Power Paws on Display at Mesa Southwest Museum
Have you ever seen a dog dial a phone? You can between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. this Saturday, September 22 at the Mesa Southwest Museum when the dogs of Power Paws publicly reveal just how smart they are!
Several Golden and Labrador Retrievers trained by Power Paws Assistance Dogs, Inc., a local non-profit organization, will be demonstrating some of the 90 commands they are taught to provide assistance to disabled children and adults. These skills include opening doors, pushing elevator buttons and retrieving dropped items, among other useful tricks.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a service animal as any dog (or other animal) individually trained to provide assistance to an individual with a disability. Assistance dogs generally fall into one of three categories: Guide Dogs for the blind and visually impaired; Hearing Dogs for the deaf and hard of hearing; and Service Dogs for people with disabilities other than those related to vision or hearing. Assistance and service dogs do not have to be licensed or certified by a state or local government nor does the human they are assisting need to present documentation proving their disability, to qualify for the rights and privileges guaranteed by the ADA. Not all disabilities are obvious from looking at or even talking to a person.
Assistance dogs can often be identified by their cape. Capes indicate the dog is "working" and also act as a carrier for necessary items including a copy of the ADA, certification/licensing documents, emergency instructions and clean up materials. The cape may also indicate the organization that trained or provided the dog.
Some people are not sure how to act around assistance animals. The following guidelines from the Assistance Dog Institute, should help you manage encounters with ease and confidence:
- Speak to the person first, not the dog.
- Do Not make distracting noises at the assistance dog.
- Do Not touch the assistance dog without asking permission.
- Do not feed the assistance dog.
- Do not ask personal questions about the handler's disability or intrude on their privacy.
- Don't be offended if the handler declines to chat about the assistance dog (or refuses to allow the dog to be petted).
Power Paws, a provisional member of Assistance Dogs International, Inc., provides highly skilled assistance to adults and children throughout the U.S. A resource for the community of people with disabilities, Power Paws also offers education and continuing support for working dog teams. Power Paws has certified 32 dogs and currently has more than 40 dogs in training. Power Paws has one of the shortest waiting periods in the industry with most people are paired with an assistance dog within one or two years of completing the application process.
The Mesa Southwest Museum, which will become the Arizona Natural History Museum on October 1, 2007, is located at 53 N. Macdonald in Mesa. The 80,000-square-foot facility features a multitude of exhibits representing Arizona's natural and cultural history. Current exhibits include "Paradise Lost: Arizona South of the Ice" which explores the last three million years of Arizona history and showcases fossils uncovered in Chandler, Willcox and Gilbert, among others. Admission is $8 for adults, $4 for children ages 3-12, $7 for seniors age 65+ and $6 for students age 13+ with a student ID. Children age 2 and under are admitted free.
