Agape Love-The Human-Animal Bond- Our Service Dogs
Agape Love -The Human Animal Bond
Our Service Dogs
DH DeForge, VMD
AGAPE LOVE is UNCONDITIONAL love that is always given and impossible to be taken back. It devotes and encapsulates total commitment to sharing maximum love no matter how anyone may respond. This form of love is totally selfless and does not change whether the love given is returned or not.
Agape Love is the Human Animal Bond!
The Human-Animal Bond allows us to share agape with all members of the Animal Kingdom including the service and therapy dog community that are the true examples of AGAPE IN THE WORLD.
Agape Love is the Human Animal Bond!
The Human-Animal Bond allows us to share agape with all members of the Animal Kingdom including the service and therapy dog community that are the true examples of AGAPE IN THE WORLD.
On the East Coast of Canada
something wonderful has begun....
A very special woman, with a very powerful vision is changing the way we look at treatment for the mind and body. ~Cora DeHaven~
As a certified master trainer and founder of Therapeutic Medical Alert Service Dogs I often explain that a Service Dog can be compared to a breathing machine, a wheelchair, or other medical aid. The Service Dog is a canine aid helping the individual to be capable of living their life to their fullest."
~Rhonda Langille~
Types of Assistance Dogs
Service Dogs - An Assistant Dog that can perform a variety of tasks such as retrieve items, open doors, help a person dress or push buttons for its handler. Service Dog is a general term that can be used for many types of assistance dogs.
Mobility Dogs – An Assistant Dog may retrieve items, open doors or even push buttons for its handler. Also, this Service Animal may assist people with disabilities with walking, balance and transferring from place to place.
Hearing Dogs – An Assistant Dog that will alert its handler with a hearing loss to sounds. This can be telephone, doorbell, smoke alarm, crying baby and more.
Seizure Alert Dogs - An Assistant Dog that alerts its handler to oncoming seizures and is trained to respond to those seizures. (Can be known as Medical Alert Dog)
Seizure Response Dogs – An Assistance Dog that responds to its handler after a seizure has occurred by helping or getting help from others.
Medical Alert Dogs – An Assistant Dog that is trained to alert to oncoming medical conditions, or attend its handler in the event of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, epilepsy, etc. These dogs can also alert a person to a chimerical sensitivity and direct the individual away from the danger.
Autism Service Dogs – An Assistance Dog that is trained to alert its handler of certain behaviors so that the handler may keep these behaviors to a minimum. This dog provides stability and the dog’s presence offers a calming influence and provides focus. Abstract and concrete thinking advance, focus improves, and the length of attention span increases. The important role of an autism service dog is affording the individual more independence and autonomy, helping those individuals becomes a viable part of the community.
Mental Health Service Dogs: An assistant dog that works with a handler that has a mental disability. Some types of tasks could be to attend a handler who may need a dog to be able to go out in public (agoraphobic), or a handler who suffers from. Panic attacks, anxiety attack, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or other mental health disorders. These dogs are trained NEVER to leave their handler's side except for when required by their handers.
Mobility Dogs – An Assistant Dog may retrieve items, open doors or even push buttons for its handler. Also, this Service Animal may assist people with disabilities with walking, balance and transferring from place to place.
Hearing Dogs – An Assistant Dog that will alert its handler with a hearing loss to sounds. This can be telephone, doorbell, smoke alarm, crying baby and more.
Seizure Alert Dogs - An Assistant Dog that alerts its handler to oncoming seizures and is trained to respond to those seizures. (Can be known as Medical Alert Dog)
Seizure Response Dogs – An Assistance Dog that responds to its handler after a seizure has occurred by helping or getting help from others.
Medical Alert Dogs – An Assistant Dog that is trained to alert to oncoming medical conditions, or attend its handler in the event of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, epilepsy, etc. These dogs can also alert a person to a chimerical sensitivity and direct the individual away from the danger.
Autism Service Dogs – An Assistance Dog that is trained to alert its handler of certain behaviors so that the handler may keep these behaviors to a minimum. This dog provides stability and the dog’s presence offers a calming influence and provides focus. Abstract and concrete thinking advance, focus improves, and the length of attention span increases. The important role of an autism service dog is affording the individual more independence and autonomy, helping those individuals becomes a viable part of the community.
Mental Health Service Dogs: An assistant dog that works with a handler that has a mental disability. Some types of tasks could be to attend a handler who may need a dog to be able to go out in public (agoraphobic), or a handler who suffers from. Panic attacks, anxiety attack, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) or other mental health disorders. These dogs are trained NEVER to leave their handler's side except for when required by their handers.
