A local nonprofit is running with the big dogs as it seeks to raise $30,000 and celebrate 50 years of dog training in Tucson.
Ability Dogs of Arizona (formerly Handi-Dogs) will mark the golden milestone with its unique signature fundraiser: The 7th Annual Doggie Shorts Film Festival at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Leo Rich theater, 260 S. Church Ave.
“This is the perfect event for dog lovers to come together as a group and share their love for dogs and for the human-dog bond. It will make you laugh and bring tears to your eyes and teach you something about dogs and their impact in our lives,” said Kathy Alexander, who spearheaded the fundraiser in Tucson after attending the First Annual NY Dog Film Festival in New York City nine years ago.
“We went to the festival and thought, ‘This is just great!’ and wanted to recreate that type of event in Tucson,” Alexander said. She and her husband, Paul Lindsey, who volunteered with Handi-Dogs at the time, felt it was a no-brainer to combine the event with fundraising for the nonprofit.
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Alexander and Lindsey have been involved ever since, and after years of planning the event, the couple decided to produce a film that will premiere at the festival. Working with Ann-Eve Dingell, they created a 10-minute parody of ‘The Golden Bachelor’ television show starring Cooper, a trained service dog. Lindsey plays the host in the film.
Supporters of Ability Dogs of Arizona (pictured above) hope to raise at least $30,000 at the Annual Doggie Shorts Film Festival at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 19 at Leo Rich theater, 260 S. Church Ave. The nonprofit, formerly known as Handi-Dogs, provides specialized training for people and their dogs to enhance independence and quality of life.
“It is ‘The Golden Retriever Bachelor’ and it is about a senior dog looking for the perfect owner,” Alexander said. “We have three women competing for the affections of the dog, and it is very funny. Of course, it was done with the wonderful cause of encouraging people to adopt senior dogs. There are lots of fantastic senior dogs out there and it is often hard to find homes for them.”
She said that Cooper was great to work with during the filming process and is an ideal poster dog for Ability Dogs, which provides specialized training for people and their dogs to enhance independence and quality of life. Ability Dogs is the only accredited owner-trained assistance dog program in the state. In addition to service dog training, the organization offers comprehensive pet courses to the general public.
“We changed our name in April to Ability Dogs of Arizona to align more with our mission and focus on the ability a dog has to change a life,” said Scott Mobley, Executive Director of Ability Dogs. “What sets us apart is that we are an owner-trained program. People bring their dogs to our facility and we help them train their dogs instead of a standard program, which trains dogs for them. This type of training is meaningful because it builds a bond and strong connection between the owner and the dog from the start.”
Ability Dogs guides dog owners through a step-by-step program over 12 to 18 months. The specialized training program complies with the standards of Assistance Dogs International, and the nonprofit typically offsets more than half the cost of the training, enabling each owner-dog team to pay $260 per month in Tucson and $340 monthly in Phoenix. Donations and grants from foundations and individuals enable many Tucson teams to receive free training. Many classes intentionally utilize a group format, with training addressing basic obedience as well as assistance tasks tailored to each owner’s needs.
“We have heard from so many teams that it is an empowering experience to train your dog,” Mobley said. “You learn a lot about your dog and your dog learns a lot about you, and our group classes create a community, which is very important. There is a lot of isolation that comes with disabilities, and this is a powerful way to fight that … we see many people make friends that last a lifetime.”.
The program serves people with mental, emotional or physical disabilities, including many veterans. Mobley said that dogs can be trained to assist with a wide range of issues.
“Dogs can provide medical alerts and responses such as diabetic alerts when they detect changes in blood sugar levels even before medical devices; hearing alerts to alarms, doorbells and phones; and seizure responses,” he said. “Many dogs work with people on mobility assistance if they are wheelchairs. All of our dogs perform at least three tasks and many perform more than that in order to be certified.”.
Psychiatric service dogs who offer support for veterans and others navigating mental health challenges such as PTSD, panic disorders and depression are also common.
“There is a great deal of data backing up the impact of dogs in reducing anxiety and depression,” Mobley said.
Mobley said that many people are unable to imagine how a dog can impact an owner’s life until they see it firsthand.
“The dog owners talk about their lives when they started the program compared to midway through and the difference is night and day,” Mobley said. “I have always been a dog person, but I was floored when I saw what our instructors can do. They have stories you can’t believe about what dogs have done. It is just remarkable.”
Contact freelance writer Loni Nannini at ninch2@comcast.net
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