Dear Vicky,

We got our little Ruffle from you two years ago. She is our fourth Yorkie, we have no children. Ruffle is such a confront and companion to my wife who deals with a mental disorder called Manic Depression or Bi Polar. With family members it seems as if it is a subject that is to be avoided. The unconditional love that is manifested has no baggage or stipulations and is a constant source of joy and companship. The companionship is unrelentless as well as her devotion. We care for Ruffles by treating her and feeding her by not giving her table scrapes so as to have a long healthy life. Medicine plays a major role in my wife's treatment, but our little dog provides a theraputic component that pill can't provide. She is a family member for us. God made animals, like flowers, to bring us joy.

Warm Regards,

Paul Rose

Child's best friend

By Monica Green/features@trcle.com

A four-legged staff member may soon roam the halls of the Johnson County Children's Advocacy Center. The center is in the process of obtaining a courthouse dog, a professionally trained dog that would be allowed in the forensic interview room and court rooms.

"These dogs are different," said Tammy King, executive director for CAC. "Because it's so specially trained you don't have to worry about the panting or other issues like with regular dogs."

They have been working on starting the program, and Programs Director Drew Stallings is in the application process.

"The application process takes three to six months, and depending on availability, the waiting list could be up to a year," he said.

"We have been working with Sheri Soltes and Ellen O'Neill-Stephens," King said. "They had been e-mailing me back and forth for a while about our dog therapy program."

Ellen O'Neill-Stephens is the founder of Courthouse Dogs, a program that "promotes justice through the use of well-trained dogs to provide emotional support for everyone in our criminal justice system," according to its Web site.

Stephens is a senior deputy prosecuting attorney for King County Prosecuting Attorney's Office in Seattle, Wash. She began the program in 2003 when she started taking her son's service dog, Jeeter, to juvenile drug court one day a week.



Therapy dogs won't work

The center has always used canines in its facility, utilizing them in a therapy dog program. The courthouse dog would be in addition to the therapy dogs, King said.

The problem with the therapy dogs is that the handler must be with the dogs at all times, she said.

"Our therapy dogs are absolutely amazing," King said. "The more we get, the happier I am. Our therapy dogs will continue."

Handlers are vulnerable to be subpoenaed in court if they are present during the forensic interview.

"I have never liked the idea of civilians who don't have any training in the criminal justice system and having them sitting there listening to the story," Stephens said.

It also adds another person to the room while the children are trying to tell their stories, which is already difficult for them.

Also, therapy dogs are trained but not as well as courthouse dogs.

"You can't have a dog that's going to interact with the child," Stephens said. "They need a dog who's just going to lie there. There's a number of reasons why we don't recommend therapy dogs in the forensic room and court room."



Why the dogs help

"The dogs give the children a calming effect," Stallings said. "It makes it more comfortable for them to talk.

"It's kind of a bridge between the whole justice system and the children. The children are more forthcoming with the dogs around."

In videos by Courthouse Dogs, children who will not speak to the therapists are shown during interviews.

Once a dog is brought into the room, they are more at ease and share their story.

"In the nine years I have been here, there have been children so traumatized you can see them visibly shaking," King said. "If we had dogs in there, it would have been different.

"They are really scared when they come in the door but so much more scared when they go back in the room to tell their story."

Parents are also comforted by the dog's presence.

"The parents get as much comfort from those dogs as the children. They make a really trying situation easier," King said.

Stallings will be the primary handler for the dog, which is trained for two years before he trains with it for two weeks.

"It will almost be like my partner," he said.

The dog will be either a golden retriever or Labrador retriever and will come to the office with Stallings like a regular staff member.

A secondary handler will be trained, probably someone who works at the courthouse, King said. That way, they can take the dog into the courtroom when Stallings is unavailable.

Other staff members at CAC will be trained by Stallings about commands and controlling the dog.



Why Johnson County CAC?

Stephens said she found out about the Johnson County CAC while gathering information about other successful ways dogs have been used.

"We came across the work Tammy has done with dogs in her advocacy center," Stephens said. "We've been in contact with states all over the country, but we were very impressed with the support from the state of Texas. That was something we wanted to compliment Tammy and all the other advocacy centers in Texas about, the job you all are doing there."

If CAC is successful in obtaining a courthouse dog, it will be the first advocacy center in Texas to have one.

"They said, 'We want you to be the first agency,' " King said. "They were very impressed by the number of dogs we have and how well-behaved they are."

King and Stephens and staff members from both agencies met during the Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas on Aug. 17-21.

Stephens was there to present the program to the children advocacy centers.

"Some of the staff members had come to our presentation and were very excited about the program," she said.



Starting stages

While they wait for the application process to be completed King and Stallings are planning meetings with officials in Cleburne and Johnson County to discuss the program.

"We want to be sure the prosecutor's office feels comfortable with the idea and the dog," King said. "We want them to really embrace this for it to work and to see it as a tool for them."

For information on the center or the therapy dog program, call 817-202-2200.

For people with diabetes, a sudden drop in the level of blood glucose can be very serious. Some dogs can alert their owner to a dangerous drop before it actually happens. They may be responding to chemical changes in the body that give off a scent. The alarm gives the owner time to eat a snack to avoid the emergency. About one in three dogs living with people with diabetes have this ability. Dogs for Diabetics is training more dogs to help more people.

from WebMD.com

Seizure Dogs

A "seizure dog" is one that has been specially trained to live and work with people who have epilepsy. Some are trained to bark and alert the parents when a child is having a seizure outside or in another room. Some lie next to a person having a seizure to prevent injury (as seen in this demonstration). And some work has been done training dogs to warn before a seizure occurs. This gives the person time to lie down or move away from a dangerous place such as a hot stove.

WebMD.com

I am happy to report that we have a client that has one of our Yorkies trained to alert her to an oncoming seizure. These little dogs (and the people who train them!) are surely amazing!!