Disabled young woman has a furry new helper
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

Dani Anderson and Woody

After a five-year wait, Dani Anderson, 19, of Thousand Oaks finally got a 24-hour personal assistant.

His name is Woody and he opens and closes doors for Anderson, picks things up that she's dropped and pulls her wheelchair when she's tired. These are all things Anderson used to do herself, with difficulty, until Woody came into the picture in January.

Woody is a golden retriever, specially trained to help Anderson, who has muscular dystrophy, a neurological disease that weakens the muscles. A Moorpark College student, Anderson has found Woody to be especially helpful in pulling her around the hilly campus and in assisting her at the bank where she works as a teller.

But the dog has become much more than an assistant.

"I'm finding that people think it's a choice, for me to have Woody," Anderson said. "He's my best buddy, I'm never lonely, and he really helps me."

Before she could take ownership of Woody, Anderson spent two weeks in an Atlanta suburb, undergoing training herself in how to best utilize Woody. First she had to figure out which dog was best for her.

Woody was provided by Canine Assistants, a nonprofit based in Georgia that provides trained service dogs to the disabled free of charge. In exchange, recipients are asked to donate 24 hours of community service per year.

Founded in 1991 by a young woman with multiple sclerosis, the program's dogs, primarily golden retrievers and Labradors, undergo a 14 to 28-month-long training program at a cost of about $10,000, which is one reason why Anderson was on a waiting list for so long.

Accompanied to Georgia by her father, Anderson first had to choose a dog. She was part of a class of 12 other disabled people meeting a group of dogs and learning commands, of which Woody knows 90.

"By the second day you know which dog is your favorite," Anderson said. "They say the dog picks you and I really think that's true."

Anderson and Woody bonded quickly.

"We just kind of connected better than the rest," Anderson said. "He jumps up and puts his front legs on my shoulders and rests his head on my shoulders. He's very loving and listens to me."

Woody, short for Woodridge, is named for a school in Ohio that sponsored him and another dog in his litter. Students at the Woodridge School collected pennies to help offset the cost of training and care for Woody, and his sibling, Penny. The dogs were born, raised and trained at the Canine Assistants farm.

The first week Anderson and Woody participated in lectures, practice sessions and quizzes, getting to know one another. The second week they put what they had learned into practice, going on outings together to lunch, the movies and the mall.

Woody wears a sign that advises people not to pet him because he is working.

"If he gets petted too much, he turns into a pet dog and that can untrain him so that he won't do his commands," Anderson said. "He's supposed to be rewarded when he works well."

Woody accompanies Anderson almost everywhere and is always leashed when they're out. He doesn't like loud places, so she leaves him at home when she goes bowling.

"My mom says for a good half-hour he searches for me everywhere, so it's hard to leave him when I know he does that," Anderson said.

Having Woody with her all the time was an adjustment for Anderson, but worth the long wait.

"He is very loving and a great companion," Anderson said.