4Paws for Ability and Polar Paws

As you all might know, Polar Paws is the group that I work with while on campus. I don't know how much you all know about it and what we do though. The group that Polar Paws works with is called 4Paws for Ability. The mission of 4Paws is to enrich the lives of children with disabilities by the training and placement of quality, task trained service dogs to provide increased independence for the children and assistance to their families, enrich the lives of veterans from recent conflicts who have lost the use of their limbs or their hearing while in active combat, educate the public to accept the use of service dogs in public places, and to assist with animal rescue when possible.

                     

           

The branch of 4Paws for Ability that Polar Paws is a part of is the university program. 4Paws teams up with a bunch of universities and the student in them. The students oversee the socialization process. Most of the puppies go through a prison program to learn basic training before being sent to college or with a traditional foster family. After coming back from being socialized, the puppies can go down one of three tracks; they can go through advanced training and get placed with a family in need, adopted into a breeder home; or they can be adopted out as a pet if they fail their training. My last dog that I had became a breeder.

Babs looking all cute for the camera

The basic training the puppies go through in the prison program is they learn how to sit, lay down, free, potty training, they learn their implied stays. Sometimes the puppy comes with more training, such as, knowing come, roll over, high-five, low five, shake and, bang, and sometimes they come with very little training. The next step for the puppies is the socialization. The point of the socialization is for the puppy to be exposed to every sort of environment and person that they might be in when they are in their forever home and they need to learn how to behave in public. We also have to make sure they keep up on their training. We are supposed to take the puppies wherever we go as long as they will be safe. They come to classes, grocery stores, shopping malls, appointments... They go everywhere with us. We also have the option of teaching them new tricks, such as leave it, hit it, away and, knuckles. After they leave this part of the process they get evaluated to see where they go.

It’s always amazing to see the puppy that you foster grow up and get placed. It really is super rewarding to be a part of the program. Everyone always asks what it is like to give the puppy that you helped raise back to 4Paws and I always have the same answer for them. It is one of the hardest things I have ever experienced in my entire life, but I know that I am helping make a difference in someone’s life. By being in this program, I can help change the lives of many people and help their families. It’s such an honor to be a part of 4Paws for Ability.

Babs and I

Boo and I

A Peek of Boo's Big Personality

Polar Paws is a huge part of my everyday life. I'm sure you all have seen me walking around with Boo by my side. My classes would not be the same without having a dog there. If you do not know Boo, she is an eight month old golden lab puppy. She comes from the Monsters Inc. litter. We only know two of her siblings, Mike and Roz. Mike is a black puppy and Roz looks identical to Boo. Boo loves to play and she is very food motivated. She is a goofball with an amazing personality. She enjoys driving me and my co-handlers crazy, but we love her anyways.

This past Saturday was one of the best days for her to show us a part of her personality. Polar Paws usually have playtimes with all, or close to all, of the puppies. So we decided to have one. We went to the Ada park to go run around and have them all blow off some steam. While we were there Boo had wanted to go play in the sand on the softball field. At first you wouldn't think this would be bad, but it had rained all week and the sand was terribly muddy. She went running through it a couple of times and when we told her to get out of it, she did. Boo seemed to be content for a little bit until about 10 minutes of playing in the grass. She took off running right into the mud and promptly sat down in it, covering her behind and feet.

We kept trying to keep her out of the dirt, but she wasn't having any of it. We finally just decided to let her keep playing in it since we were going to have to clean her anyways. Well that, was a huge mistake. She got the other dogs to come running into the mud with her. Her legs, feet, and behind were all completely covered. The other dogs weren't too bad since they only had their feet and part of their legs covered. We all just accepted that they would all need baths and just let them keep playing. At one point though, I looked over and I saw Boo army crawling through the mud! She caked her belly with it and proceeded to continue doing it the rest of the play time. The other dogs kept playing and so did she. She and another dog started playing together and none of us thought it would be a big deal, but then I watched Boo, almost in slow motion, fall on her side in it. My golden puppy had turned brown. By the time we had finished playing, Boo and all the other dogs there, were covered in the mud. She had it from head to tail. Boo was the ringleader of the mud wrestling and she was happily showing that off.

This play day just shows off the type of personality that Boo has and the joy of having her. She is a wonderful puppy and a little goofball. My co-handlers and I love taking care of her and looking after our little baby Boo.