After 18 months of love and training, the Kempf family will give puppy Vader back to Canine Companions for Independence
By Jason Emerson
editor
The Kempf family of New Woodstock got a new puppy in June that local residents may have seen them walking with in the community — a lab/golden retriever cross named “Vader” who is extremely social and loves people. But Vader is no ordinary dog and the Kempfs are raising him in an extraordinary way: in a little over a year Vader will begin training as an assistance dog for a person with disabilities, and the Kempfs will give him back to the organization from which they received him.
This unique situation is part of the Puppy Raising program through Canine Companions for Independence, a national non-profit organization that provides assistance dogs for children and adults with disabilities.
“We’ve gone into this knowing that we’ll have to give him up, but there has to be someone raising these puppies [so the organization can] have the dogs when they graduate the program,” said Beth Anne Kempf. “It’s going to be hard, absolutely … [but] it’s just a great experience if you go into it with the right mind-set, knowing he’ll be going to amazing place, an amazing person.”
Canine Companions, established in 1975, provides highly trained assistance dogs to children, adults and veterans with disabilities and is recognized worldwide for the excellence of its dogs, and the quality and longevity of the matches it makes between people and dogs, according to program information. There is no charge for the dog, its training and on-going follow-up services.
While final completion of the program for dogs is highly selective — only about 4 in 10 dogs actually graduate and become assistance dogs — the ones who make it through end up helping people with general disabilities as alert dogs and companions; in hospitals and rehabilitation centers as motivational tools; in the criminal justice system, giving comfort to children who are victims of sexual abuse and other violent crimes as they give testimony against their tormentors; in the Wounded Veterans Initiative that places our dogs with disabled veterans returning from the theaters of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The Kempfs — Beth Anne and Andrew, and their children Janie (an upcoming senior at Cazenovia High School), Katie (a student at Niagara University) and David (a student at SUNY Potsdam) — have taken Vader into their home where they will love him, raise him and, most importantly, teach him basic commands and socialization skills in order to prepare him for six months of advanced training with nationally renowned instructors to learn more than 40 commands that are useful to a person with disabilities.
This is actually the second time the Kempfs has been Puppy Raisers. About 10 years ago, a family friend participated in the program and their dog ended up becoming a companion, which inspired the Kempfs to join, Beth Ann said. Their dog, Yardley, ultimately failed the final program and the Kempfs were able to reclaim him as a family pet.
“He ended up failing — which was good for us. We got to keep him and he was a great, great family dog.” Beth Ann said. “The kids were not old enough to help out with him, so I wanted them to have the opportunity to do this. With two kids in college and one a senior in high school, I knew my time was running out for this.”
Beth Ann also participates in the Run 4 Michael, in which athletes of all levels and kinds are paired with children and adults with physical, mental, and developmental special-needs. She runs for a boy in Indiana who has epilepsy and is getting a service dog this month. “It costs a lot of money to raise a [service] dog, and I thought, in order to give back, he inspired me to do this,” she said.
In fact, it costs more than $50,000 to raise and train each dog, which Canine Companions is able to do through donations and sponsors, according to program information.
“Right now there is about a year and a half wait to be invited to Team Training. This is why Puppy Raising is so important to us. The more puppies that are being raised, the more people we can serve,” said John Bentzinger, northeast region public relations officer for Canine Companions for Independence. “Many puppy raisers and graduate teams form life-long bonds, with regular communications and visits. Isn’t that a great lesson for a family?”
From now through November 2017, the Kempfs will teach Vader the 40 commands he needs to know, such as sit, stay, give, walk calmly with his owner, pay attention to his owner, go into kennel, drop, leave it, and more. The most important lesson they must teach Vader is to be social, so they will bring him to public places such as Wegmans, Target, ball games and out in the community.
Once Vader reaches 18 months old, he will be returned to Canine Companions regional headquarters in Medford, Long Island, to begin six months of advanced training. The instructors will evaluate each dog and, based on the dogs different strengths, a person with disabilities who is on the waiting list is invited to attend two weeks of Team Training at their regional headquarters, and be matched with an assistance dog.
“I think it’s going to be tough for all of us [to give Vader back next year], but the kids really know the program and they know what a great service were doing for somebody else,” Beth Ann said. “When we had Yardley it was hard giving him up, but it was harder getting the call saying he’s failed because you work so hard.”
If Vader completes the program, the Kempfs will be invited to attend the graduation ceremony. He could then become an assistance dog anywhere in the U.S.
“I really would recommend this to anyone if you have the time and you have the mind-set,” Beth Ann said. “It’s just a great experience.”
For more information about Canine Companions or on how to become a Puppy Raiser, visit cci.org or call 1-800-572-BARK.
