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Life - StatesmanJournal.com
Employees and volunteers at Central Point's Dogs for the Deaf are hoping their plea for dog owners to grab their best friend and head to Champoeg State Heritage Area on Saturday isn't a sound heard only by dogs.
Dog Walk '06, which raised about $9,000 at last year's event, is one of the group's biggest fundraisers, and it helps the world's oldest and largest hearing-dog center to continue offering hope to the hearing impaired, said Judi Rubert, a spokeswoman for Dogs for the Deaf.
"It's our 11th year (walking), but we're known for rescuing unwanted dogs and giving new freedom to the hard of hearing. We're happy to get the word out and hope people will come."
Oregon's Dogs for the Deaf, now in its 30th year, rescues dogs from animal shelters across the state, including from the Willamette Humane Society in Salem. Certified trainers rehabilitate the canines into assistance dogs for the hearing impaired.
As a member of Assistance Dogs International, Dogs for the Deaf employs only handlers who've completed a two-year training program. The group adopts more than 120 dogs annually, but only 30 to 40 become trained hearing dogs.
"If they don't make the rigorous training, we give them what we call a "career change," Rubert said. "Our criteria for taking dogs from shelters is that they be gentle and loving, so if they don't make it as hearing dogs, we adopt them out to good homes because we know they're good dogs. We also place them in Alzheimer's disease facilities and in senior centers."
Rubert said the group offer seniors a promise that if an emergency arises and an owner can't care for a dog any longer, Dogs for the Deaf will reclaim the dog and find it a good home.
"Our dogs are well taken care of," Rubert said.
That care doesn't come cheaply. Some shelters donate the dogs, others require that they be paid for. Then there are vet bills, meals, training and shelter, which cost the center close to $1 million annually. The center relies on donations and fundraisers. It costs about $21,000 to train and care for one dog and its recipient, Rubert said.
Rubert said the center's costs don't end with an adoption. Since many of the recipients are on Social Security or limited incomes, the center remains responsible for the dog's health. If a dog requires emergency surgery, for instance, and the hearing-impaired owner can't pay for it, the center absorbs the cost. Rubert said an emergency-vet fund is maintained, and organizations such as the Good Sam Club help the center continue its work.
"We get a big boost from the Oregon Good Sam Club (RV drivers who aid fellow members)," Rubert said. "We're their national charity, and they help out enormously with the Dog Walk."
Dogs for the Deaf has a nearly two-year waiting list for trained hearing-assistance dogs, which are given free to the hearing impaired.
"We're always looking for more apprentice trainers, and the three to six months on average it takes to train a dog doesn't come cheap," Rubert said.
The program is so successful, she said, that organizations in Japan, Austria and elsewhere have sent representatives to Oregon to train at Dogs for the Deaf, then return to their countries to start centers there.
Ginny Barcroft, who's coordinating the walk, said the event is fun and easy, with just a 2-mile course. Rubert also will give a skills demonstration with a hearing-assistance dog.
"Walkers without dogs are also welcome to participate," Barcroft said.
Registration will begin at 10 a.m. with the walk starting at 11. The $10 registration fee includes the park's day-use fee, a door-prize ticket and a Dog Walk bandanna.
"You don't need a dog to walk and help us make a difference," she said.
Employees and volunteers at Central Point's Dogs for the Deaf are hoping their plea for dog owners to grab their best friend and head to Champoeg State Heritage Area on Saturday isn't a sound heard only by dogs.
Dog Walk '06, which raised about $9,000 at last year's event, is one of the group's biggest fundraisers, and it helps the world's oldest and largest hearing-dog center to continue offering hope to the hearing impaired, said Judi Rubert, a spokeswoman for Dogs for the Deaf.
"It's our 11th year (walking), but we're known for rescuing unwanted dogs and giving new freedom to the hard of hearing. We're happy to get the word out and hope people will come."
Oregon's Dogs for the Deaf, now in its 30th year, rescues dogs from animal shelters across the state, including from the Willamette Humane Society in Salem. Certified trainers rehabilitate the canines into assistance dogs for the hearing impaired.
As a member of Assistance Dogs International, Dogs for the Deaf employs only handlers who've completed a two-year training program. The group adopts more than 120 dogs annually, but only 30 to 40 become trained hearing dogs.
"If they don't make the rigorous training, we give them what we call a "career change," Rubert said. "Our criteria for taking dogs from shelters is that they be gentle and loving, so if they don't make it as hearing dogs, we adopt them out to good homes because we know they're good dogs. We also place them in Alzheimer's disease facilities and in senior centers."
Rubert said the group offer seniors a promise that if an emergency arises and an owner can't care for a dog any longer, Dogs for the Deaf will reclaim the dog and find it a good home.
"Our dogs are well taken care of," Rubert said.
That care doesn't come cheaply. Some shelters donate the dogs, others require that they be paid for. Then there are vet bills, meals, training and shelter, which cost the center close to $1 million annually. The center relies on donations and fundraisers. It costs about $21,000 to train and care for one dog and its recipient, Rubert said.
Rubert said the center's costs don't end with an adoption. Since many of the recipients are on Social Security or limited incomes, the center remains responsible for the dog's health. If a dog requires emergency surgery, for instance, and the hearing-impaired owner can't pay for it, the center absorbs the cost. Rubert said an emergency-vet fund is maintained, and organizations such as the Good Sam Club help the center continue its work.
"We get a big boost from the Oregon Good Sam Club (RV drivers who aid fellow members)," Rubert said. "We're their national charity, and they help out enormously with the Dog Walk."
Dogs for the Deaf has a nearly two-year waiting list for trained hearing-assistance dogs, which are given free to the hearing impaired.
"We're always looking for more apprentice trainers, and the three to six months on average it takes to train a dog doesn't come cheap," Rubert said.
The program is so successful, she said, that organizations in Japan, Austria and elsewhere have sent representatives to Oregon to train at Dogs for the Deaf, then return to their countries to start centers there.
Ginny Barcroft, who's coordinating the walk, said the event is fun and easy, with just a 2-mile course. Rubert also will give a skills demonstration with a hearing-assistance dog.
"Walkers without dogs are also welcome to participate," Barcroft said.
Registration will begin at 10 a.m. with the walk starting at 11. The $10 registration fee includes the park's day-use fee, a door-prize ticket and a Dog Walk bandanna.
"You don't need a dog to walk and help us make a difference," she said.