This academic year, the Office of Institutional Advancement has welcomed not one, but two canine friends. Meet Yakima and York, black Labrador siblings who are being trained by two of our student workers to work as service dogs for Canine Companions. Both Angela and Bella are sophomores in the Anthrozoology program at Carroll, with Bella raising Yakima and Angela raising York. Both ladies belong to the Collar Scholars Club on campus, and this year, they decided to take on the challenge of raising future service dogs!
They both received their dogs at four months old, and they will have them until the puppies are eighteen months old. At that point, the puppies will go on to professional trainers who will determine what kind of service dogs they will become. Dogs in the Canine Companions program go on to become service dogs, guide dogs, court dogs, therapy dogs, and more. Bella and Angela are charged with teaching their puppies 30 basic service dog commands and ensuring that they are well behaved dogs. There are currently four puppy raisers on the Carroll campus this year, and they are all volunteers. There are 25 active members of the Collar Scholars Club at Carroll, and they help with pet sitting and fundraising for the program.
Miss Yakima’s favorite commands are “whisper” and “shake." She likes to play with Harriet and Krouton, two other dogs on campus, as well as with every human she meets. Her favorite games are chase and emptying out her entire bucket of toys.
Mr. York’s favorite command is “here,” and he will sprint back to you. He loves the training room at the Perkins Call Canine Center and hanging out in the STAC with Angela and her friends. He loves all of his toys, but his favorites are his animal-shaped KONG toys.
To learn more about Canine Companions, visit: https://canine.org/
