Spirit presents the sweetest face. A 6-month-old mix between a golden Labrador retriever and maybe a dachshund, this miniature version of a lab is a nice size.
But she won't share that sweet face with a stranger on the Bentonville square quite yet. She's in the zone. So is Brittany Vandevort, her 16-year-old trainer.
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Spirit has learned to sit and stay, and when a stranger approaches, that's just what she does -- with no aggression. Vandevort, seemingly without thought, offers Spirit a treat for this good behavior.
But once Vandevort says OK, Spirit will jump in that stranger's lap and shower him with puppy dog kisses.
Spirit is a puppy in training for Soldier On Service Dogs, based in Fayetteville. Vandevort will raise and train the dog for about one year "or until she's no longer a puppy," said Angie Pratt, president and executive director of Solider On Service Dogs.
"As a puppy, she normally welcomes strangers," Vandevort explained one day last month. She brought Spirit -- complete with a too-big Soldier On vest -- to the square for training. "But she's starting to do her job. She stands in front of me and tries to protect me. She also really likes people, and it's a benefit for her to be with other people."
IN TRAINING
It might be its destiny, but a dog is not born a service dog.
It's born a puppy that must learn where and when to use the bathroom, not to chew on shoes and eyeglasses and how to have positive contact with humans. And Soldier On staff select only the best of puppies for the program. "We want very particular, specialized dogs," said Deb Locander, canine program manager for the nonprofit organization.
"A service dog is smarter and more trainable," Pratt said. "We're looking for a dog with a certain temperament."
Puppy raisers for Soldier On teach their dogs 20 to 25 basic commands, using a gentle leader, a clicker and positive reinforcement via food, an excited voice, petting or whatever reward to which the dog responds, Locander explained. "It's everything, from 'Come.' 'Sit.' 'Down.' and 'Heel.' To 'Under," for a dog to go under the chair if the veteran has an appointment at the [Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Fayetteville], for example. Or 'Lap' for the dog to put his front paws in a veteran's lap, helping him brush his teeth or providing deep pressure stimulus if the veteran in anxious."
"Puppies are like sponges," Locander continued. "The time between 6 and 16 weeks of age is awesome. They keep learning as much as they can. If you keep it fun, they'll keep learning."
"Jump," Vandevort said, and gave Spirit a reward of kibble when the pup jumped onto a concrete bench on the square. "Sit down." Reward. "Stay." Reward. "Lay down." Reward.
Soldier On puppy raisers attend weekly obedience classes, with trainers guiding them and providing support and assistance, Locander said. They work at home with the puppy at least three times a day, for 10 to 15 minutes each session.
"But you are teaching them something every minute of the day," Locander said. "Even if it's just, 'You're in your crate, and you need to lay down and be quiet.'"
"You're not training them 24-7," Vandevort said. "Spirit has to have time to be a dog. She's a puppy and will still act like a puppy. Sometimes she'll bark when someone walks by, but that's just a dog being a dog."
Sitting on that bench at the square, Spirit tried to chew on the leaves near her head, but quickly gave that up on her own and sat quietly, with her cute pink little tongue hanging out.
Vandevort, a Bentonville High School junior who will graduate early next May, works formally with Spirit before school, after school and before the family goes to bed. Then she lets her play with the family's other two dogs, a beagle and beagle mix.
"It's play, train, rest, repeat," Vandevort said.
She reported Spirit also has learned to go in her crate when she gets bored and to ring a bell when she needs to go outside to use the restroom. "She likes sleeping," Vandevort added. "And she loves her chew toys."
Vandevort takes Spirit to friends' houses for socialization, getting her comfortable with new people and new places. They go to the Walmart Neighborhood Market, the Bentonville Farmers Market and eventually to restaurants and maybe even school.
"Service dogs in training have all access rights a service dog has," Pratt said.
On a hot summer afternoon, Vandevort and Spirit wandered into the Three Dog Bakery on the square, sure to tempt even the best-trained dog. But Spirit immediately laid belly down on the cool tile floor. Later, she sniffed at a few treats at her nose level, but she walked away at the command "Leave it."
"Our puppy raisers are not professional dog trainers," Pratt said. "But we want [the puppies] to know 'Come,' 'Stay,' 'Sit ' ... the basic commands. We want a calm, well-mannered dog that has not learned bad behaviors."
ADVOCATE
"Why go to all this trouble? You can't raise a service dog in a kennel," Pratt said.
"We want them to come from a family because they are going to a family. We want the puppy to see a family argument, to see how that dog will react when the veteran has a family argument."
