Bax
Hearts of Gold Service Dogs
While Hercules is making the runway safe for West Virginians to take flight , graduates of the Hearts of Gold Service Dogs program are helping make the campus at West Virginia University ( WVU ) a more inclusive and supportive place for students and staff .
The program was born out of a collaboration between WVU and The Human Animal Bond , Inc ., a local nonprofit organization with a mission to conduct research , education and training on the human-animal bond in order to benefit both human and animal quality of life .
“ Hearts of Gold fulfills this mission by offering several classes at WVU that teach students about disabilities in society and how to train dogs to help individuals with disabilities , whether it be service dogs , therapy dogs or emotional support dogs ,” says Dr . Lindsay Livengood , lead trainer , instructor and behavior consultant .
Hearts of Gold is partly funded by a grant from the U . S . Department of Defense that directs staff to place high-quality service dogs with veterans with mobility and psychiatric disabilities . This directive is completed with also training the therapy visitation dogs placed on WVU ’ s campus .
Livengood began working with Hearts of Gold before its inception in 2007 . She helped design and deliver instruction in the courses at WVU and training programming for the dogs from puppyhood to graduation , care for the dogs , raise funds and promote community outreach . She is still involved in most major decisions and training plans for the program , but her main focus now is academics and research . While the elective training courses she helped create are not currently part of a larger academic major or minor at WVU , she hopes to see a minor or certificate program in the future when funding allows .
There are currently eight therapy visitation dogs on campus at WVU :
• Heidi , WVU Shared Services Center
• Lily , WVU College of Education and Human Services
• Lucas , Health Sciences Center
• Omega , Reed College of Media
• Rigatoni , WVU Medicine Children ’ s Hospital
• Ruby , Student Success Center
• Ryder , Davis College of Agriculture , Natural Resources and Design
• Titan , WVU School of Pharmacy
“ All the dogs entering our program begin with the goal of ultimately being a service dog , so they all get the same training up until a decision is made on the type of placement ,” says Livengood . “ In my opinion , having the dogs available shows students that WVU cares about them and their mental health and is doing something to help with their first time being away from home . Many students miss their family pets dearly and being able to have dogs on campus can really help with that . I also think the dogs promote a more relaxed , laid-back atmosphere , which can be really helpful for students with anxiety .”
Dax Finn
Knox
Brando |
Gretel |
Omega |
Huntington Police Department K-9 Unit
The Huntington Police Department ’ s K-9 Unit consists of six dual purpose canine teams with three main responsibilities : tracking criminal offenders and missing individuals , narcotics detection and criminal apprehension .
The unit is currently working three German shepherds and five Belgian Malinois purchased from Tarheel Canine in Sanford , NC , according to Cpl . Kyle Patton .
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