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Canine Angels
Free Service Dogs for Disabled Veterans
Rick Kaplan bonds with new talent.
Saving dogs to serve disabled veterans
Every year, at least 3 million animals are put to death in shelters. And every day, 18 American military heroes take their own lives. These nightmares aren’t going away.
Until they do, Canine Angels’ mission is to rescue dogs from shelters and prepare them to serve disabled veterans and first responders.
Rick Kaplan, our nonprofit’s founder and president, has been training working service dogs for the people with disabilities for more than 20 years. He has trained dogs to assist those with hearing disabilities, seizures and PTSD, as well as stability and mobility issues. Working with his two personal chocolate Labrador service dogs, Fred & Ginger, Rick perfected his unique method of modifying canine behavior to connect with their natural instincts and achieve breakthrough training results in the least possible time. His deep appreciation for veterans and the sacrifices they’ve made for our safety and freedom led to the founding in 2011 of Canine Angels, nonprofit public-benefit corporation.
Paula and her service dog, Didi.
Canine Angels’ mission has three primary goals:
- To rescue dogs that have been discarded by their
owners and sentenced to overcrowded shelters. - To socialize and train the companion animals to serve
disabled American veterans and first responders to help
them regain meaningful civilian lives. - To educate the public about the Americans With Disabilities
Act, so that legitimate service dog teams will never encounter the humiliation of being turned away from public venues, where federal law protects their access rights.
Contact Canine Angels: They need your support!
By Phone: 917-575-6235
By Mail: 98 Shadow Moss Place North Myrtle Beach, SC 29578
Commentary by Dr. DeForge:
Agape is not a universal part of the "human-condition"! It is a universal part of the animal kingdom and definitely a characteristic of service/therapy dogs. This service/therapy dog summary cannot mention all of the service dog trainers that are giving back and illustrating that Agape is alive and well in people as well as in animals. I do not know Rhonda Langille but hope to meet her. She is an amazing person.
Campaign to Assist Therapy and Service Dogs:
Think what could occur if all individuals reading this blog did the same. The "human-condition" prohibits Agape from being universal. The Human-Animal Bond allows us to share Agape with all members of the Animal Kingdom including the service and therapy dog community that are the true examples of AGAPE IN THE WORLD. Begin thinking AGAPE and being believing that LOVE IS LIFE!
Agape is not a universal part of the "human-condition"! It is a universal part of the animal kingdom and definitely a characteristic of service/therapy dogs. This service/therapy dog summary cannot mention all of the service dog trainers that are giving back and illustrating that Agape is alive and well in people as well as in animals. I do not know Rhonda Langille but hope to meet her. She is an amazing person.
I do know Rick Kaplan and send a personal testimonial about his amazing work with Canine Angels-Therapy dogs for veterans. I have known Rick for many years and have spoken to one of the veterans who has a therapy dog trained by Rick. Because of this, I understand the impact that his program has had and continues to provide to individuals that need a therapy dog as part in their life. Rick Kaplan and team are care-givers of love.-a true Agape team! A veteran matched with a Canine Angel Therapy Dog becomes healed through mutual-Agape.
Disabled American Veterans are our heroes. They cannot be forgotten; they have served our country with distinction while preserving our freedom. It is our time to show these veterans that we care. Canine Angels is doing that each and every day through their therapy dog-veteran matching program. Hats off to Rick Kaplan and team at Canine Angels for providing LOVE/AGAPE to these veterans.
My friend Leo Buscaglia...stated--"you know, I'm really convinced that if you were to define love, the only word big enough to engulf it all would be "Life"....LOVE IS LIFE....in all its aspects.....And if you miss love, you miss life!"
The more that I study the Human-Animal Bond the more I am amazed by the Agape that Buscaglia spent decades describing. The Agape is around all of us yet we ignore it; totally miss it; or reject its presence. It certainly is present in all of the service and therapy dogs that have been described in this blog.
Make this blog your call to action. Contact a Local or National Service/Therapy dog Association that is accredited and ask how you can help. You might want to donate time; your talents; or make a donation. Don't put it off.... do it today!
As a veterinarian and a veterinary dentist, I provide free consultations for all service/therapy dogs that are from accredited associations. I, also, offer substantial courtesy in the care of these patients. My part in helping is only one person.
Comments about this blog can be addressed to DoctorDeForge@yahoo.com
05September2014
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