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Kane County Board room doubles as classroom for specialized canine

Blair Peters is the behind-the-scenes I.T. person who makes sure the public has access to the daily decision-making activities of the Kane County Board.

Over the coming months, Peters, who is the county's technologies coordinator, will be joined by a furry companion that is undergoing training as part of a volunteer, charitable organization whose mission is to provide affordable service dogs to individuals with disabilities.

Gremlin is a 4-month-old poodle/Labrador mix who had been paired with Peters through VIP Service Dog Foundation of Hinckley.

Gremlin, a 4-month-old poodle/Labrador mix who had been paired with Blair Peters through VIP Service Dog Foundation of Hinckley. Courtesy of Kane County Public Information Office

The service dogs assist disabled individuals with everyday activities.

"I love dogs and decided to volunteer with the foundation to help give someone part of their independence back," Peters said.

Donna Akers, founder and president of VIP (Very Important Pooches), says volunteers are fully trained on how to teach the service dogs basic obedience skills in addition to more specialized training.

"A service dog learns to perform at least two custom tasks to help an individual mitigate their disability," Akers said.

Strategizing on how to expand Gremlin's training, Peters approached Kane County Board members for permission to bring the dog to board committee meetings at the Kane County Government Center in Geneva.

"The board room is a large public space with lots of people talking, walking around and there are lots of distractions like doors closing, ringing cellphones and chairs moving," Peters said. "The board members were happy to welcome Gremlin and gave their OK to have him work alongside me."

One of the keys to successfully training a service dog is to get them to a point where they ignore everyone around them, except their handler.

The dogs wear a vest that lets the public know they are in a specialized training program.

"Because Gremlin is such a sweet dog people are constantly coming up to us to pet him," Peters said. "I have to tell them that Gremlin is working and cannot be distracted."

For more information about the foundation, go to vipservicedogfoundation.com.

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