We are Judith and Carl Sacks. JUDITH: I have been disabled with Fribromyalgia, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Chronic Pain for ten years. Until five years ago, I was also an equestrian competitor and trainer. I have been training my pet dogs all my life and now help People with Disabiilities to train their own Service Dogs. I am especially interested in Service Dogs for People With Disabilities who need help with ambulatory mobility (walking), are in wheelchairs and need help with their daily lives, and also Psychological Service Dogs to help People With Emotional Disabilities to regain their active lives. I have two Boxer Mobility Service Dogs who help me keep my independence. I am totally convinced that People With Disabilities can train their own Service Dogs and should be given the respect and responsibility to do so. I also firmly believe that there is no reason a Person With a Disability can't train their own pet/companion dog or prepare a dog for competitive Obedience Trials. My current goals are to help People With Disabilities train their own dogs, help to set realistic goals and develop individual training programs for each person to succeed. I am also very much involved in making equipment for Service Dogs customized for the dog's comfort and safety as well as for the Disabled Person's needs. CARL: I retired in February 2000 from a job I held for over 37 years in computer technology. My college education was in engineering and Uncle Sam kindly taught me to be a mechanic during my time in the Armed Forces. I am interested in the technical aspects of creating and producing equipment for Service Dogs, keeping the costs down, the product excellent, and most importantly I stand by what I make. If there is a problem, I will endeavor to fix it to the satisfaction of the client. I am able to listen to what clients want and need and then offer my viewpoints as to how I think I can meet or improve upon what they envision. I continue to look for the strongest materials which are lightest for the dogs and most reliable for the people when producing Service Dog equipment. |
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HELPERDOGS' is dedicated to assist People With Disabilities (PWDs) who need and use Service Dogs (SDs). --We specialize in training Service Dogs (SDs) and their People With Disabilities (PWDs). --We design and make customized equipment, HELPERDOGS' goal is to make you and your Service Dog's lives safer, productive, more enjoyable and happier. --We also train People With Disabilities to train their own pet dogs in basic manners and AKC obedience. HELPERDOGS will work with people who are not disabled but who can not keep up with the pace with regular dog obedience classes. We will work privately or in groups developing workable, successful companion dog or obedience show training programs. -We also have private training and classes for puppy kindergarden and first time puppy owner programs. |
DEMPSEY - (aka: Dempsey Doodle Puss) |
Dempsey came to kive with me nearly seven years ago to be a pet companion for me. She was the typical nutsy Boxer puppy always wanting to play until she dropped. I taught her basic manners of how to fit correctly into a family home and only after that did we begin working |
towards more serious basic AKC obedience exercises in a group environment. By the time she was a year old she knew all the basics: come, sit, down, how to heel on or off a leash and automatically sit whenever I stopped walking. To this we added group sits and downs. Of course 'stay' was part of her basic vocabulary. Dempsey has earned her AKC "CGC" (American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen) award, her AKC "CD" (Companion Dog) award, and learned all the exercises for the "CDX:" (Companion Dog Excellent) but has not yet had the opportunity to earn the award at AKC trials because we are busy working at Service Dog stuff! She also passed the test to be a Pets On Wheels (Maryland organization for therapy dogs) dog but has too much to do right now to be active in their program. Since RockyToo (see his page!) announced his willingness to be a Service Dog for me, Dempsey also started learning all the Service Dog tasks that RockyToo and I work on together. Although she is small at 24" tall and 55 lbs, she is very strong. She can work in harness for me helping me to walk because I loose my balance and my energy and if she walks along with me she keeps me going. She picks up (retrieves) almost anything I drop and will 'brace' for me to lean on her if I want to pick something up myself but am not sure how balanced I am. She works calmly and steadily next to me when I shop using a motorized seat/cart at the stores or during the rare times I've needed to use my wheel chair. Dempsey learned quickly how to carry something from me to another person or from another person to me. She knows how to find my husband and bring him to me if I need help. She is learning now how to get a cordless phone from another room bringing it to me when I need it and many other things to help mitigate my disabilities. Dempsey is a Service Dog and goes anywhere with me I need her to in order to live an independent life. In addition, she is a wonderful companion and friend always here to play and have fun with me. One of the most wonderful things about her is that she is always willing to help RockyToo out if I have been running around too much OR she is willing to stay home watching the house while we are gone. Most importantly aside from being willing to have good manners and help me, Dempsey is a lover: kissing and cuddling. She has no idea at all how big she is and thinks she is a lap dog! |
WHO IS ROCKYTOO AND WHAT EXACTLY DOES HE DO? |
