Teen discovers ‘it’s amazing’ what dogs can do

A dog may be a man’s best friend, but a dog’s best friend may very well be that man’s kid.

The Charlottesville-based Service Dogs of Virginia trains canine puppies to help people cope with a variety of disabilities, assisting humans in everything from mobility to hearing and seeing. Now people puppies, kids from 10 to 16 years old, are banding together to help out the dogs.

Kelby Sappington, an Orange County High School senior, is organizing a junior ambassador program for the service dog organization as part of a senior project.

Carry change, open doors

Ms. Sappington has volunteered at the organization’s Preston Avenue headquarters for two years, helping as the dogs are trained to carry change, open doors, turn off and on lights, answer phones, help their people balance, cross streets, listen for dangerous noises and other daily, if seemingly mundane, tasks.

She’s seen dogs learn to fetch, because it’s hard to retrieve a cell phone from a wheelchair. She’s seen small dogs trained to do big tricks and big dogs trained to curl up into small balls beneath restaurant tables. She’s seen dogs trained to keep an eye on autistic children given to sprinting away and dogs trained to keep an eye on the blood sugar levels of their people.

“It’s amazing what the [service] dogs do and what they can learn and how much they understand,” Ms. Sappington said. “I love dogs and I have one of my own. It’s not a service dog. It doesn’t have quite the right, well, temperament. But I think the service dogs are incredible.”

Ms. Sappington’s experience sparked her interest in getting children to help out.

“The idea is to get kids involved, to educate the ambassadors on what it is like to work with service dogs, both the challenges and the successes,” she said. “We want to engage the ambassadors in the community, building the program and participating in fundraisers. We want to reach out to find others in the community to become involved.”

Lesson in ‘helping others’

Peggy Law, Service Dogs’ top dog and trainer, said the children’s program could help raise awareness of the organization and make the program a family affair.

“It will give siblings and children of people who have service dogs a chance to get involved with the animals and feel a part of the program. It will also help teach kids about philanthropy and helping others. We have a lot of kids who want to be a part [of the program] and this is one way to do it,” Ms. Law said.

The program will start out with fundraisers and expand into different areas of the program.

“We’re going to let it evolve and see where it goes and what the ambassadors are interested in and where their talents can be used,” Ms. Law said. “We want them to be involved and find a place.”

Ms. Sappington also hopes an ambassadorship will encourage kids to stay involved in the community.

“We hope to empower the junior ambassadors to make a difference in their communities, both now and later on in their lives,” she said. “We also want to have fun.”