SILVER OAK ELEMENTARY NEWSLETTER. SOLfulness. Silver Oak CCI Puppy Sol

Transcription

1 SILVER OAK ELEMENTARY NEWSLETTER JANUARY 2018 SOLfulness Silver Oak CCI Puppy Sol The Start of the Fundraiser The Make it Pawsible fundraiser started in 2013 by Mr. Laraway, a fifth grade teacher. Meet Silver Oak s CCI Puppy, Sol The students in Mr. Laraway s Class Name a CCI Puppy Each spring, the 5th graders in Mr. Laraway's class raise awareness and collect donations to support Canine Companions for Independence, a non-profit organization located in Santa Rosa that provides disabled adults and children with assistance dogs. These students were rewarded with the opportunity of naming a CCI puppy. Meet Sol! He s currently a student just like you! Make it Pawsible is Born Mr. Laraway started the fundraiser to help disabled people, such as his sister, who had polio as a small child. Silver Oak Our school has been collecting impressive donations for 5 years! SOL S BIRTH SOL S TRAINING A+ STUDENT HIS BREED Sol was born on April 3, 2017 in Orinda, CA. He is already 9 months old! Sol is currently training in Coffee Creek Correctional Facility in Oregon. Sol is a good student and he loves learning new things. Sol is a yellow labrador retriever. Labs are known for being awesome service dogs. 1

2 Puppy Life A Puppy in Training by Katie H. and Molly K. by Anya I. As you might know, Sol is a puppy who is now going through training at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. Four years ago, Karen Cervantes adopted Minerva in November My family chose her so that we could help people live independent lives, says Karen Cervantes. She is such a kind Sol. When Minerva isn t taking care of the puppies, she likes to go for walks, play at the park, and go to the beach. At the beach she loves to play happily in the sand. It was the turning point in Sol s life when he went to Coffee Creek. He rode in a kennel inside a car with his siblings after a medical exam. Then Sol flew to Portland, Oregon to train at the correctional facility. It s always breaks my heart to say goodbye to Minerva s puppies, informs Karen Cervantes. A puppy from Minerva s first litter named Puck was raised at Coffee Creek and he graduated. Now Puck is a skilled companion for a boy named Will. Hopefully Sol will be in the same position as Puck when he finishes training. Sol is now at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility. He is under the care of female inmates who give Sol plenty of love and affection. He is also learning a lot of important commands such as sit and speak. Sol is training to become a good CCI dog who will help disabled people. As Karen Cervantes told us, Sol is in good hands. Sol had a great life in his first eight weeks. He loved to eat and play. In fact, he was actually the biggest in his litter! As Mrs. Cervantes, (Sol s breeder) said, When all the puppies were sleeping, Sol was still playing with toys or running around. Sol s mother, Minerva, fed and took care of him for the first 4 weeks of his life. As he got older, he had to learn to eat kibble, or dog food, by himself, and Minerva had to stop feeding him. Karen Cervantes taught Sol how to get ready for the challenging school ahead of him. Sol had to listen to CD s of regular household sounds such as sirens and crying babies. It was important for him to get used to these different sounds. When Sol was 8 weeks old, he had to move to a correctional facility called Coffee Creek in Oregon for training purposes. If he was going to be a service dog, he would have to train. We hope Sol will help disabled people with things they can t do. A Playful Dog by Jaslyn G. and Ishika K. Growing up, Sol was very energetic and playful. Sol was the last puppy born in Minerva s litter of eight dogs and he is nine months old. The names of all the dogs in Sol s litter start with the letter s. Sol s brothers are Salma, Salazar, and Sundance and his sisters are Sabina, Sandia, Sonora, and Soledad. The orders of a puppy s collar represent their age. The order from oldest to youngest is red, blue, purple, neon green, neon pink, brown, and turquoise. Sol has a turquoise collar, which makes him the last puppy born in his litter, says Karen Cervantes, Sol s breeder. Minerva happily raised Sol. He was in the last litter out of Minerva s four litters. We all hope Sol and his siblings all can become a successful CCI Service Dogs. Personality by Erin S. and Angela K. Sol is very eager to work with his handlers. He has good focus and he fits right in with the other CCI dogs. One of Sol s handler s, Donna Fuller, says, Every puppy is different, but Sol s training off site has been going very well. Sol is quiet and reserved so Donna Fuller takes that into account when she works with him off site. She spends time watching his language for signs of stress. She also tries to stay positive with him. Sol is very much like a lot of puppies that come in for training. Sol can be shy, but he also likes people. Sol is excellent at helping the shy dogs feel more comfortable. Sol has better social skills than most puppies. He likes people a lot, does well one-on-one with them, and 2

