Service dogs and their handlers

Dogs are many things: furry friends, four-legged family members and constant companions. Service dogs are all of that – and much, much more.

If you don’t have a disability, you may not have ever thought twice about how you would get into a building or whether you can really trust a gluten-free label. When you are disabled, it can seem like every decision you make has to be calculated in order to avoid flareups, episodes or more. Prescription medication, surgery, therapy, Eastern medication, yoga, massages and more can all be solutions to alleviate or ameliorate a disability, but for some people, this is not enough. They might turn to the help of a service dog to guide them around, alert them to incoming medical episodes and more.

Today, we’ll talk with service dog handlers and trainers in Middle Tennessee to learn more about what these dogs can do, how to respond when you see one in public, and what it takes to train one.

This episode was produced by Elizabeth Burton. Special thanks to Tom Jedlowski.

Guests:

• Chris Diefenthaler, Executive director of Assistance Dogs International
• Hallie Wells, Regional Advisor of Puppy Raising Services at  Dog, Inc. (formerly known as Southeastern Guide Dogs
• Austin Marshall, guide dog handler 
• Claire Schulz, service dog handler and owner of Cosmic Service Dogs
• Pluto, Claire’s service dog and demo dog for Cosmic Service Dogs
• Elizabeth Burton, This is Nashville Multi-media Producer and service dog handler

Further Reading and Listening

• For a different take on the disability experience, you can listen to past This is Nashville episodes: “Navigating into adulthood with disabilities” and “The challenges of navigating Middle Tennessee with a disability — and what can be done to make it more accessible.”
• To learn more about how to acquire a program service dog near you, visit ADI’s program guide