Nonprofit marks 50 years of building community training service dogs

TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — A local nonprofit on the eastside of Tucson is marking 50 years of helping people. Ability Dogs, formerly known as Handi-Dogs, focuses on helping owners train service animals, while creating a community.

"If you have a disability and you need a service dog to help you out, you can come to our organization and we'll actually work with you to train your own dog," explained executive director Scott Mobley.

He says they don't accept every dog into their program. A dog needs the right temperament to be trained to be a service dog, and they often turn pets away. But when that happens, Ability Dogs can offer an alternative.

"We can match you with a puppy that oftentimes has been bred specifically for service work," Mobley said.

Ability Dogs is one of just two nonprofits in Arizona, and the only one in southern Arizona, that's accredited by the group Assistance Dogs International. While it's not required by the ADA to have a dog trained at an ADI accredited facility in order for them to be a service dog, Mobley says it is required for international travel overseas. It's also why their program takes longer than others you may find around town.

"The accreditation makes sure that we're doing things the right way," he said. "And it's really great assurance for people who are investing their time and energy into a dog that could be their lifeline."

Ability Dogs doesn't train seeing eye dogs, but they do train service dogs to train people who are hearing impaired, who need help with anxiety, or who need to track or detect blood pressure issues. The program utilizes both individual sessions with trainers, and group classes.

Mobley says those group classes also have an unexpected, and beneficial result.

"We know that isolation and loneliness is an epidemic in the general population, but it's especially pronounced for people with disabilities," he said. "So having a safe place for people to train together, to meet people who are in similar situations, and to get to know each other and become friends, is a really powerful thing."

That's exactly how Cara Campbell and her 2-year-old bernadoodle, Zuri connected with Heidi Fritz and her 2-year-old Labrador, Tommy.

Both women spent years being anxious about leaving home, but now their service dogs are helping them change that.

Campbell got Zuri as a puppy with the intention of training her to be a service dog, and brought her to classes at Ability Dogs. Fritz has another small dog at home, but knew she wanted a big dog as a service dog, so she utilized the nonprofit's matching program, and found Tommy after a couple years.

"If my anxiety or my nervousness gets high, she will take me out of the situation," Campbell said, referring to her dog, as she tried to push her owner away from the camera during her interview with KGUN 9's Claire Graham. "And she knows how to get me out of a building. She knows to get us out so we can sit down, and she can put deep pressure on me. So she is trying her best right now to say, 'we need to leave this situation!'"

Campbell was clearly nervous about the interview, but laughed and told Zuri she was okay. Together they ran outside quickly, and came back in to settle down.

Looking back though, Campbell says through the classes and certification through Ability Dogs, her service dog has changed her life.

"I had quit going shopping. I had quit going places and doing things. And she has really broadened my horizons again," she said. "she's just made life a whole lot different.

Fritz also suffers from anxiety, but she has also trained her service dog Tommy to help with other medical issues.

"He will alert me if my blood pressure (changes) or if I'm getting a little syncope," she explained. "I'm not sure if he's smelling my perspiration or something like that, but he'll alert me and tell me that I need to sit down. He'll pick up things off the ground so I don't have to bend over, having a balance issue."

Fritz has also taught Tommy to help her if she falls, and he's able to act as a brace for her when she stands up from being on the ground.

Now, the four of them are continually training, just to stay sharp, even though they've passed their certifications.

"We do it at least a couple times a week out in public together," Campbell said, "And we've become friends because of Ability Dogs."

That bond and access to help, is what Ability Dogs strives for. Beyond their service dog training, they're also offering general obedience training now, to help offset the costs of training a service dog, so everyone can afford it.

"We subsidize it heavily," Mobley said. "So it's very affordable, and many of the people who come through our program don't pay anything at all. We do have a scholarship program that's growing, and our goal is to make sure that anybody who needs help can can come through, and we can find a way to make it affordable for them."

If you'd like to help support their mission, Ability Dogs is hosting their big fundraising event, the Doggie Shorts Film Festival on Saturday, October 19th. They'll be showing a collection of short films about dogs at the Leo Rich Theatre downtown, and holding a silent auction online.

You can get tickets ahead of time and bid on auction items by clicking here.