Sierra, the Service Dog
This is Sierra's Story
CHAPTER ONE
When our school nurse found that it was hard to do somethings like opening doors, getting dressed, turning on and off lights, picking up things from the floor and getting clothes out of the dryer, she decided she needed a service dog.
She found out about the Prison Pet Service Dog Program and applied to have one of the service dogs they train. She had to fill out forms about her home environment and her needs. There is sometimes a three waiting list to get just the right dog for her.
The women prisoners in the Prison Pet Service Program trained Sierra to sit, lay and do basic commands. They helped Sierra get used to wearing the vest harness and leash.
Sierra was just right for our school nurse because Sierra is calm and quiet. That meant that Sierra would be able to go with our school nurse to everywhere. Sierra would be good and not bother or be distracted by other people or other dogs. Sierra knows how to be "invisible" by quietly being down in sort of a hidden position. In the picture below, you can see that Sierra is quietly lying down behind our school nurse with her back to the class while our school nurse was talking to us.
CHAPTER TWO
Right before Labor Day, 2000, our school nurse went to get Sierra from the Prison Service Dog Program. Sierra and our school nurse had two weeks of training together to learn 83 commands before Sierra came home to Pullman.
Sierra knows these commands:
stand: Sierra is stands on all four legs
sit: Sierra sits like she is doing in the picture above
down: Sierra lays down like the picture below
stay: Sierra stays right where she is
fix-it: when Sierra's foot gets caught in the lower loop of the leash, Sierra untangles her foot from the leash
leave it: Sierra leaves alone anything she sees near her that she isn't suppose to have
side: Sierra walks on our school nurse's right side
wheelchair: Sierra walks on our school nurse's left wide when she is in her wheelchair so Sierra can pull her
jump-up: Sierra gently places her paws up on our school nurse to come up and get a treat
off: Sierra gets off where ever she is
Sierra can also pick up things that are dropped, turn on and off lights at the switch, empty the dryer, and walk by the cart at the grocery store. Sierra can pull our school nurse when she is in her wheel chair.
Sierra wears a special leash that has two handles. One handle is lower on the leash so our school nurse can hold onto Sierra for when being pulled in the wheelchair. The other handle is at the end of the leash for when our school nurse is standing with Sierra beside her.
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Sierra also has a harness on her vest where our school nurse can hold onto her.
CHAPTER THREE
We listened carefully to everything our school nurse told us about Sierra. We were very gentle and quiet while Sierra was in our classroom.
We knew it was important not to touch and play with Sierra while she working for our school nurse. We asked our school nurse questions about Sierra:
1. How long have you had Sierra?
Answer: Since the beginning of this school year
2. Does the dog know left and right?
Answer: Yes, Sierra knows which direction to go to help and be out of the way.
It as special to learn how Sierra, the service dog, helps our school nurse!
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