Giving the Gift of a Service Dog

Summary

Sam is a rescue dog who is being trained to be a service dog. Some uses for service dogs include: PTSD, anxiety, seizure alert, insulin alert, autism and mobility disorders. The cost of vet care, food, insurance, training tools, grooming tools, socialization classes, toys and training per year add up quickly. The total costs for a service dog from start to finish are $38,000.  Please help someone receive this gift by donating and reducing the cost for the recipient. See more information below.

Hello, my name is Whitney Shaver. I am a recent graduate from Dalhousie University Faculty of Agriculture, I graduated with a B.Sc. (Agr.) and an Animal Science Major.

 I started training horses and continued onto dogs. With the help of many different trainers along the way I am proud to say I have I have fallen into a training path that I really love, training service dogs.

Sam is a rescue dog donated by Marley’s Hope (based out of Halifax). His mother was pregnant when she was rescued from a reserve and the puppies were born in Marley’s Hope's care. Unfortunately she had troubles nursing them so they were taken away a littler earlier than normal. On January 17th I arranged with Marley’s Hope to evaluate some of the dogs I believed would be suitable. I never planned to start with a dog this young but Sam’s behaviour test made me confident that he was the one. I took Sam home at just over 7 weeks old, as his mother was unable to care for him.

Since then, he has been passing every test and training session I put in front of him with flying colours. This confident young pup is really starting to show his potential!

Sam could help anyone in need. Some uses for service dogs include: PTSD, anxiety, seizure alert, insulin alert, autism and mobility disorders. One of the most important things that service dogs do for a person in need is to give them confidence and make them feel confortable in public. One recipient of a service dog said, “It has given me my life back”.  A dog does something different for every need but a service dog improves the life of anyone in need.

Some of the things a Service Dog is trained to do include:

-       To stand in specific positions to give a handler confidence in public

-       Alert the handler to remove them from any situation that maybe causing them stress. This allows the handler to leave that environment before the stress is heightened.

-       Alert a hander of a seizure or insulin levels up to 10 minutes before the seizure or blood sugar change accurately. This time is crucial to allow the hander to get into a safe environment or to regulate their blood sugars. This gives the handler confidence in public knowing that they have a dog to alert them in time, before anything happens.

-       Relax and calm down heightened emotions

-       Aid in walking

-       Aid in dressing and everyday life. They can perform activities like retrieving keys, shoes, load laundry etc.

The type of service dog Sam will be will not be determined until he gets older. He will be paired with his best match for a handler to ensure he always loves performing his job. This will be when he turns approximately a year old.

            The cost of vet care, food, insurance, training tools, grooming tools, socialization classes, toys and training per year add up quickly. The total costs for a service dog from start to finish are $38,000.

            It is my dream to be able to give Sam, once he is fully trained, to a deserving handler in need. To do this I need YOUR HELP.

            All donations will go directly to Sam’s costs reducing the price for the recipient. Sam's  total cost will reach $38,000 after a year and a half of training, this includes vet care, food, training supplies, pet insurence and more. For now an amazing goal to reach would be $10,000, this covering all of his current expenses. 

            So please donate and follow his progress. Follow him on YouTube where his training videos and experiences will be posted https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m1b1z6rThKQ. You can also follow him on CBC news where they will be meeting up with him and catching up with his training every chance they get.



Photo credit to Mark Finley at 
https://www.facebook.com/finleyfoto/?fref=ts