Local nonprofit in the doghouse

They come out of the crate running in circles and sliding into everything, drooling, licking and panting their puppy way into a brave new world.

Some 18 months of training and a $20,000 investment later, they’re opening doors, picking up change and predicting sudden changes in blood sugar.

They can help the blind to see and the lame to walk, but now the students at Service Dogs of Virginia, a local nonprofit that trains dogs to do amazing things to help out people with a variety of needs, have a new task: Finding themselves a new home.

Their current Preston Avenue landlord has cut them serious slack on rent because of who they are and what they do, but plans on expanding its business and needs the space. They’ll let the dogs out in December, so the nonprofit needs to find a new place to train the assistance dogs and handlers.

“They’ve been real good to us but they need the room to grow and that means we need to find another place,” said Service Dogs’ Stacey Lange. “The problem is that we’re a nonprofit and we don’t have a really big budget, so we need to start looking now.”

Albemarle County resident Peggy Law founded Service Dogs of Virginia 11 years ago in her home. The first couple of dogs were trained to help people with mobility impairments do everything from turn on lights to answering phones.

The program has expanded over the decade to include specific training for specific needs. The dogs are trained to soothe and protect autistic children. They’re trained to detect hypoglycemia — low blood sugar — and alert the person or others of the potentially dangerous situation. They’re also trained to help people keep their balance.

The nonprofit places pups only to Virginians.

“The dogs are fostered to volunteers and they come here to the training center for training,” Ms. Lange said. “They don’t stay here overnight and the center isn’t a kennel, but a place for the dogs to learn and to work out. It takes about two years to get the dogs properly trained and, sometimes, their personalities are such that they don’t necessarily work out.”

Finch is a recent example. A great animal with mad skills, he has some social issues. It seems Finch “puts out an effusive demonstration of barking and lunging at other dogs when out in public.”

Hey, that doesn’t make him a bad dog. Heck, there are people who have that problem.

“Finch can get the phone, retrieve anything and deliver it to your hand or your lap, he can ‘go to mom’ [get help], push or tug, and so much more. He is affectionate and playful, handsome and healthy,” Service Dogs’ blog notes. “Finch loves to work. He would make a great dog for a person with special needs who does not need a dog for public access.”

Finding the perfect person for the perfect dog is not easy. Finding the perfect spot to relocate won’t be any easier.

In best circumstances, the new place would be close to downtown, where trainers can take the dogs for experience being among the masses. It needs to be handicapped accessible. It needs to be cheap or free: The costs of training the dogs make rent a major hurdle for the organization, Ms. Lange admitted.

“If we could just go out and rent a place for $1,500 a month, that would be great, but we can’t,” she said. “That would dramatically affect our budget and we’d have to spend more time concentrating on fundraising than on training the dogs.”

Like most small nonprofits in the area, Service Dogs are frugal with their financial kibble. They have few paid personnel, many, many volunteers and they balance their budget on the edge of a thin nickel.

“We’re hoping someone will offer a place with reduced rent or even for free,” Ms. Lange admitted. “There are tax advantages, of course, but mostly, they’d be helping out a really great cause.”