4 Paws for Ability
Location: 207 Dayton Ave., Xenia
Business type: 501(c)(3) nonprofit
Founded: 1998, by Karen Shirk
Motto: Providing canine miracles for people with disabilities worldwide
Services: Training dogs for those with hearing impairments, mobility difficulties, autism, seizures and other issues
Training time: The process, which can take 300 to 600 hours of training, can take 12 to 18 months
Costs: $22,000 to train and place a dog, but many families are asked to help raise $13,000 to $16,000
Clients: Shirk said about 500 families have applied for service dogs, with about 100 actively fund-raising
Contact: (937) 374-0385; e-mail karen4paws@aol. com or visit www.4pawsforability.org/index.html
XENIA — Logan Erickson pressed his nose against the airport window near his hometown of Unalakleet, Alaska.
The little boy with autism who hadn’t spoken in about seven years watched a family friend — Iditarod sled dog musher DeeDee Jonrowe — get on a plane with her dog, Miyagi. Jonrowe had been stuck there because of a storm.
“It was like the perfect moment,” said Logan’s oldest brother, Austen. “He was saying ‘Miyagi’ and Miyagi had just got on the plane. It was perfect. It was cute. It was just amazing to hear him say his word and hear him use his voice.”
Ten months later, the Ericksons were in Xenia on Tuesday at 4 Paws for Ability, a service dog training nonprofit organization.
The family started 11 days of training so that Logan could get used to life with Juke, an 18-month-old golden Lab.
Father Jeff, 51, and mother Donna, 48, along with sons Austen, 19, and Talon, 12, will help Juke adjust to Logan, who is now 10.
Jeff, a commercial salmon fisherman who also works as an activities director at the high school, said the townspeople know of Logan and look out for him — like during searches that have involved four-wheelers and an airplane — but that nature is a bigger foe.
The Ericksons’ house is 200 feet from the Bering Sea and the ice, tundra, forests and animals are unforgiving. “He’ll get lost in the trees or in the bushes,” said Donna, an agent for a commuter airline. “My biggest fear is that a bear has gotten him.”
4 Paws founder and Executive Director Karen Shirk said Juke should help calm Logan, be tethered to him outside so he can’t run away, will aid with sleeping patterns and provide a social bridge so other children get to know Logan. The dog is also trained to track Logan by scent like a search dog.
Shirk called the dogs’ effects “magic,” but results vary from family to family.
The demand is high for any service dogs. “A lot of people (are) learning about them and wanting to use them,” Shirk said. There are “a lot of children that need dogs and very few agencies that will place with children. We are probably one of the biggest; there’s maybe two others that are as big as us, that will place with children.”
“It’s not a miracle cure,” Logan’s father, said. “He’s not going to be cured of autism, but it increases independence and increases confidence about being out and going places.”
As she watched their family’s newest member, Donna recalled Logan saying “Miyagi.” It set off fundraising efforts for the $13,500 it takes to pay for an autism service dog.
“There was a storm raging, the howling winds and the waves and the ocean sounds were so tremendous, I think that DeeDee’s dog was a calming effect,” Donna said. “When she left with that dog, he wanted that connection.
“It was painful for me because I had longed for so long for Logan to say something. It was very moving for me to know that he had a connection and that words can come out.”
The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is the Super Bowl of events in rural Alaska and Jonrowe helped raise funds.
From corporations Eagle Pack, which promised to pay for Juke’s food, to Alaska Airlines helping with airfare, to hometown bake sales and raffles, the money was raised to pay for Juke and get the Ericksons to Xenia.
Since meeting Miyagi, Austen said Logan sometimes speaks. A big moment came when the family flew into Chicago and then drove toward Dayton. “When we were driving, he said the ABCs to himself softly in the back seat,” Austen said. “He missed a couple letters, but he had the tune right. It was awesome.”
Shirk cautions families not to expect “Lassie” results, pointing out dogs on the TV show needed dozens of takes to perform.
“They can read the stories on the website, the real miracles,” Shirk said. “They sort of know what to expect. We give them the realistic stuff, the dog is not going to fix everything. But the dogs sometimes make a difference right on Day 1.”
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