State College community members and Penn State students are creating a paw-sitive impact on the lives of people with disabilities through service dog training.
Roar for More, the State College chapter of Susquehanna Service Dogs, is celebrating 10 years of helping students and community members train puppies to be service dogs. The group raises, trains and places the dogs with community members with disabilities in the State College and Hershey areas.
Founder Nancy Dreschel said it’s a big commitment for the students and community members doing the training.
“They go to class at the Snider Ag arena [at Penn State] every week for nine weeks. Then they have an evaluation walk and talk," Dreschel said. "And then they continue with classes every other week for the remainder of the time that they're with our program, which is usually about 18 months.”
Susan Lechtanski is a volunteer program assistant with Roar for More. She said it’s not just students in the program teaching their puppies; the puppies teach students organization and patience.
“Our students who are puppy raisers, they have that new appreciation for time management skills. You know, waking up early for class and actually going to class for their 8 a.m.s because their puppy is awake probably way before that," Lechtanski said. "And when your puppy, when your little itty bitty puppy, wakes up in the morning and it has to go to the bathroom, it's got to go to the bathroom right then and there.”
Lizzy Bean is a veterinary and biomedical sciences major at Penn State. She has been with the program for a little over a year training a dog named S.S.D. Red. The S.S.D. stands for Susquehanna Service Dog. Bean said she learned about the program from Penn State’s Pre-Vet Club.
“It’s been so much fun. I love seeing the growth that he's had since I got him at two months old," Bean said. "It's been insane seeing how fast he learns and how quickly he's able to adapt to new environments.”
Katie Connolly has also been with the program for about a year. Connolly said the experience raising her dog, S.S.D. Hudson II, has been a big responsibility. But she encourages other students and community members to consider training a dog.
“It's so rewarding. Once you get into it, it's so incredible," Connolly said. "Having a dog and knowing that dog will go into amazing things and to help someone else. You just have to do it.”