DogFest North Idaho ready to walk 'n' roll

By DAVE GUNTER

Feature correspondent

SANDPOINT — In a world rife with innovation and high-tech equipment, it turns out that the most advanced technology for changing the lives of people with disabilities just might be made up of four paws, a cold nose and a warm heart.

Since 1975, the national organization Canine Companions For Independence has been training service dogs and providing them to developmentally and physically disabled men, women, children and veterans.

The Sandpoint chapter started when Lilly Mitsui moved to town with her husband, Jim, four years ago. To be more precise, the vision started at that time. It took Mitsui a couple of years of sharing this good news story with area groups such as Rotary, the Lions Club and Community Assistance League before things really got rolling.

“I started to get a lot of support and thought, ‘I could probably start a chapter here,’” she said.

The first step was to get professional trainer Lindsay Feist on board and put together a team of puppy raisers. By last August, the first community workshop was held and the Lake Pend Oreille Puppy Raisers and Volunteers group was off and running.

Puppy raisers such as Mitsui and other local volunteers teach the dogs basic obedience and socialization.

Puppy raisers get the dogs — all of them either black or yellow labs or a cross of the two — when they are 8 weeks old. Basic training lasts 14-16 months, at which point the dogs are “turned in” to the organization in Santa Rosa, Calif., where they go through advanced training.

The four puppy raisers working as volunteers in Bonner County are part of a team that includes more than 1,300 people nationwide and a waiting list of another 400 interested volunteers.

Once the dogs complete their final training, Canine Companions For Independence places them at no cost with disabled individuals. The recipients have included people with multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injury, stroke, post-traumatic stress disorder, Down’s syndrome and those on the autism spectrum, as well as dogs for the hearing-impaired. The group does not train or provide guide dogs for the blind, as there are resources already in place for that service.

Depending on need and the situation, the service dogs learn to open and close drawers, take clothes out of the dryer and wake someone with PTSD from a bad dream.

“All of those things we take for granted, these dogs learn to do,” Mitsui said. “They’re highly trained and highly skilled.

“The common image people have is of a guide dog,” she added. “These dogs are used for so many other things.”

Mitsui makes a distinction between these canines and other animals that become human companions and helpers.

“There’s a big difference between an emotional support dog and a true, service dog,” she explained. “One is a comfort dog and the other is a task-oriented dog.”

Canine Companions For Independence has placed approximately 5,600 dogs in the U.S. since it was formed and the yellow vest worn by Mitsui’s current black lab in training means another one is on the way. The bright vest is still a novelty in North Idaho, which gives this puppy-training volunteer a chance to make a pitch for the organization and its work.

“When we lived in Seattle, there were about 60 puppy raisers, so people were used to seeing these yellow vests,” she said.

One service dog named “Ken” has been placed as a facility comfort dog at the Bonner County Courthouse. Currently, five people are on the local waiting list for an appropriately trained dog of their own.

Once the puppy trainers set the stage and the dogs have been trained in Santa Rosa, the top 20-25 families on the national waiting list travel there for a two-week program meant to train the eventual recipients and match them up with a service dog. Mitsui traveled to California to witness the graduation and placement of “Falcon” — a dog she puppy trained — and meet the new owner.

Falcon was placed with a 35-year-old woman who had a severe stroke five years earlier. Seeing the culmination of her early work as the now fully trained dog went home with its new owner was a gratifying moment for Mitsui.

“It’s a whole circle,” she said. “Falcon is doing everything for her. This is completely changing her life. That’s why I do this.”

On July 28, Lake Pend Oreille Puppy Raisers and Volunteers will take part in DogFest Walk n’ Roll, a national event and the signature fundraiser for Canine Companions For Independence. Now in its sixth year nationally, this will be the first time the event has been held in North Idaho.

“I know we can do this here, because I know how much this community loves dogs,” said Mitsui. “Our goal is to raise $15,000 and I think we’re going to be there.”

At least some of her confidence comes from the fact that she has been using her current puppy, “Evie,” as a promotional partner. People ask about the vest, Mitsui tells the Canine Companions For Independence story and Evie does the rest.

“She’s the closer,” Mitsui said.

DogFest Walk n’ Roll will be held at the Forrest Bird Charter School on July 28, from 9:30 a.m.-1 p.m. The event will be fully accessible to the disabled and dog friendly. Activities will include crazy dog games, vendor booths, food and music, all designed to raise awareness for the organization. The group encourages families, friends and business associates to form teams and participate in the Walk n’ Roll — think wheelchairs — and help raise money for the local chapter.

To register or for more information, visit online at cci.org/dogfestnorthidaho or call 208-304-4490.