Silent auction benefits Canine Companions

SANDPOINT — The "Raise the Woof" silent auction is underway with two plush dog houses that would make any pup paw-sitively delighted.

The houses were designed and built by Idagon Homes, Selle Valley Construction and Boden Mountain Architecture and donated to Canine Companions for Independence. The houses are on display in the Columbia Bank Building with silent auction forms, where anyone can stop by and put in a bid until July 27.

"We are hoping we will get some nice bids," said Lilly Mitsui, a local puppy raiser for Canine Companions for Independence, who came up with the idea for the dog house auction. "All of this, of course, is to raise funds for Canine Companions for Independence, so we can continue to place our dogs at no cost to the disabled."

Canine Companions for Independence provides highly-trained dogs to men, women and kids with all types of disabilities except blindness — Guide Dogs for the Blind has provided that service since 1942. Canine Companions for Independence is a nationwide, nonprofit organization founded in 1975 in Santa Rosa, Calif. The organization breeds, raises and trains golden retrievers, labrador retrievers or a cross of the two to perform all sorts of tasks for their handlers.

Canine Companions for Independence train four types of assistance dogs — service dogs, skilled companions, facility dogs, and hearing dogs.

Service dogs are trained to perform tasks, such as opening and closing doors, turning lights on and off, pulling wheelchairs and retrieving items to deliver to their handler.

Skilled companions are trained much in the same way as a service dog, but are typically trained for children as part of a three-part team, where the child's parent or guardian is the handler. Hearing dogs are trained to alert people who are deaf or hard of hearing to sounds in their environment. Facility dogs are used in a wide variety of settings, including occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, special education, courthouses and more.

As a puppy raiser, Mitsui gets the pups at 8 weeks old and raised them until they are about 16 months. During that time, Mitsui said, she teaches the dogs basic obedience, good behavior, and socializing in public places.

Afterward, they go into the care of an advanced trainer for six to nine months. During advanced training, Mitsui said some of the "best trainers in the world" continue the basic skills and teach the enhanced skills for training.

The dogs are valued at $50,000 when they complete their training, Mitsui said, and are provided to those with disabilities at no charge. There is currently more than 400 individuals with disabilities on a waiting list for a companion, she said.

The dog houses were placed in the Columbia Bank Building this week, where they will remain until July 27. On July 28, they will be moved to Forrest Bird Charter School, where the winners will be announced during Canine Companions' DogFest Walk 'n' Roll. The winners will be announced at 12:30 p.m. and are not required to be present.

DogFest Walk 'n' Roll, another effort to support the mission of Canine Companions for Independence, will be held from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. July 28 at the school. Mitsui said it is a family-friendly event, with fun and games for those with or without dogs.

There will be activities for dogs and kids, canine contests, balloon animals, silent auction, wheelchair obstacle course, best decorated wheelchair contest, music, food and more. For information, visit  cci.org/DogFestNorthIdaho.

The organization also has a fundraiser this Saturday at the 219 Lounge, which is hosting a Pints for Pups Tap Takeover from 4-9 p.m. The 219 will donate a portion of sales during that time to Canine Companions for Independence.

Mary Malone can be reached by email at mmalone@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow her on Twitter @MaryDailyBee.