3 warms up quickly. Sol likes people and loves to cuddle with them. Sol can be a little nervous in new places where there are a lot of people. When Donna takes him somewhere where it is more quiet, he much more confident. When Sol goes to new places or meets new people. He associates well with them and likes the exposure. When Donna Fuller socializes with puppies, she wants them to have a good experience with new things they encounter. Sol s Learning by Maya P. and Ariya P. Sol is currently at Coffee Creek and he goes through a lot of special training to become a CCI dog. He works hard and is a good student. Sol can be a little nervous around new things and sometimes he can be a little sensitive and shy. He is still a bright student, and he likes to learn new things. Sol goes through positive reinforcement training. That means, his handlers spend a lot of time rewarding him when he does things correctly. Some of the rewards can be treats, playtime, toys, or attention. Ms. Heather Ohmart says, This will help him learn more quickly and it will help him love working with people. Sol learns a lot of imp o r t a n t c o m m a n d s. Some of the commands are: Heel which tells the dog to go left; Side tells the dog to go sit on the right side of the owner; and Hurry tells the dog to go to the bathroom outside. It is an important command because it prevents him from having an accident in public. Visit tells the dog to rest its chin on the owner s lap and also allows the dog to place things that the owner dropped more precisely in the owner s hand. Ms. Ohmart says, This is important for bonding if the dog works as a Facility Dog or a Skilled Companion (a dog that is working with a child). This is a just little example of what its is like to train a CCI dog. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, but in the end, it s all worth it. Coffee Creek Correctional Facility by Matt N. The partnership between the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) and Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) began around It started in a state prison facility in Salem, Oregon. This became known as the Coffee Creek Correctional Facility (CCCF). CCCF was built because there was a need to train puppies. The inmates at CCCF wanted to help. The opportunity to learn how to work with the dogs and to provide meaningful assistance resonates with many inmates at CCCF. Ms. Laurene Brenner quotes, The program started because there was a need to train puppies for people who required dogs, and there were adults in custody who were available, able, and wanted to help. Also, they wanted to make up for the crimes they have committed in the past. The move from CCI to CCCF took place in 2002 and the facility has had a great impact for the disabled. Ms. Heather Ohmart is currently running CCCF and according to Ms. Brenner, she is doing a very good job. Ms. Brenner says, Ms. Heather Ohmart is our current trainer, and is awesome! Coffee Creek s Puppy Program by Varsha B. and Tanuj N. Sol will be training at Coffee Creek for a few more months. He spends time with the inmates and learns commands and manners everyday. Currently, Coffee Creek has a successful training program. They have a 75% success rate, which is higher than normal. There has been 140 puppies raised at the facility. Out of that total, 63 of those dogs have graduated and been placed with children and adults. Currently 18 dogs are active in the program and are being trained at either the facility or at the main campus in Santa Rosa. Ms. Heather Ohmart has a lot of fun teaching the volunteers and inmates how to train and handle Sol. She says, It s exciting to see the progress in dogs and people. Both change quite a bit when they are in the program. Ms. Ohmart feels very honored to have Sol in their program. 3