"We are a veterans' service organization, not a dog organization," Pratt stressed. "We like our dogs to take care of veterans. The dogs will make decisions on veterans; it's their job. My job is to save veterans. I have become an advocate for veterans and mental illness."
Pratt started Soldier On Service Dogs "after my daughter's life was turned upside down," she said. Just over two years ago, Pratt's son-in-law, a Marine, was involved in the blast of an improvised explosive device that killed his gunner.
Soldier On is a local organization, training local dogs for local people -- focusing on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury that might be accompanied by physical disability.
"Many veterans have nightmares and only get a couple hours of sleep a night," Pratt explained. "With Vietnam veterans, it's been going on for decades. But we teach dogs to turn on the light, so the vet doesn't wake up in the dark. And some (dogs) learn how to bother them enough just to drop the dream without waking them up.
"A service dog does not care what the veteran's problem is. The dog goes to work. He loves you with unconditional love. Dogs give constant care, whether it be 2 p.m. or 2 a.m. The service dog sees a problem and says, 'Let's do something about it.'"
A recent grant will allow the organization to buy puppies -- labs, standard poodles or mixes, Pratt prefers. She said she also would like to start a breeding program. "We want young dogs, so they can have as much time as possible available to the veteran," Pratt added.
Pratt wants to grow Soldier On Service Dogs to bring in eight puppies for training a quarter, 32 puppies a year. The group currently has 10 puppies and raisers and 10 more dogs in advanced training, but more than 250 veterans -- living within a 50-mile radius of Northwest Arkansas -- are waiting for trained service dogs, she said.
"The more puppy raisers, the more dogs we have for veterans," Locander said of the organization's need.
"First of all, puppy raisers gotta like dogs," Pratt explained what she looks for in a puppy raiser. "They've got to be able to care for a dog."
Taking a puppy in training to work is a bonus, allowing the dog to be introduced to experiences they don't get in the home -- like riding an elevator, she said. Soldier On also keeps foster puppy raisers, for when a family goes on vacation or travels for work and can't take the dog.
Training a dog completely and handing it to a veteran costs about $20,000, Pratt said. Puppy raisers pay for the dogs' food, toys and veterinary care while the dogs live with them, although grants and donations might allow the organization to provide these soon, Pratt said.
"We're not looking for perfect dog, but a good, well-mannered, calm dog," Pratt assured. "And I like to retain good puppy raisers. They're better the second time around."
After her year of puppy training, Spirit will live at the Soldier On kennels for about two years with daily training for advanced skills. After a good portion of the advanced training, Soldier On officials try to match a dog and a candidate based on individual personalities and needs. All veterans go through criminal background checks, checks of their driving records and home visits, Pratt said. Once matched, Soldier On trains the dogs, the veterans and the family members to work together on site daily for six months.
Because she's small, Spirit's use as a support dog might be limited, Pratt admitted. A refrigerator door might be too heavy for her to open, but she could jump on a chair to turn on a light switch or jump on the bed to wake up a veteran. "She might be good for a veteran that does not need physical stability or lives in a small apartment," Pratt said.
"And she's a cuddler at times," Vandevort reported.
But, Pratt pointed out, the puppy might fail. About 40 percent of dogs do not qualify to become service dogs, she said. They might have prey drive, be overly friendly or afraid of thunderstorms. "The service dog's job is to pay attention to the handler, not that other stuff," Pratt noted.
But a failed service dog might work perfectly as a police dog or a drug- or bomb-sniffing dog, Pratt said. "But don't take it personally [if a puppy fails]," Pratt urged.
Soldier On also has a long list of folks wanting to adopt the dogs that don't complete the program. "These dogs are housebroken," Pratt said. "These are very good dogs. None of the dogs who come in our program will have anything but an idyllic life."
GOODBYE
Vandevort does think about giving Spirit -- who quickly became a member of the family -- back to Soldier On in a few months.
"I know it's going to be sad," she said, "but it's for a good cause. And I can always get another pup to raise. It will be a lot easier the second time."
"There's nothing more fulfilling than seeing one of the dogs you trained helping a person with a disability," said Locander, who has raised 17 puppies.
"There's little doubt it takes a special person to be a puppy raiser, but there's no doubt you'll get a super-duper, hot dog," Pratt said. "Puppy raisers give one year to help a vet, but they give vet 10, 12, 14 ... years of love. When you meet my vets, when you see what that dog does to those vets, you'll give it back."
NAN Our Town on 10/06/2016