A service dog serves as an extension of their recipient, helping them with daily tasks they can no longer do such as different levels of mobility/balance assistance, or alerting them in advance to medical issues such as low blood sugar, seizures, or PTSD episodes.
If you have been considering the idea of getting a service dog, you may be wondering where to start.
Assess Your Needs to Determine if You Qualify
To qualify to receive a service dog from Guardian Angels you must have a permanent disability. A permanent disability is something that would be life-altering, which prevents you from enjoying normal, everyday activities without assistance. Disabilities such as diabetes, seizures, PTSD, mobility and other invisible and visible disabilities may cause complications that create challenges for people to go out in public or to live at home alone. Some of these disabilities can become life threatening because of sugar levels changing – sometimes without the person realizing it, or they have a seizure which can result in catastrophic injuries, or a PTSD episode that ends in severe depression. If there is no one there to help in some of these scenarios, it could be fatal. Mobility is another permanent disability causing people to need assistance with balance and/or picking up dropped items, and more. Others may be in a wheelchair or have impaired use their hands or fingers. There are various levels of mobility challenges. Permanent disabilities interfere with everyday life functions.
In addition to qualifying medically for a service dog, our organization requires that you be physically, cognitively, and financially capable of taking care of the dog. We don’t train third party care givers or family members to help, so the disabled individual must be able to go through our pairings where they learn how the dog was trained, how to embrace that working relationship and care for their service dog. Depending on the severity of the situation, it may be okay if someone has to help you pour the dog food, but you have to be able to feed the dog, play with the dog, ask the dog for what you need, take the dog outside, etc. This helps to create an important relationship between the dog and recipient. This helps the dog know that he/she needs to work for that disabled individual. If someone else is feeding and caring for the dog, and all good things are coming from someone else, why would the dog pay attention to someone else. Establishing this connection is crucial, which is why we have set our training program up this way. If a caregiver or family member needs to remind the recipient of certain things they need to do, that is acceptable as long as the recipient is able to carry out the responsibility. Since a lot of people do have memory issues and may not have someone that can help them, there are aids you can use to remember the tasks for caring for the dog such as setting alarms.
You also need to be able to care for the dog financially. Your service dog will require premium dog food, veterinary care, grooming, toys and all the things that he needs and deserves to be kept in top condition. This dog will complete your life by doing tasks that you can no longer do on your own, so it is important that he be maintained properly.
Further Requirements:
If you qualify as having a permanent disability, you will be asked to provide confirmation of disability from your doctor.
Next, we will also look at your environment to be sure it is suitable for a service dog. Recipients must have permanent long-term housing in order to qualify.
If you have other pets, this complicates the situation. We will only place a service dog in a household where the other dog is of the opposite sex. There also must be someone else in the home to care for the pet. A service dog is a working dog and is not for the rest of the family to play with. We prefer no other pets be present in the family because they can distract the service dogs. It’s only natural that the service dog may want to play with the pet in the home which could cause him/her to miss important medical cues from his recipient. Additionally, if the pet in the home is not mannerly, it can lead to the service dog picking up their bad habits. Therefore, we prefer no other dogs or cats in the home. Other pets can make it very difficult for us to place a service dog in the home if not impossible.
As you can see, there are many different variable that we need to take into account to ensure we are setting our recipients up for success.
Become familiar with Service Dogs Laws
At Guardian Angels, we will provide recipients with education on service dog laws to ensure they are prepared for public outings with their service dogs and are aware of their rights and rules that must be followed.
Prepare Your Home for Your Service Dog
We prefer a fenced in yard, which can make life easier for recipients. If the home is not equipped with a fence, we recommend recipients find a fenced in area. Keep in mind, we do not allow our service dogs to be taken to dog parks. These are places where they can pick disease, parasites, and potentially be attacked by other dogs. If there is a fenced in playground, church yard, or somewhere nearby, that can be used to exercise the dog, this could be an acceptable solution.