4 So far, Sol is doing an awesome job and hopefully he keeps that up. He is on his path to becoming a successful CCI dog. We hope he keeps going. What is CCI? by Brandon O. and Gurneel K. CCI is an organization that provides disabled people with service dogs that match their disability. The dogs help them with needs that they cannot do by themselves. CCI stands for Canine Companions for Independence. This organization is scattered around the country, divided into six different regions. These different regions are the Southeast, Northeast, South Central, North Central, Southwest, and the Northwest Region (our Region). The Northwest Region is in the states of California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska. Puppies in our region go to different training facilities based on when they were born and where their parents were trained. The Northwest region is divided into eight volunteer chapters. A volunteer chapter raises awareness by recruiting new puppy raisers and those volunteers support each other s work on behalf of the mission in many ways. These volunteer chapters are Wine Country, East Bay Miracles, Gold Rush, Northern Nevada, Comstock, Cascade, Puget Sound, Idaho and the South Bay Chapter (our Chapter). Only dogs are allowed to train in the South Bay Chapter at one time. After the 24 years that this chapter has been here, more than 520 dogs have been trained here. Before, the success rate was much lower, but now more recently, the success rate has gone over fifty percent! That s amazing! The president of the South Bay Chapter, Sue Guzman, says, And we are SOOO excited that Sol has been named in your honor and is starting his journey to become an Assistance Dog! Inmates Give CCI Dogs Love by Matthew C. and Alexis C. Inmates raise service dogs which helps their personality. Raising these dogs makes the inmates feel like they are helping someone by preparing a dog for service duty. Ms. Brenner says, There are a lot of female adults in custody. She also says, It s their way to give back for what they ve done First of all, inmates learn life lesson like depending on people, responsibility, and other daily life structures. These skills can help inmates get jobs when they leave prison. Additionally, inmates raise the puppies for the first year of the dog s life and train them 24 hours for 5 days a week. On weekends, the puppies get to socialize with other dogs and go to the mall, chase squirrels, and other things normal dogs do. Not all dogs graduate but fortunately, we know Sol is an attentive learner, and he deserves an A+! Puppies at Coffee Creek by Kyra C.and Erin K. The nine month old puppy, Sol, is training at Coffee Creek Correctional Facility to become a CCI dog to help the disabled. Sol is now learning approximately 30 new commands with his female inmate handlers. This happy fellow is staying with his female inmate handlers for 24 hours, five days a week, including eating and sleeping. The inmates teach him how to socialize with people and learn manners until he is one and a half years old. They teach him how to behave in different situations. The superintendent s assistant and puppy program coordinator, Laurene Brenner, says, We like to think positively about the puppies while they are here and when they move on to professional training. Sol s handlers teach him numerous commands like opening doors, turning on and off lights, picking up dropped items, and other daily commands to help the disabled. After the training, if the puppies complete the program, the dog will get matched with a disabled person to help them. If the dog successfully completes the program, he will go on to assist a person who is disabled. Let s hope Sol will complete the program and go on to help a person that needs his help. Sol s Daily Routine by Luis B. and Zainab S. As you might know, Sol is at Coffee Creek in Oregon for his training. He is a bright student and he will work hard to graduate. So far, he has been training hard, and we expect he will keep that up. Sol lives with his cell handler at Coffee Creek. He gets up really early in the morning and goes to breakfast 4

5 with the inmates. During the day, Sol works with his handler, goes to other meals, plays with his handler and other dogs, gets groomed (teeth brushed, bathed, etc.), attends activities like meetings and classes, and works on commands. Some of the basic commands Sol learns are heel and side. D u r i n g h i s training, he will learn several new commands. Sol will have to wait until he is two years old to be p l a c e d w i t h someone, because after all, he just a puppy. As Ms. Ohmart says, He s just a baby when he comes to us and he won't be ready for the c h a l l e n g e s o f working full-time until he is an adult dog. Sol will be in training for awhile longer and we wish him good luck on his journey. Sol s Daily Life by Tyler T. and Anshay C. During Sol s daily life at Coffee Creek he Solcialzes" with his friends and trains with his fellow handlers. In his free time, Sol plays with his puppy friends. Some of his friends are Fozzie and Zeebee. He is getting used to interacting as he make new friends often. There are 12 other dog friends that live and play with him. He is now with his third handler. He rotates to a new handler every month. So far all his trainers are positive about him. His handlers describe him as very good and very attentive to his handler. The handlers say, He loves belly rubs and he s very cuddly. Changes in a Journey by Shreya Y.and Teagan W. Puppy Sol has changed a lot since we last heard of him. He now trains at a facility called Coffee Creek, Monday through Friday. Sol s trainers want him to have a good experience with new subjects he encounters when they socialize with him. This will help him later on when he goes to new places or meets new people. With this training, he has a good association with new things and likes the experience. Every puppy is different, but puppy Sol s training has been progressing off site. Sol s off site volunteer, Donna Fuller says, Sol fits right in with the CCI dogs. This means that Sol is very much like other puppies CCI has trained. Sol is different from other dogs that aren t in CCI. CCI dogs are more trainable and are eager to work with the trainer. CCI dogs are also more focused on a task than regular dogs. Sol has gone through some changes that changed him as a puppy. He has become responsible and has matured both physically and academically since last spring. Progress with Silver Oak s Puppy by Alvira M. and Riyana R. Sol s progress has changed since we last heard of him. Sol has made a lot of progress with social skills. When CCI socializes with puppies, they want them to have a good experience with new things they encounter. This helps them later on when they go to new places or meet new people. Sol has a good association with people and likes the experience. He did really well in his puppy kindergarten class and was good at helping the shy dogs feel more comfortable around other dogs. CCI worked with Sol on commands such as Let s go (this tells him to walk nicely beside his caretaker on his leash), Hurry (this tells him to go to the bathroom when he s outside), Sit, Down, Kennel (tells him to go in his crate), and Here (tells him to come to his caretaker). Though Donna Fuller (Sol s current off site caretaker) leaves most of the commands to Sol s puppy raiser, Donna still gives him the opportunities to learn some of the commands while they are out walking. Sol s progress towards learning his commands is steadily improving. Advanced Training by Jaydon N. After the intermediate training, a puppy s time for training is not over yet. They still have to pass the final test. During the Advanced or Professional Training, they get tested on the skills, commands (more than 60 of 5

