Shawnee women become puppy trainers to help others
For two Oklahomans, raising a pup is an all-day process as they prepare them to become helpers for those in need of a service dog through Canine Companions for Independence.
Deanne Meshew and Linda McMahan, both of Shawnee, have taken on an almost 18-month challenge as they both raise and train a dog to become a helping hand.
“It is not easy because you are with them 24/7 for 18 months, and you go through so much together and you develop a special relationship together,” McMahan said.
The journey for the dogs is filled with learning 30 commands and being trained to be patient enough to work with individuals with disabilities, McMahan said. Training is also a regular part of the dogs' schedules with every outing in public also being a teaching moment on how to be calm.
“It is a very rigorousness training program, and they have very strict requirements,” McMahan said. "They are considered to be the RollsRoyce of your service dog organizations."
Only 40 percent of the dogs nationally make it past the requirements of the organization.
“I am hoping that she will go all the way,” Meshew said about Lojene, her 5-month-old dog. This is the first dog for Meshew.
The two women are not paid and spend their own money to feed and buy toys and other items for the dogs. They are the only two puppy raisers for the organization in Oklahoma.
They even carry a backpack with medical supplies and other needed items.
After applying to become a puppy raiser, attending trainings and receiving a home inspection, Canine Companions for Independence sends individuals a dog to raise.
Canine Companions for Independence raises four different types of service dogs, including hearing dogs, facility dogs, skilled companions and service dogs for adults. The dogs are provided for free to those with disabilities.
“When you have to turn that leash over, it is kind of tough,” McMahan said. “It does not get any easier.”
Every morning Meshew and Lojene get up at 5:30 a.m. and spend the entire day together. Lojene even goes to work with Meshew and just recently has started going out to public places.
The last 11 years of McMahan’s life have been devoted to raising dogs for Canine Companions. She found her calling after attending a local event where the dogs and children were brought together.
“When I saw the faces of those kids ... I said, 'I have to do that. I have to be a puppy raiser,' ” McMahan said. “Before I had left that day, I knew that I had to pursue that.”
She was a teacher at the time and was able to take her first dog with her inside the classroom.
By her retirement, she had raised four dogs in the classroom and said the dogs taught her more about patience than teaching eighth-graders.
“I thought I was a patient person,” McMahan said. “It has been kind of an interesting ride.”
The organization has partnered with the 2017 DogFest Walk N' Roll event for a fundraiser from noon to 3 p.m. Oct. 15 at Earlywine Park in Oklahoma City.
This year’s event is expected to include vendors and music, with a short walk around the park to help raise money to provide the dogs at no cost to those with disabilities.