Petra, the black lab, is naked. She doesn’t like to be naked.
Her “ICAN service dog in training” vest is dangling in front of her eyes, and she wants it on. It’s a badge of honor after all.
Indiana Canine Assistance Network began in 2001 to service Indiana residents who live with a disability, according to its website. ICAN at IU is a student-led organization, founded in 2017, that gives students the opportunity to fundraise, educate and volunteer with the organization.
ICAN has monthly meetings for the furlough volunteer program — which allows more experienced, certified volunteers to train and take care of the dogs.
These dogs are training to be service dogs for either mobility, facility, in-home or veteran assistance.
According to ICAN, mobility assistance dogs are trained to perform helpful tasks for children and adults who use wheelchairs or have light mobility challenges.
Facility dogs are trained to work with professionals who incorporate the dog into the care of their clients, patients or students. For example, the dogs may work in a school or physical therapy office.
An in-home skilled companion dog is trained to assist inside the home with whatever a client may need. Whether it is pushing a medical alert button to contact emergency personnel or picking up and retrieving named objects, the dogs ensure their clients aren’t home alone and have help.
A military veteran assistance dog is trained to provide relief for Indiana veterans who may experience post-traumatic stress disorder and other service-related trauma that transforms their quality of life for years.
Sami Lawrence, the co-furlough coordinator for ICAN at IU, said ICAN’s mission is to change the lives of both ends of the leash.
At an ICAN at IU meeting Thursday, the puppies in training practice their new skills they are learning. Currently, they are practicing dressing.
Petra tries to move before her cue. She’s just so excited. The vest is pulled away before she can slip it on. Her handler tries again. The vest is lowered to Petra’s eyesight. Her nose inches forward but she stays put.
“Dress,” her handler says. She shimmies her way in, and it plops onto her back.
Finally, she is in uniform.
Now it’s Carrie’s turn, a one-year-old golden lab.
Her handler asks if any of the public access volunteers – volunteers who watch a dog for a couple of hours while the primary furlougher attends labs or exams - want to practice before their upcoming exams.
One of the PAV’s in the back of the room bravely volunteers. He is going to try to dress Carrie.
The transfer goes perfectly, and Carrie puts her attention on her new handler. She sits. She stands. She follows every command with ease.
“She’s a happy worker,” Alex Kotarski, a senior at IU and returning member of the club, said.
With ease, Carrie underdresses and dresses again upon command. A treat to compliment the movement.
The dogs that come to ICAN at IU are part of the prison program, where an incarcerated person helps train the service dogs in training.
Kotarski said the dogs spend the first two years of their life training. The cycle usually consists of six weeks in the prison with their handler and three weeks in furlough with ICAN at IU or other furlough volunteers in other parts of Indiana. Then they return to prison with their original handler.
In prison, she said, the dogs are working on cues and learning all of the important training they need.
“The recidivism rate is very low after (the handlers in prison) are released,” Kotarski said. “Some of them even become volunteers and staff after they are released.”
General members are always welcome to join ICAN at IU and help spread awareness and raise money for ICAN, Lawrence said. General members, although not furloughs, are crucial to the organization and help run educational events put on by ICAN. They can join the executive board and help teach service dog etiquette to others.
General members also still get to be around the dogs at events and pet them, often to help train them to ignore outside influence, Kotarski said.
Petra and Carrie are only two of the puppies currently training through the prison and ICAN. There are around 40-60 incarcerated trainers working to help train dogs at three-Indiana based correctional facilities.
These puppies are usually golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers or a mix of the two. However, the veteran division recently expanded to allow other breeds, specifically if a veteran wants ICAN to train their personal dog, Kotarski said. A Yorkie graduated last year along with multiple mutts.
ICAN at IU gets to see these dogs graduate and go off to help people every year, Kotarski said.
Lawrence got involved in ICAN after her mom got a service dog from ICAN when she was younger.
“I got to see the other side where I saw my mom's life change so dramatically because of a dog,” Lawrence said. “Being able to contribute to that with their training and knowing that they have the chance to go help someone with their training is really special.”
