DRIPPING SPRINGS — In the midst of its 37th year, Service Dogs Inc. (SDI) has opened up its application process for the next round of recipients.
Founded in 1988, the nonprofit is the “artist boutique” of service dog trainers, according to owner and founder Sheri Soltes. Before starting the nonprofit, Soltes was a trial lawyer in Houston when she began to see a real need for hearing dogs, which are service dogs that assist people who are deaf or hard of hearing. From there, the project started out after receiving a small grant, training one dog. This led to local recognition, which resulted in another grant and two more dogs trained. Eventually, the nonprofit grew to have trainers in and around Houston, with each having several dogs living with them to be trained.
Service Dogs Inc. has been training assistance dogs since 1988. One of the hearing dogs, Sherlock, poses with handler Megan Harris.
In 2001, the organization began searching for a space to house and train the dogs together to provide more uniformity in the training process.
“Then, after looking all over Texas, we found Dripping Springs. I just happened to meet somebody that was trying to sell some property there and I said, ‘Well, we’re actually looking for something,’” said Soltes. “And that was how we came across this property that we have in Dripping Springs — really through divine intervention.”
In 2004, SDI moved to its current location at 4925 Bell Springs Road in Dripping Springs.
Nowadays, SDI trains dogs for more than just hearing assistance, following a request from a young man named Toby, who approached Soltes and asked the organization to train a mobility service dog for him.
“I said, ‘Well, we haven’t actually done a [mobility] service dog, but let’s try,’” said Soltes. “So, we did one for him, we did it as a pilot program … And it went well.”
Mobility assistance dogs are used by people who do not have full mobility. These service dogs perform tasks, including opening and closing doors and retrieving items that are out of reach, as well as removing items of clothing, like unzipping a jacket or taking off shoes.
This led SDI to expand its services to include not only mobility assistance dogs, but courthouse and first responder facility dogs, as well.
These facility dogs have similar jobs, said Soltes. Courthouse facility dogs supply comfort and emotional relief to victims going through the court system, specifically children, and are with them through interviews and testifying, while first responder facility dogs do the same for first responders, such as firefighters, paramedics, hospital staff, law enforcement and even dispatchers.
“It’s not a therapy dog, [because a] therapy dog goes with its owner as a volunteer and they work for two hours and people pet the dog, which is great,” Soltes explained. “[Courthouse and first responder] dogs are working full-time. They go to meetings, they go to the scene of an incident, they make rounds of the staff, like in the hospitals … and they get people to open up a lot of times.”
According to Soltes, the rate of first responder suicides is as much as 50% higher than the general public. In response to that, SDI trains first responder facility dogs, which, along with therapy and other mental health services, help by providing comfort and emotional support to first responders in crisis.
First responder facility dog Rudy gets up close and personal with firefighters from Bexar County Fire Rescue. According to Service Dogs Inc. (SDI) founder Sheri Soltes, the rate of first responder suicides is as much as 50% higher than the general public. In response to that, SDI trains first responder facility dogs which, along with therapy and other mental health services, help by providing comfort and emotional support to first responders in crisis.
“First responders are very stoic about how they’re feeling about things. They don’t really open up, but they do more with the dogs and once they do that, they’re more open to different tools to kind of heal and build resiliency,” said Soltes. “[First responder facility dogs are] like eight steps before therapy, especially for people who may not be even thinking about therapy and it also helps to destigmatize mental health. So, we don’t say ‘mental health,’ we say ‘build resiliency,’ like ‘I can bounce back.’”
According to Soltes, SDI sets itself apart from other training centers in a number of ways, including the method to choose its service dogs. The organization will only train animals of their choosing, which are always from the shelter, rather than a family pet. One of the reasons why is because it's looking for dogs with a specific temperament, one that is suitable for that specific job.
“Also, because we train the dogs free of charge,” Soltes added. “If we put six months into training a dog and then, [the client] quits or doesn’t want to train the way we do, we don’t have the dog or anything [to show for it].”
Because of the various services SDI provides, the founder explained that each dog requires specific characteristics. For example, when looking for a prospective hearing dog, trainers look for a dog that is very alert and aware of their surroundings.
“The hearing dogs are [typically] medium-sized dogs because they’re alerting, they’re getting your attention by touching you,” said Soltes. “They’re going to nudge you with their nose. So, we want a dog that you can feel, but it’s not too big. They’re [not] going to knock you down because your microwave’s going off.”
When looking at mobility assistance, a bigger dog is needed.
“We need a size where, when it delivers an item, it can reach your lap, [for example] if you’re sitting in a wheelchair. So, we’re going to use the labrador retriever sized dogs,” continued Soltes.
According to Soltes, for all assistance dogs, trainers look for dogs that are “friendly, not aggressive, but not super duper scared of everything.”
“We look for young adult dogs because we want them to have healthy hips. So, we want the hip socket, the hip joint, to be healthy. When it's not healthy, they have something called [hip] dysplasia … We’re trying to avoid that,” said Soltes. “At the youngest, we look for dogs that are at least a year and a half to maybe two and a half years old because training takes a year and once the client gets [the dog], we want them to have at least a 10 year working life. [If] we start off with a five year old dog, by the time they’re done [training], it's less of a working life.”
Once a training service dog is matched with a handler -— someone who needs an assistance dog — SDI will tailor the training to the client.
For a client or organization who is looking for a personal assistance dog, SDI has an online application on its website. Some of the requirements to apply for a hearing or mobility dog include: Applicant must be a Texas resident, applicant must have hearing loss or mobility related challenges and no other dogs at time SDI dog is placed with client.
The application for facility dogs is also on the SDI website. According to the website, the requirements for applying for a facility assistance dog include: “The Facility Dog lives with and is handled by an employee of the facility. To apply for a Facility Dog, you must have:
1. An agency staff member to care for, house and handle the dog. This individual will participate in the SDI application and training process.
2. The handler must have training in counseling, victim’s services, critical incident stress debriefings, mental health or similar education and field experience.
3. The agency must commit to the support of a Facility Dog. SDI requires a supervisor signature on the application.
4. The handler may not have other dogs living in the home or outside dogs.”
As long as a client meets these requirements, they will receive a personally trained service dog at no cost. There is no charge for the company’s service dogs, unlike other trainers who charge upwards of $1,000, which Soltes emphasized is very rare within the service dog industry.
Additionally, SDI also hosts a Veterans Training Program. According to its website, prior to being matched to a client, new assistance animals will live with and receive foundational training from military veterans in the program.
“This win-win program provides veterans with job skills, the therapeutic benefits of the unconditional love of a dog and the pride of making an impact on the life of the disabled clients who eventually receive the dog they trained,” the website explained.
SDI’s applications are open and they are looking for new clients.
“We’re very eager to get applications for people who want any of the four kinds of dogs: the court systems, the first responder agencies [and] the individuals who either have a loss of hearing or mobility throughout the state and we would love to do more in Hays County, since that's our kind of hometown, anyway,” concluded Soltes.
For more information about SDI and the training it does, visit www.servicedogs.org/about.
