Monday, October 17, 2011

Misty Meets Her Match

Texas Hearing and Service Dogs trains dogs to assist Texans living with hearing or mobility challenges. They provide the dogs and training free of charge.
THSD is dedicated to educating the public about Hearing and Service Dogs.
Texas Hearing and Service Dogs uses positive training methods. They use fun, rewards and lots of surprises to keep their  dogs motivated and eager to please
More about what they do and how they can do it visit: http://www.servicedogs.org/

They do an intensive "Matching Process" when they introduce possible "partners" or teams of dog and person in need of a service dog. They practice a few simple behaviors, and try to determine whether they are a compatible team.  Once matched, they begin intensive training with the dog for the specific services their new partners need.  Here is a truly touching story of one of their fabulous "Matches" written by Janet Duke of THSD.
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Intrepid was a beautiful black lab we pulled from TLAC and Misty had been waiting for the right service dog  match for a while. Touchingly, I learned that Misty had been watching Intrepid on our site for some time and always hoped he might be assigned to her.  She saw he was brought to matching with two prior recipients and thought he had been teamed.  When we called and invited her to matching, she asked who the dog was.  When we told her Intrepid, she burst into tears.  She even brought him a greeting present, as you'll see.


This video shows Intrepid, who we got from TLAC, meeting his new partner Misty at matching.


Intrepid, abandoned at the city shelter turned into an excellent assistance dog and throughout training we have used him at public events as he is so steady and well-behaved.
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We love ALL our Rescue Partners and sometimes, the magic that happens after our animals leave the shelter is truly amazing.

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