Freedom Service Dogs Rescues Dogs from Shelters

And transforms them into service dogs who save lives!

Kathleen Fieselman’s service dog Toby, a Golden Retriever, stays
by her side during a fundraising event for Freedom Service Dogs.

After picking up her wallet from the floor, Kathleen Fieselman’s
service dog Toby and gently hands it to her.

By Tamra Monahan

Photos by Tamra Monahan

Ten years ago, Kathleen Fieselman’s life was a nightmare. The debilitating effects of muscular dystrophy confined her to a wheelchair and compromised her ability to breathe. As a result, she lost her business, her home, and her dreams. Life had become a series of pointless days with no future, until a chance meeting took her from hopeless to hopeful. At a restaurant, she saw a service dog in training and talked to the owner about having a service dog for herself. By the end of the conversation, Kathleen had discovered a ray of hope and a chance at a better life.

She contacted Freedom Service Dogs in Englewood, Colorado, and after an application process, Kathleen was paired with her first service dog, a black Labrador Retriever named Blu. A few years ago, Blu had to retire due to illness. But he helped train Kathleen’s second, and current, service dog, a Golden Retriever named Toby. Kathleen credits her service dogs with saving her life, and she appreciates their amazing talents and unconditional love every day.

“Having service dogs gave me a life,” she says. “Ten years ago, I was very depressed and thought my life was over. I was scared to go anywhere, but having a service dog gave me my confidence back. Before I just struggled along, but Toby and Blu taught me there is life after a disability.” Service dogs help the impossible become possible for people with disabilities. These highly trained dogs increase the independence of their human partners by helping them perform a multitude of tasks, such as getting in and out of a wheelchair, picking up items from the floor, turning on light switches, pushing elevator buttons, and retrieving items out of cupboards and refrigerators.

Only the best of the best can become a service dog, but Freedom Service Dogs (FSD) does not use breeders for their specialized canines. This organization is committed to saving dogs who have been thrown away by society. According to Executive Director Sharan Wilson, the dogs are chosen from shelters or rescue programs, but the selection process is extremely specific. Not all pound puppies can make the grade for service dogs: they must be one to two years old, weigh 50 to 90 pounds, and have a very mellow temperament with a high ability to focus for long periods of time. If a dog is chosen but doesn’t make it through the program, he is adopted out, not returned to the shelter or rescue organization.

“The well-being of humans and dogs is our highest priority,” Sharan says. “Not only are our deepest resources poured into creating a symbiotic relationship between a person in need and a rescued dog, we also protect the dogs that are ultimately not trained as service dogs. Every dog that comes to us is given a new home. They are never returned to shelters.”

Transforming a rescued dog into a service dog takes time and money. FSD spends one year and $20,000 to $25,000 rehabilitating and training each dog. However, disabled people who are accepted into the program pay nothing for their service dogs. Training and veterinary expenses are provided by FSD, and only the cost of owning and maintaining the dog is passed on to each client. The reason for FSD’s generosity is simple: everyone with a disability should have the chance to improve his or her life through the talents of a service dog.

“We believe the gift of freedom should come without increased financial pressure,” Sharan says. “Most disabled people cannot afford the thousands of dollars a service dog costs. It is an integral part of our mission to place our life-changing dogs at no charge to our clients.”

Service dogs not only change the lives of their owners, they sometimes save their lives as well. Barry Ashworth owes his life to his loyal service dog Libby, a Labrador Retriever who never left his side during his fight to stay alive. Barry, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, fell in his bathtub and was unable to lift himself out. Alone and weakened by the fall, he was trapped in the tub for six days with no food and little water. While he lay in pain, not knowing if he was going to live or die, Libby stayed with him. She brought him the phone, although it was not charged enough for a call; she kept his spirits up by romping around the room, making what he called "snooty" faces at him; and she licked his cheek to bring him back to reality when he drifted into unconsciousness.

“She wanted me to stay alert, so she kept doing things to make me laugh,” he says. “Libby stayed with me the whole time, and I never would have made it without her. I wasn't so much worried about me, but I was very, very worried about Libby.”

In fact, Barry’s first thought after falling was to find a way to flush the toilet and teach Libby how to drink from it so that she would have water. After this was accomplished, he worked on saving himself, but with each passing day, his strength slowly faded. Finally, he resigned himself to the reality that he was going to die. But his last thoughts were not about his life or what might have been—they were focused on his best friend and companion, because he didn’t want her to suffer.

“I thought to myself, okay that’s it for me, but I have a cane and I’ll keep trying to flush the toilet for Libby,” he says. “The last thing I do will be for her, and she’ll stay alive.”

Although death seemed imminent, Barry was saved by an Access-A-Ride bus driver who heard Libby howling and barking. Sensing something was wrong, the driver went inside and followed the dog to the bathtub where Barry was clinging to life.

Through her loyalty and compassion, this heroic black Lab exemplifies what it means to be a service dog: to love, serve, and protect.

For more information:
Visit:
www.freedomservicedogs.org

Become a fan on Facebook at:
www.facebook.com/FreedomServiceDogs

Elsa, a one-year-old Labrador Retriever, opens a refrigerator
door for Bri Bove.

Bri Bove watches as service dog Elsa, a Labrador Retriever, searches
for clothes to take out of the dryer.

As a service dog, Elsa is trained to retrieve items, such as
this bottle of water, from the refrigerator and hand them to
her handicapped partner.

Service dogs, like Elsa, are trained to open cupboards, refrigerators,
drawers, and dryers to retrieve items for their handicapped partners.