Finding a new friend and a new freedom

Seven-year-old Jake Taylor crawled across the training room floor with his new dog, Sable, on Sunday morning, giving her commands.

Left. Right. Heel. Sit.

"Sable, you are giving me a workout," Jake exclaimed.

But it was well worth it. At the end of the session he got to take his new service dog home with him.

"He's been waiting all summer for this," said his mom, Sheri Taylor of Bartlett. "He's really excited to have a dog of his own, to have that companion."

Jake suffers from arthrogryposis multiplex congenita, a genetic disorder that affects his muscles and joints. He has a limited range of motion and uses a motorized wheelchair to get around.

Sable, a black Labrador retriever, will be able to help him with everything from cleaning his room to picking up his pencil if he drops it doing his homework.

"It's a big challenge if he drops something, because he can't get out of the chair by himself," Taylor said.

Sable is the first dog placed by Dogs for Disabilities, a new not-for-profit organization run by Dan and Sue Wasilas of Batavia.

They had wanted to start a charity, and about seven months ago got the idea for the group when they saw a service dog at a restaurant.

"We thought to ourselves, 'Our dogs could do that,' " Sue Wasilas said.

Their research showed that fewer than 1 percent of people who could benefit from service dogs ever gets one, she said.

So the couple, who has three dogs of their own, went about establishing the group, setting up their Web site, www.dogsfordisabilities.com, and applying for not-for-profit status.

"We love dogs, and we love helping people, so this was perfect," Dan Wasilas said.

A fully-trained service dog that can open doors, do laundry and stay down for hours in a crowded restaurant can take two years and an average of $20,000 to train. The cost covers boarding, training, food, supplies and veterinary bills over that time.

Dogs for Disabilities plans to give the dogs to the recipients for a $25 application fee.

The dogs are trained by sisters Joan and Jane Smerge at the TOPS dog training facility in Grayslake.

They originally thought that Sable, who was brought to the kennel when she was just 10 weeks old, would make a good full-service dog. But she was too nervous in new situations and around new people to have an adult completely reliant on her.

"She's perfect for a child, though," Joan Smerge said. "She'll be a wonderful companion."

Sable won't go to school with Jake, but the rest of the day they will be together.

She started getting training at 5 months old. She was trained five days a week, from one to five hours a day. Early in the spring, the Taylors started visiting and training with her.

On Sunday, Jake and Sable practiced retrieving items -- a dropped shoe or pencil -- and other commands in between hugs. Jake has a leash attached to his wheelchair for Sable to walk alongside him.

Since Jake has a speech impediment, it might take longer for Sable to learn and understand his commands, Joan Smerge said.

In many cases, a person's speech, eye contact and confidence will improve with a service dog, she said.

"There's no judgments, there's just companionship and being there with you," she said. "And she's as sweet as they come. She learned everything so fast, and she just wants to do a good job for her person."

Taylor hopes Sable, now about a year old, will help Jake with his peers as well.

"When we go to the park, the other kids can be a little stand-offish, because they notice the differences," she said. "I think Sable will help break down that barrier. Then they find out he's fun to be around, he just moves differently."

Jake said he was "super excited" to take Sable home on Sunday and bounced up and down in anticipation.

"I'm gonna take you home today!" he said to Sable.

"We've been coming here all summer, and now we get to take her home!" Taylor said, pressing her forehead against Jake's and grinning back. "I know, this is so exciting."

Dogs for Disabilities now has three puppies in foster care that will start their training soon.

Right now they are trying to find a dog for a woman with multiple sclerosis who can't leave the house without her partner.

"We didn't expect all the heartbreaking calls you get," Dan Wasilas said.

Eventually, they hope to train a couple dozen dogs a year, he said. Their dogs at home are being trained for service work as well, to be used for demonstrations.

"It's never-ending, but it's so much fun," he said. "We want to be able to give people a better life."