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Veterans Wanted!
onroe’s K9 Academy in Charlestown NH is actively looking to work with Veterans. If you are a veteran and would like to have some help with training your dog Deb is offering discounted rates for you. She is also qualified to train Service Dogs. When it comes to training our dogs there are many options. Deb work to teach your dog to be obedient, polite, and accepting. Utilizing a Trainer/Owner at Home Training Method helps dog learn quickly. Beginning in an unfamiliar environment and ending the lesson in the familiar surroundings of the dog’s home. Owners learn how to reinforce the skills learned after class at home. Dogs can provide many services to people in need. Everything from physical handicaps to PDSD and beyond our fluffy little friends can be there 24/7. This relationship is priceless for both the owner and the dogs. Deb has had many service dogs she has helped. She loves telling the stories of the successes. Deb has been an animal trainer since 2007. Working with animals is her passion, but more than anything, she wants to help individuals in need of a guide, hearing or service dog. “I believe that many people with handicaps can lead a much fuller life if they have a trained service dog.” A service dog is a dog individually trained, to directly benefit a specific individual with a disability, such as visual or hearing impairment. Additionally, some are trained to do other work, such as mobility assistance, seizure alert or other medical alerts, and as psychiatric service dogs. Fully training a service dog can be very expensive. In some cases, organizations do not charge for a service dog, while in another they may charge thousands of dollars. In any event there is a waiting period. She works directly with individuals, helping them to train their own dog. In this way a stronger bond is created, and that person’s service needs are met, resulting in a happier animal and a fuller life for the owner. Debra has trained a Doberman to be a mobility service dog, and trained a rescue dog to be a service dog. She had a long-haired German that was trained to get her shoes in the morning,
16 4 Legs & a Tail
turn a light switch on and off, pull her jacket off as well as pulling socks on and off, and open a cupboard with a leash as well as retrieving a TV remote or the phone. One of her dogs was also trained to respond to smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. This came in very handy when her dog woke her in the middle of the night to warn of an alert in the basement. Even her Aussie has gotten in on the action, herding the family therapy goat!
This is from one of her clients: My name is Katherine Kopij and I have had the privilege of working with Debra Monroe the last few months with training our two standard poodle pups to be allergy alert dogs for my two children. We started when the pups came to us around age 6 months, and since then we have gotten to a point where they both behave nicely in public and are starting to learn to detect certain allergens. Both dogs have their own personality and Debra has been able to work around what learning style works best for each pup. One of the unique challenges that we have come up against is that one of the pups is blind, I was hesitant in the beginning, but Debra help show us that a disability shouldn’t hold one back, so shadow our blind pup is now showing us what she is made of and acing everything she is taught. Debra is also able to work around our schedule, and is extremely reasonable with her pricing, you can tell she is in it to help not just make money off of people. Life with two children with additional needs can be very expensive and being able to get an assistance dog for them seemed to be way out of our reach, but with the help of Debra, a dream of having assistance dogs to help give my two children and myself a safety net for them is now coming true. Fall 2020