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by Amy Hillenburg
Several area businesses, including two from Mooresville, have been instrumental in making the Rejuvenation Garden at 18th and Pennsylvania in Indianapolis come to life. Lowe's Home Improvement and Greendell Mulch & Mix in Mooresville donated soil, compost, landscaping plants, spirea and decorative grasses, along with plant maintenance products for the garden.
Sherri DeCoursey of Martinsville, a volunteer and coordinator for the garden project, said the 1,600 sq. ft. lot has been pretty barren and useless, with one tree and some stray weeds.
Thanks to the business sponsors, some grants and a partnership between the Indiana Canine Assistant Network (ICAN) and Little Red Door Cancer Agency, a landscaped garden with a wheelchair accessible walkway will be created. The Little Red Door handles and supports clients managing cancer. ICAN trains dogs to assist those individuals with physical and developmental challenges.
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It was a difficult start to her life... she was dumped in a shelter in Ohio around 6-8 weeks of age. A family that was having trouble deciding which puppy to adopt adopted her and her littermate, since they were Labradoodles and they were "bargains" they adopted both. Within just a few weeks they realized that they we not capable of handling two puppies. After several attempts to find a home for the one puppy they decided they didn't want, they were going to take the puppy to another shelter.
IDOG Rescue/Rehome Resources was notified of the situation and made arrangements to visit the family. The IDOG RRR representatives left with the puppy they didn't want and she was placed in a foster home of Janet that day.
There was something very special about this little girl. She endured the scary environment of a shelter, endured the poor care from an overwhelmed family, yet she had a sense of resiliency about her. She was just barely 16 weeks old, but had a gentle way about her that just shined through.
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Canine assistance program benefits people with disabilities and the prison inmates who serve as the trainers
By JENNIFER CHRISTOS
It took Brad Duerstock about a week to teach his dog Luke how to open a sliding glass door.
With a tug rope tied to the door's handle, the service dog had to learn to pull in the right direction and parallel to the door, instead of perpendicular, as he had learned with other doors.
A neurobiologist at Purdue, Duerstock was matched with the yellow lab through the Indiana Canine Assistant and Adolescent Network Program last year. He is one of only a few adults who have been chosen for the program.
ICAAN is a nonprofit organization based in Indianapolis that partners with the Indiana Department of Corrections. Inmates train assistance dogs for Indiana youth who require help because of a disability.
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Put prison in the same sentence with dog and for most people, images arise of snarling guard dogs making sure prisoners remain locked up. But for scores of people with disabilities an unusual program that uses Indiana prisoners to train Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, Labradoodles and other breeds to serve as assistance dogs can mean a better way of life.
One of the people deeply involved in the Indiana Canine Assistant & Adolescent Network (ICAAN) is Eileen Udry, a faculty member in the School of Physical Education and Tourism Management at IUPUI. ICAAN, founded in 2001 by Sally Irvin, was launched at the Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility with two incarcerated adolescents. With each success story, the program has grown and now includes three central Indiana locations.
"What is so remarkable about the program is that it has benefits in two very significant ways," says Udry, who helps develop the training methods used by the prisoners. "A well-trained dog can be such a tremendous benefit to a person who otherwise would have a much harder time getting around and doing things the rest of us take for granted.
"But it also offers help-and hope-to the men and women who are in prison, who find something worthwhile to do with their time," she adds. "And they learn a marketable skill while giving others hope, too."
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When you combine nine dogs, offenders from the Indiana Women's Prison, and two years of work you get animals which can open doors, turn lights on and off, get the laundry, and even answer the phone. Graduation day was Thursday.
Minus the pomp, none of the circumstance, the nine graduates managed to disguise their emotion and excitement with blank stares and cat naps. They were obviously oblivious of the ceremony which was largely in honor of them and their handlers. Amy Switzer is one of those handlers.
"Everything I learned from this program I'm taking out with me."
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A Culver girl now has help getting around, thanks to a program where Indiana�s prison inmates train service dogs.
A special pup named Rudy helps Shelagh Wise with daily activities, like turning lights on and off, and opening doors.
Rudy was born and raised in Elkhart, and trained through ICAAN, the Indiana Canine Assistant and Adolescent Network.
Rudy was trained in Rockville by a lady named Lisa, says Shelagh. He does everything with me.
Shelagh keeps treats handy to reward Rudy for his good deeds.
- WNDU's Article
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