RockyToo is my main man. He is the Mobility Service Dog I use almost all the time. He is with me 24 hours a day, 7 days a week all year long except when I am feeling very well and/or have formal type occasions to attend where it would be uncomfortable for everyone to have any type of dog at the affair. I was very lucky to have found RockyToo. I was very sick and un-diagnosed with what turned out to be a chronic disease. I really shouldn't have been driving, but my husband, Carl, forgot to get Dempsey (my other Service Dog) the special food she required. I had to get it from the closest vet's office so I did. When I was there I saw this magnificent Boxer male with a fairly nice looking female being walked in the driveway. I simply had to touch this wonderful pair of Boxers. The lady said they just had their first litter two days before and the pups were having their tails docked and their dewclaws removed. She invited me to see them. I looked at them and without thinking I pointed to RockyToo and told her I wanted him. I was the most surprised person in that room because it was a spontaneous reaction on my part. I'd never seen two day old Boxers before and they all looked like little mice to me! Then I quickly told her I was too sick to take on a second Boxer. She smiled and gave me her phone number. I called 4 weeks later to see if he had been promised yet and she said she hadn't given him to anyone, inviting me to come see him. Of course I did! And I visitied weekly for the next 4 weeks too. When he was nearly 8 weeks old I asked if he was still available and he was. His breeder said I had to make up my mind and so I bought RockyToo to be a pet and companion to me and Dempsey. SURPRISE: - he turned out to be a 'born' Service Dog. He knew when I needed him, when, and why from the time he moved into my home even before he was housebroken or had his basic obedience training. I was totally unaware. I just thought he was "velcro dog" bonding very strongly to me. I was wrong. He had a need to help me. He knew when I would be off balance and in which direction I was about to fall. And from the time he was big enough he would be on that side of me leaning up against me. Even as a pup he'd help me up off the floor or out of chairs. When he was only 4 months old I took him to a wonderful puppy play class that used agility obstacles. We both loved it because he could only have fun and be praised for what he did. He was as athletic as could be running his little legs over the 3 inch obstacles set so low they couldn't hurt a puppy. Then we did the regular obedience beginner class and the next one: a novice class. We even earned one 'leg' on his American Kennel Club Companion Dog title (novice exercises). And, of course, we earned our American Kennel Club "Canine Good Citizen" award. We also have passed the test for Maryland's "Pets on Wheels" but have never been able to participate in their progam of visiting nursing homes or hospitals. RockyToo has been a "Godsend" to me. He has helped me stay walking on my own two feet instead of relying on a wheel chair. He has kept me active and happily being able once again to participate in regular daily life. As if this weren't enough, RockyToo taught me how to be a human partner in our Service Dog Team. Then I learned of many other things I could ask him to do to help me further mitigate my disabilities. He showed me how to teach him what to do in the easiest, fastest, and happiest way. I have been able to take the knowledge RockyToo gave me to teach other dogs to help their people. ***WHAT DOES HE DO?*** Well, first, RockyToo has learned to wear a harness with a special handle for me to hold. He walks by my side orienting me to balance. He also helps me maintain momentum walking especially when I get tired. When I walk alone, I keep my legs very wide apart and walk very slowly and carefully so that I don't trip and fall. When I am walking holding onto RockyToo's harness/handle I walk normally and naturally - and fast too, if I want to. There are other things he does. He helps me up and down flights of stairs and up and down steps and curbs. He always stops at a curb so that I don't trip. He braces so that I can lean on him to pick something up or if I am really off balance that day, he will pick up anything I drop! Yes, I even trust him with my glasses and my credit cards. Hair pins, pieces of paper, money and change are no problems for him. He even knows many of them by name and can pick them out of a pile! RockyToo will get me a cordless phone from another room, he will find my husband in the house for me, he will take something to someone else for me, he opens doors, he helps me get up if I fall, or out of chairs if I get stiff sitting still too long. Once he even helped me out of the bath tub! He has pulled my wheel chair through a busy store and also just stays with me when I use a motor cart at the supermarket. Yes, because I am disabled according to the ADA 1990 federal law, RockyToo can go just about everywhere with me. He is considered a medical necessity for my quality of life and my safety. We have been on vacations, business type trips, to more restaurants than I care to think of where he lies dozing under the table out of the way, to plays and concerts, to fairs, and other fun things besides the mundane routine of life going to doctors, dentists, hospitals, or shopping. There are many more things RockyToo is going to learn during his life with me because I believe that life for both people and dogs is a learning experience. There is always something else we can figure out to learn and do and accomplish. We are a team. We learn together and live together. |
RockyToo |
HELPERDOGS offers a unique service for People With Disabilities (PWD). We believe that PWDs are capable of training their own pets. We will evaluate your dog's manners and your special abilities and needs. Then we will help you set a training program in which you and your pet can succeed in living happily together. Often PWDs cannot keep up with the regular pet obedience classes so we customize a program just for you and your pet. What should your Pet companion dog do for you? What should you expect from him or her? For starters every dog should know and respond quickly to simple words regarding manners: come, sit, down, stand, stay, no, uh-uh, wait, and, of course, no jumping up on people! How you will do this - interact with your pet dog to teach him or her how to be a happy companion - will depend upon your physical abilities. The methods you will use will depend upon if you are walking, however slowly or with whatever help, or if you are in a wheel chair, or require help from other people. After your pet companion dog learns the basics you can decide if you would like to teach him or her more than just manners. The possibilities are endless. Many pet companion dogs can be taught endless tasks (they think it is fun!) to help you during the course of your day. If you want to you are certainly able to work towards AKC (American Kennel Club) competition. |
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