Canine Companions Provide Service and Smiles

A dog-gone good time was had by more than 300 locals out for a day of fun and support for Canine Companions, a national organization that provides assistance doges to children and adults with disabilities other than blindness.

The group honored two CCI graduates who received assistance dogs. Capt. James Van Thach, a wounded Iraqi war veteran, Bronze Star and Purple Heart Recipient and Shaun Egry along with their service dogs at Smithtown Toyota on Sunday.

Capt. Van Thach applied to CCI for an assistance dog through their Wounded Veterans Initiative program, and in May of 2012 he was matched with Liz, a golden retriever-Labrador mix.  

"Liz has been Van Thach’s constant companion and best friend since that time, and accompanies him on trips to speak to other wounded veterans about the positive benefits of assistance dogs, and continues to make an amazing difference in his life," said Bentzinger. 

Shaun and his mom, Lisa Egry have had Edmison, whom they call Ed, as their skilled companion for five years. Recently Ed was diagnosed with a brain tumor.  

"The doctor was able to remove the tumor and part of Ed's brain," said Yvonne Dagger, who is the Long Island chapter president. "After the surgery, the doctors weren't sure if Ed would be able to walk again."

However, to their amazement he is not only walking again but he is back in full swing. He began chemotherapy the day after the Wag N' Wheels event. 

CCI is a national organization with  five regional headquarters across the country.  The northeast location is in Medford and is called the Miller Family Campus where every year over 40 people with disabilities are matched with assistance dogs at no cost.  The group is always on the look out for puppy raisers.

"Volunteer puppy raisers are really the backbones of our organization, and we couldn’t serve without them," said John Bentzinger, a spokesperson for the group.  "Puppy raisers take our dogs into their homes, raising them and teaching them basic commands and socialization skills for the first year-and-a-half of their lives."

The dogs are then returned to the Medford campus to begin six months of advanced training with our nationally renowned instructors where they learn over 50 commands.  Four times per year, classes of 10 to 12 people are invited to spend two weeks of intensive training there and are then matched with an assistance dog. 

"The dogs and all follow up services are provided at no cost thanks to the generosity of our donors.  It costs in excess of $45,000 to raise and train each dog," said Bentzinger.