All dogs require mental down time through proper play and exercise. This keeps them in top working shape both mentally and physically.
Before You Are Paired:
We do a series of educational orientations before the recipient is paired with their dog, where we will instruct them on what they need for their dog, how to properly care for their dog, what their expectations should be, what their new level of responsibility will be to the service dog, etc.
How Can I Apply for a Service Dog Through Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs?
To apply for a service dog, you can visit our website or call for an application to be sent to you by US mail. We have an application tab on our website that will ask you a couple of questions and then forward an application to you. Once we have received your completed form, a member of our Recipient Relations team will reach out to you via email to continue the application process.
Please contact us today if you have any questions about service dogs or how to apply for one with our organization!
By Linda Jo Thornberg Owner, Higher Images
On December 7, 2022, Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day, I had the pleasure of attending one of the most amazing events that I have ever attended, hosted by Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs. (more…)
Zach Valentin, Employee of the Year at Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs, was born in Tampa and raised mainly in Williston, where he graduated high school class of 2014 at Williston High. (more…)
Matt Greer was injured in Iraq, which halted his military career and ushered him back into civilian life. “This unexpected transition posed more challenges than what I was prepared to face. The routine in everyday life was no longer normal for me; seemingly simple daily tasks such as spending time with friends and family or going to the grocery store were daunting and often brought about anxiety and emotional struggle,” said Matt. (more…)
Dozens of puppies like this one are being specially trained in Williston, Fla., on the main campus of Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs. One of them has been sponsored by the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club. It didn’t take long for Grosse Pointe Yacht Club Commodore Brian Fish to secure the first $5,000.
Read the full story here
Source: Help unleashed: GP Yacht Club sponsors Guardian Angels dog
Funds to benefit Michigan Veterans living with Permanent Disabilities
Jackson, MI (EIN Presswire): Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs is honored to have received a grant in the amount of $10,000 from the Consumers Energy Foundation.
This grant will assist Guardian Angels in training, donating, and supporting our veteran recipients in the State of Michigan. The funds will help to cover the costs to raise and train medical service dogs for veterans with visible and invisible disabilities.
“Veterans are an asset to our communities and our company, and we worked closely with our Veterans Advisory Panel employee resource group to support the important work Guardian Angels does in our communities.” said Carolyn Bloodworth, secretary/treasurer of the Consumers Energy Foundation. “We are proud to support our local heroes through this grant.”
When asked to comment on the grant award, Carol Borden, Founder and CEO of Guardian Angels said “We are honored that we’ve been selected for support by Consumers Energy Foundation. With several paired teams already in Michigan, and several more applicants already on our waiting list, this grant will be of great assistance in serving Michigan’s veterans in need.
###
About Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs
Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization based in Williston, Florida and has grown into a nation-wide medical service dog organization. The organization rescues, raises, trains and then donates individually trained medical service dogs to veterans, first responders and others who suffer from disabilities including PTS, Traumatic Brain Injury, diabetic and seizure disorders, mobility issues and more. Since their inception in 2010, Guardian Angels has donated and paired hundreds of individually trained medical service dogs with those in need, in more than 30 states across the nation. For more information, visit: MedicalServiceDogs.org
About Consumers Energy Foundation:
The Consumers Energy Foundation is the charitable arm of Consumers Energy, Michigan’s largest energy provider. The Foundation enables communities to thrive and grow by investing in what’s most important to Michigan – its people, our planet and Michigan’s prosperity. In 2021, the Consumers Energy Foundation, Consumers Energy, its employees, and retirees contributed more than $17.5 million to Michigan nonprofits. For more information, visit ConsumersEnergy.com/foundation
We will mark down 2022 in history and fondly remember it as the year we accomplished another great milestone for our organization and the people we serve. In addition, to changing the lives of so many people for the better, we created another supportive branch of our organization. We are so proud to have hired our first veterinarian and opened our own veterinary hospital on campus. This hospital will not only take care of the health care needs of our dogs in training but also our paired teams and employee pets as well. (more…)
