The dogs are placed with disabled people through an application and interview process. A board of directors reviews the reasons a person or family wants a service dog. If accepted, a dog is hand-picked from the Humane Association of Warren County for training based on the applicant's specific needs, such as wheelchair pulling, retrieval, answering phones, turning on lights and opening drawers. For example, Shirk cited a family who was thinking about a service dog for their wheelchair-bound daughter. The mother, Shirk says, did not want the dog to know how to pull a wheelchair because it would take away her daughter's opportunity to increase strength and cardiovascular health by pushing the chair herself.
Paws can also make it easier to get dogs for children, who can benefit greatly from a canine friend.
She told the story of an autistic child who would not communicate with anyone until she received her dog. Now, the girl whispers secrets into the dog's ear, and her family hopes that the safe connection with the pup means a safe connection with a person is next. Street-certified companions, seizure assistant dogs and signal hearing dogs are in demand, but so are dogs who befriend. They're for people with disabilities that might be depressed, lonely or not have a lot of friends. Because often, all but your closest friends drop away.