By Carolyn Bickford<\/p>\n
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WW’s Key Kap Rico, aka Lucky, had his Public Access Test on Monday.\u00a0 He is now a Certified Assistance Dog.<\/p>\n
The test started when Sally Hoover, Lucky\u2019s adopter, unloaded him from her car.\u00a0 There were no open handicapped parking spaces, so it was a hike from the car to the Park City Mall entrance.\u00a0 On their way into the mall, Sally and Lucky had to walk through the parking lot, watching for cars, people, and other distractions.\u00a0 Lee Livingood was assigned the job of walking her dog Snickers past Sally and Lucky while they were on their way to the entrance.\u00a0 Lucky did all of that very well, stayed at heel for Sally, and calmly got both of them to the door.<\/p>\n
The next test was the controlled entry into the building.\u00a0 No pulling on the leash, or trying to wander off, or seeking attention from other people in the mall was allowed.\u00a0 Lucky aced that too, but it was obvious that he does not like shiny floors.\u00a0 However, it did not deter him, and as the test went on he became more confident.<\/p>\n
The rest of the testing was walking through the mall in a controlled manner.\u00a0 At one point Sally was told by the tester, Betsy Howell, to drop his leash and have Lucky pick it up and give it to her.\u00a0 Done and done.\u00a0 Next, Sally took a seat at a kiosk and a “stranger” (me)\u00a0took Lucky away and out of sight.\u00a0 This is done to show that Lucky would leave her in\u00a0the event\u00a0Sally would need help and Lucky had to be out of the way of anyone aiding Sally.\u00a0 No problem.<\/p>\n
Betsy dropped her clipboard and Lucky just looked back at her and continued on his way with Sally.\u00a0 There were tests of “down”, “stay” and “sit”. \u00a0Lucky did all of those on command and then resumed the walk.\u00a0 A mother with her baby in a stroller was asked to walk up to Lucky and Sally.\u00a0 The stroller did not bother Lucky, and he was fine with the baby.<\/p>\n
The elevator was Lucky’s favorite part.\u00a0 It was carpeted!\u00a0 Sally had to get him in and out without having the door close on either of them.\u00a0 Not as easy as it sounds, but the two of them seemed to be old pros at it.<\/p>\n
Next, we walked through the linen department at J.C. Penney’s, to see how well Lucky did with tight turns. Once again, Lucky did an excellent job.\u00a0 We moved on to the Food Court where Lucky did not eat the french fries that I threw on the floor.\u00a0 He did retrieve the dollar bill that Sally dropped, and picked up the pen that “fell” off the table.\u00a0 The dollar was easy,\u00a0the pen not so much.\u00a0 The pen was hard for him to hold in his mouth, as he\u00a0had lost a few teeth at his last dental.\u00a0 He did get the pen to Sally, and with that, both Lucky and Sally had passed the complete Certified Assistance Dog test.<\/p>\n
Special thanks to Roseanne Foy of Wet Noses Dog Training for training Lucky,\u00a0to Sally Hoover and Lucky, who worked so hard,\u00a0and to Betsy Howell of Redfern Canines who did the testing.\u00a0 All their hard work paid off, Lucky has a job, and Sally has help in her daily routines.\u00a0 Keystone Greyhounds also adds our thanks and gratitude to Penny Auer, Lucky’s foster mom, who made sure he got to his vet appointments and helped him on the road to being certified.\u00a0 Without dedicated volunteers like Penny, Lucky’s second career would not have been possible. (Editor\u2019s note: Thanks to Carolyn Bickford and Lee Livingood for assisting in the testing as well.)<\/p>\n
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By Carolyn Bickford WW’s Key Kap Rico, aka Lucky, had his Public Access Test on Monday.\u00a0 He is now a Certified Assistance Dog. The test started when Sally Hoover, Lucky\u2019s adopter, unloaded him from her car.\u00a0 There were no … Continue reading