UWRF students reflect on graduation of assistance dogs from Falcon FETCH program

RIVER FALLS — Among the many graduates attending the Universities of Wisconsin this year, UW-River Falls can say that 20 of them are dogs.

Having just finished up the first year of their Falcon FETCH program, or Fostering Education Through Campus Hosting, the students said goodbye to the canines as they go towards their final training period. Soon they will be assigned to one of five roles as an assistance dog: assist with mobility impairment, hearing impairment, seizure response, diabetic alert or autism aid.

But for the last school year, these dogs have been living on campus with college students while getting acclimated to a public setting and reinforcing soft skills and commands.

Emily Hedenland, lead program trainer for Can Do Canines, said that the students will work with, train and live with 10 dogs a semester for two semesters throughout the school year. As getting these dogs acclimated to public environments where they may operate, Hedenland said a college campus is good for their clients who may need the assistance dogs while attending a university.

“It could not have gone better,” said Chris Hergenrader, UWRF assistant professor of Animal Science. “When we reflect back and ask the students to talk about what they felt, what they saw and what they liked, it is all positive. Those dogs being around them 24/7 have provided such an amazing opportunity to learn, it is just different than going to class and hearing something — you’re experiencing it.”

“The students did so well the first semester that in the second semester they were able to work on some advanced training skills, such as teaching the dogs how to pick up items, teaching the dogs how to tug things or hit access buttons,” said Hedenland. “They really have come quite a long way in their dog training careers this year.”

As the last group of dogs from this new program graduated on Thursday, Apr. 18, Can Do Canines, the Minnesota-based non-profit organization who supplied the assistance dogs, came to retrieve them.

With the program, both students and dogs gained a mutual benefit from participating. While the dogs managed to enhance and train their abilities to work in a public setting, the students also managed to learn more about what it was like to train assistance animals.

“We’re learning just as much as the dogs as well,” said Kayla Fischer, a student in the UWRF program.

“We did a lot of work with the dogs on some of their advanced skills this semester, like opening doors of fridges, pulling things to you, picking things up and pulling them away,” said Bella Saxton-Jenson, a sophomore at UWRF. “But it was honestly a really fun program to be a part of, and it is interesting to see what we are going to be able to do next year with the dogs.”

For a student like Saxton-Jenson who wants to pursue a career in dog training, taking an assistance dog into her dorm taught her that training is both a commitment and a rewarding experience.

On top of that, she said that it was interesting to see that the behavior of the dogs could switch from personal assistance animal to pet instantly.

“When they have their cape on, they know their working and they’re so focused. But as soon as you take their cape off, they are just like another pet — they get all excited and want to play… It’s crazy how they can differentiate that just based on if they have a cape on or not.”

And along with that signature red cape of the Can Do Canine assistance dogs came attention.

“Having a dog walking around with you on campus, a lot of eyes are on you so it’s different,” said Fischer. “Then again, you also feel kind of cool because you have a service dog that you’re training on campus.”

Ella Hanson, another student in the program, said one of the hardest parts of walking around in public with the dogs was learning to say no. As the dogs are learning to assist their owner, it is important that their focus stays on one person to make sure they can respond at a moment’s notice.

But having finished training the dogs, Hanson said it is both hard to see them go and a great feeling to think about how they will assist people in the future.

“I think that is what makes it easier,” said Hanson, referring to sending them off. “One: they are going to end up going to a good home… and two: they love to work, and you can really see that in them. So it makes it easier when we have to load them in on the last day… They are going to go out into the world and do good things, and that is what they want to do.”

“Knowing that once this dog is put in a forever home with someone they can help… it gives you a warm feeling inside as well,” said Fischer.

With some students graduating and others returning to the program, the university looks towards next year to take on the challenge of training assistance dogs again.