the recipients so much.
"Bowie
has become instinctual to knowing what I need and does it before the
command. He is only 18 months old, out of the program a little over
90 days, and he is so smart. His future is astronomical.
“It was my dream to come meet the trainer of the dog, but I thought
it would never happen. I’m on cloud nine! Today is special. If I
could get the word out and help one handicapped person, one
recipient, if I could help one person to think positive, then I feel
better about myself,” Wall said.
According to Wall, from a young age, Bowie had an innate sense for
smoke. He used to wake her up when burning was happening on the
grounds at night. Wall asked another trainer what to do and was told
to acknowledge him and tell him it’s okay, not to discourage him
from alerting her.
When asked what her response was to knowing Bowie had saved Champion
from the fire, Wall responded, “I cried. I cried. It made me feel so
happy. I was so proud of him.”
Wall described how hard it was to see the dogs leave but she has
confidence, now, that Champion loves Bowie as much as she does and
will take good care of him. “He loves Bowie just as much as I do,”
Wall said.
More people in need can now get trained dogs
Michelle Yuen co-founded with Brandi Weyers Paws Giving Independence
(PGI), a non-for-profit organization in 2008. Yuen was eager to
announce, “All of our dogs, once they live here go to a foster home
and start working with their person. They go on a 3-month probation
period where they work on training, all their skills, and they have
to pass their public test. So, Jim and Bowie, last month, officially
passed their test. They are officially a certified working dog
handler team.”
In 2013, Helping Paws, a partner with PGI, came to Logan CC. The
program is directed by Brock Webb and supervised by Doug Adams of
Illinois Correctional Industries (ICI).
Webb is in charge of the program. He sets up groups and classes.
“The program is important because it is a win for everyone. Most
service dogs are so expensive it’s not an option," he said.
Webb elaborated further on the requirements and benefits to the
trainers who partake in the prison program.
The work provides valuable social and work skills
"The second part of the program is that it is a real job for the
offenders. They build accountability and learn a skill they can take
into the world. [Service dog training is] a very sought-after
program. The inmates here have a lot more accountability than
others.
"[The
program involves] sixty girls, give or take, who have to learn to
work together. They all have different assignments and with
different ethnicity and religious groups, they have to learn to work
with everyone around them.
"They can take that skill into the world, whether they are going to
the grocery store or looking for their first job,” Webb said.
At Logan CC, ICI currently has 20 dogs in the program with 55
offenders working.
Webb explained a little about PGI, which is out of Peoria, and Mid
America Service Dogs of Chicago. “Both companies are nonprofit and
completely volunteer run. Neither company charges their recipients
for their dog. The companies do the matching magic to find the right
dogs for the right people.”
Offenders receive 90-day contracts through ICI. If their sentence
permits, they receive 45 days off the sentence for each of those
contracts. The offenders are put into an apprentice program and
receive certification from the U.S. Department of Labor as a
certified animal trainer after 4,000 hours.
“This program is one of the top recidivism reducing programs in the
entire state,” Webb said.
Along with the service dogs, Logan CC has three full time therapy
dogs. They work a five-day, full-time schedule visiting mental
health units and tending to therapy needs within the facility
populations.
[Lisa Ramlow] |
