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mokenamessenger.com life & Arts
the Mokena Messenger | June 14, 2018 | 21
Puppy power overload
Service dogs in
training get cuddle
time with community
Amanda Stoll, Assistant Editor
A puppy cuddling event
sounds like some unrealistic
dream of every dog lover
out there. But last week in
Mokena that cute, cuddly
event was a reality in Mokena.
With 10 new puppies destined
to be future service
dogs, Heartland Service
Dogs, Inc. hosted an event
June 6 to let the puppies
meet new people and raise
awareness about their organization.
In the next week, Linda
Fox, director of the Mokena-based
nonprofit organization,
said she hopes the
puppies will all be going
into foster homes to begin
the process of learning and
experiencing as many things
during the puppy stage as
they can.
“We do have a few people
who have signed up as puppy
raisers, but we are still
looking for more,” Fox said.
Even with the number of
puppies from this litter, she
said it will not be enough
to meet the need for service
dogs in the area. In addition
to their current waiting list,
which could be up to three
years for some people, Fox
said she has received about
a dozen new applications in
recent months.
“Even if every puppy successfully
completed the program,
I don’t have enough
dogs,” she said.
For those people who do
volunteer to become puppy
raisers, it is about an 18
month commitment, and
Fox said Heartland is with
the foster parents every step
Ava Brennanm, of New Lenox, spends some time with
Piper, one of the ten puppies born in April as part of
the Heartland Service Dogs program. After each of the
dogs completes about 18 months of training, they will go
through advanced training specific to the health conditions
and physical disabilities of the people they will serve as
adult dogs. Photos by Amanda Stoll/22nd Century Media
Heartland Service Dogs, Inc.
Online: heartlandservicedogs.org
Facebook: @HeartlandServiceDogs
of the way.
“[Puppy raisers] don’t
have to feel like, ‘Well, I
don’t know anything about
training a service dog,’”
she said. “You don’t need
to. You just need to be willing
to love it and care for it,
and we’ll help you with the
rest.”
In addition to weekly
puppy classes, puppy raisers
are expected to bring
the pups to different places
to create new experiences,
such as visiting the grocery
store or the mall, riding on
public transportation and attending
community events.
The more things the dogs
can experience, the better
adjusted they will be when
it comes time for them to be
a companion for someone
Audrey Ruff (left) and Lynne Buntman, both of Frankfort, meet and pet MacGregor and
Dougan at the puppy cuddling event hosted by the Heartland Service Dogs, a Mokenabased
nonprofit that trains service dogs for people in need of mobility or hearing
assistance or those who have diabetes or PTSD.
Linda Fox, director of Heartland Service Dogs, poses for a photo with Angus, one of the
10 puppies she is raising in her home until they are old enough to go into foster care. With
the help of the organization’s volunteers and foster pet parents — aka “puppy raisers” —
the pups will be trained as service dogs.
who needs them.
For those families and individuals
who are not able
to make a full-time commitment
to raising a puppy,
Heartland’s “Pup for a Day”
program allows volunteers
to take the dogs on a oneday
outing to gain new experiences.
After about 18 months,
the dogs will begin advanced
training in one of
four areas — mobility assistance,
hearing alert, diabetic
alert and PTSD — and,
when they are between 2-3
years old, will be placed
with someone in need, at no
cost to them.
“That’s something that a
lot of people struggle with
because they won’t even
apply thinking all service
dogs cost a lot of money,”
Fox said. “We’re not the
only organization that provides
free dogs, but if money
is what stands in the way
of somebody being able to
have a better life, we’re not
going to let that be a factor.”