6 them), and how they react when they meet other dogs. Only when they pass all these tests, will they move onto Team Training where they will start their career. Team Training is where they get matched to a person who has a disability. Based on their test results, dogs will be placed in one of four different specialty areas. Each one of them has a different approach. One type of CCI dogs are Service dogs who help people with physical disabilities. Skilled Companion dogs increase independence for people who have mental disabilities. Hearing dogs help people who have bad hearing. Facility dogs work with a professional in visitation, education, or healthcare setting. CCI uses labradors or golden Retrievers for these jobs. CCI is one of the only organizations, that provides a successor dog to recipients. That means that when someones s first service dog retires or dies, that person can apply for another service dog as soon as possible. This can mean they have a new service dog and their old one at the same time. The president of the South Bay Chapter, Sue Guzman exclaims, CCI is extremely grateful for the support that Silver Oak Elementary students have provided to our program! What CCI Trainees Learn by Zydaan K. and Hanh L. Sol is a quick learner with his trainer and he learns valuable skills and commands while at Coffee Creek. During Sol s training, the handlers train Sol with consistency and use a positive reinforcement system. Sol goes to physical, mechanical, and industrial plants to work and learn how to behave near power tools. All of his commands were easy for him to learn quickly, but when he attempted to learn the command Speak (bark), it was hard for him to learn it. Sol s professional training segment of his life is an intense and fast paced learning session. The training is typically divided into three major segments: first semester, second semester, and Team Training. Occasionally, Sol will remain in training for a third semester. During training, Sol becomes more mature and learns all the commands. If not, when the final test is given, Sol will not become a CCI service dog. As the inmates from Coffee Creek would say, Sol is a good boy, quick learner, and attentive to his handler. The Training of a CCI Dog by James E. and Jay P. You might remember Sol, the puppy Silver Oak named last year. The school raised enough money to name a CCI puppy. During training, he learns skills that a CCI dog needs. These skills help him in his later life as a loyal CCI dog. Sol travels to different training spots. In different settings, Sol learns to react appropriately in a public setting. During Sol s training, the trainers use a food lure for a positive reinforcement system. This allows Sol to stay positive and happy while he is training. Sol s trainers reward good behavior and make it fun. He follows directions very well according to one of the handlers that trains Sol. During Sol s training, he learns new commands and learns how to react in the public. These skills will help him in his later life of a CCI dog. Sol is a handsome, intelligent, and loyal dog. We expect he will become a very successful CCI dog. SOLfulness Vol. 1, No. 1 a newsletter published by Mr. Laraway s 5th grade class San Jose, CA in conjunction with Canine Companions for Independence Santa Rosa, CA Editors: Varsha B, Tyler T, Aaditya B, Shreya Y, Erin K, & Anya I 6