Eleven golden retriever pups all line up in a row eagerly waiting to be petted.
Well, at 7 weeks old, it’s not actually a row, but more like a roly-poly, bouncy, nippy, yawny, golden, furry mishmash, waiting-to-be-trained to become service dogs for autistic children.
The new litter of pups belong to Fran Elliott and are part of The Hairy Angel Foundation, a nonprofit 501(3)(c) organization since 1997.
By Alison Ecklund
Larson Newspapers
Eleven golden retriever pups all line up in a row eagerly waiting to be petted.
Well, at 7 weeks old, it’s not actually a row, but more like a roly-poly, bouncy, nippy, yawny, golden, furry mishmash, waiting-to-be-trained to become service dogs for autistic children.
The new litter of pups belong to Fran Elliott and are part of The Hairy Angel Foundation, a nonprofit 501(3)(c) organization since 1997.
Volunteers individually train each of Elliott’s pups to become service dogs. After a year of training, the volunteer gives the dog to an autistic child. In a community like Sedona, Elliott has never had a problem finding enough volunteer trainers, she said. It doesn’t hurt that she bribes her volunteers by giving them a “forever” puppy to keep from the next litter.
The idea for the foundation came to Elliott after she saw a little neighbor girl bonding with one of her golden retrievers. The girl’s mother told Elliott that her daughter, who had autism, had never had a relationship like that with a living being.
Elliott, who was used to training dogs for the blind, contacted Gary DeGeronimo at the Humane Society of Sedona, and he’s helped volunteers train the dogs ever since.
This is the 12th litter of golden retriever pups to come into the world under Elliott’s watch and care, and all 11 of the newest litter have been assigned to trainers to become service dogs or to become pets for people who have already trained one.
One pup, Paisley, is going to Phoenix to work at Childhelp Childrens Center of Arizona, which works with abused children. Paisley will replace Spot, also a Hairy Angel, who is retiring from his role of therapy dog at the center.
The Founder
An art and personal property appraiser by day, Elliott’s love for animals is never far.
Elliott’s acreage is home to five full-time golden retrievers, a rescued racehorse, Jasper, and a rescued donkey — Mathilde Schaefer — named for an early Arizona sculptress.
Elliott gives the volunteer trainers credit for training a dog for a year and giving it so much and then giving it away. But they are giving a gift to a family that will change their lives forever, she reminds them.
The dogs give the kids responsibility and a nonjudgmental friend.
A mother of an autistic child called Elliott months after taking a dog and said her child said “I love you” for the first time.
“Those kids would never have that type of relationship,” Elliott said, if it were not for the gentle pushing of the dogs.
Since The Hairy Angel Foundation is a nonprofit organization, and the dogs are prescribed as a necessary medical expense, everything for the trainers and eventual owners is tax deductible.
The dogs are free to the families who contact Elliott to get on a waiting list.
“You don’t really get the opportunity to change people’s lives these days,” Elliott said. “But this is a unique opportunity.”
A Trainer
When Don Vlach started training Pablo, he thought he would be changing the life of an autistic child.
He didn’t realize how much his own life would change in the process.
“There’s a lot of joy in giving service,” Vlach said. “I’m retired. When you don’t have a job to do, you can only do so many hikes.”
Vlach took Pablo to give some purpose to his life, he said, and began training him with DeGeronimo.
“If you don’t train a dog; he’ll train you very quickly,” he soon realized.
The most important thing Vlach learned about training dogs is consistency.
“Never let a dog not do a command,” he said. “If you say ‘maybe he’ll sit tomorrow,’ guess what?”
Vlach never allowed Pablo to play when he had his service vest on, since that meant he’s working — something Pablo looks
forward to.
Vlach admits that he didn’t know much about autism before, but it’s amazing how the dogs interact with autistic children, he said.
The dogs are extremely intuitive, he said, which helps the kids come out of their shells.
Three months after Vlach gave Pablo to an autistic boy, the family said there were some allergy issues and the boy’s little sister had taken Pablo as her pet, so Vlach hopped in his car and drove to Missouri to get him back.
Pablo is now his forever dog, and the two are taking one from the new litter, Kelly, to train.
“I hope the disposition of Pablo will wear off on her,” he said.
A Recipient
Seven years ago, the Hank family received Buddy from The Hairy Angel Foundation for their 5-year-old son.
At 23 months, their son lost all of his speech and fine and gross motor abilities from Autism Spectrum Disorder, and the family had been looking for tools to help every day since.
The boy and his dog bonded immediately, and to have their nonverbal son call out, “Buddy!” was amazing, Stephen Hank said.
Buddy was initially used for behavior therapy treatment, where the child learned to touch his dog with his sensory sight, touch and sound.
Three months later, the boy hugged his mom for the first time, and six months later, he gave her a kiss after substituting a kiss for the action requested in therapy.
Now that Buddy is 9 and the boy is 12, the two are truly bonded, according to Hank, and have traveled from coast to coast together where they enjoy swimming and playing ball.
“Growing and being able to now walk independently with his service animal … our son beams with pride and personal achievement.
“Fran [Elliott] is truly a special person who has changed all of our lives forever,” Hank said. “We are grateful to her and her dedication to these special little children.”
The Hairy Angel Foundation gave a gift to their son that they have been blessed to receive.
“And for that, our little boy has grown to know and express what love and friendship is all about,” he said.
Alison Ecklund can be reached at 282-7795, ext. 125, or e-mail
aecklund@larsonnewspapers.com
