Fidos for Freedom gave paws to Warren

A Fidos for Freedom representative shows off his service dog after placing his working cape on him.

Warren Elementary School students were fascinated with the service/therapy dogs that visited their school on Monday, February 6, 2006. There was not a peek (or bark) in the gym while the therapy dogs strutted their stuff. When their working capes were placed on them, these dogs knew it was their time to get down to business and only pay attention to their handlers. The Warren students watched a service dog and a therapy dog perform some amazing feats. Even being in a gym with 370 children did not cause these dogs to lose focus.

Warren students learned that Fidos for Freedom, Inc., increases the quality of life for people with a variety of disabilities. There are three categories of dogs: hearing dogs, service dogs, and therapy dogs. Therapy dogs visit nursing homes, hospitals, rehabilitation and psychiatric centers, and schools. They perform a variety of functions for people including giving unconditional love to the residents.

Service dogs are trained to aid people who are mobility-impaired to achieve their desire to be independent by performing tasks that are physically demanding and frustrating. They assist their physically-challenged partners by performing duties such as: retrieving out-of-reach objects, opening doors, counter-balancing a person who is walking, assisting with dressing or undressing, assisting in chair-to-chair or floor-to-chair, and helping a person who has fallen to stand.

The students listened and watched intently when the dogs performed some of those duties.

At the end of the assembly, the handlers took the dogs’ capes off and the students were able to pet the dogs and really appreciated how important they are to handicapped individuals.

Story by Susan Webb, secretary and Good News Ambassador, Warren Elementary School. Photos courtesy of Warren Elementary School.