When they're more than man's best friend
For more than a year, Nick and Colleen Breheny of Schaumburg cared for Arkoe, who joined the family when he was an 8-week-old puppy.
But they didn't spoil him or treat him just like any pet. They taught him to sit, stand, shake, back up and roll - 30 commands in all. They taught him to socialize, but not in a happy, lick-your-face way. Arkoe instead learned to stay calm in crowded, noisy places. He learned to wait quietly, until his services were needed.
Arkoe had a higher calling - one for which the Brehenys worked around the clock to train him and one which they feared he would stumble trying to reach.
The Brehenys trained Arkoe to be a Canine Companions for Independence dog. CCI is the largest nonprofit provider of trained assistance dogs to children and adults with disabilities. CCI "puppy-raisers" volunteer for the unique responsibility of raising a pup until it is old enough for advanced training at one of CCI's five regional centers.
Nick and Colleen received monthly reports on his progress and the early reports had them a little nervous. If Arkoe failed, he would be kicked out of the CCI program and returned to the family. They love Arkoe, but preferred to see him meet the goal to help another family - and then start the process again with a new puppy.
"All I want to do ... is walk Arkoe on stage and hand his leash to his new owner," said Nick Breheny. "Arkoe will graduate summa cum laude."
Early reports indicated he shied away from wheelchairs and didn't give direct eye contact, basics essential to the CCI program. Their son, John, lives in Ohio and visited Arkoe to make a keepsake paw print for his parents.
"John told Arkoe he better shape up, 'Because if you don't make it, you have to live the rest of your life with the old man,'" Nick said, laughing. "According to the trainer, after John's visit, Arkoe seemed to work harder."
Arkoe learned how to pick up an item on the floor and to grab on a rope-pull to open the refrigerator.
"Anything you can do with your hands, Arkoe can do. He's an extra set of hands," Nick said.
Later, they received a phone call, which usually means the dog is being returned. However, this time the news was that Arkoe was on the home stretch and was proficient in all phases.
"He can open and close doors, pick up items and return them to the human. You can put a sandwich in his mouth, and he won't eat it. I've actually seen this," Nick wrote in an e-mail to friends. "He can carry a raw egg in his mouth, drop it in your lap and not break it. In a store, he can also 'hand' the cashier a credit card or cash. There are 70 such things he is trained to do."
Arkoe was matched with 8-year-old Jack Kotheimer in Michigan, who was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy as a baby. SMA destroys the nerves controlling voluntary muscle movement.
The last two weeks of Arkoe's training were with Jack, his parents Mary Beth and Barry, and his siblings, Mitchell, Leah and Will. The Kotheimers stayed at a local hotel and worked eight hours a day for two weeks to learn the commands that Arkoe learned.
The Brehenys returned to Ohio for Arkoe's graduation ceremony. At a social event before the ceremony, dubbed a "dog pile," the dogs got to see their puppy raisers for a final time.
"At the 'dog pile' Arkoe just laid there and watched. When the dogs were given the release - verbal 'OK' to be a puppy and visit - he knew us, even after six months," Colleen said.
The Brehenys met the Kotheimer family and had breakfast together before the official graduation.
At the ceremony, the puppy raisers brought each dog on stage to be paired with their new families.
"In 30 seconds, I went from the saddest to the happiest person in the whole world," remembered Nick. "If I had to pick out a family, it would have been them."
Besides helping Jack physically, Arkoe will help him socialize.
Before getting Arkoe, people often avoided approaching him to talk. With Arkoe, people are more apt to come up and ask questions and want to pet Arkoe. "When we were raising Arkoe, people would often ask, 'How can you ever give up your puppy?'" Nick said. "If they could only have been there, they would understand. It was a bittersweet moment, but it was great!"
With graduation and the transfer done, the Breheny's didn't hesitate to bring home another CCI puppy.
Kiowa III joined the family in March. "He is just very loving and a snuggler," Colleen said. "He's the sweetest, loving black beauty."
Within an hour of arriving home, Kiowa ran off with Colleen's slipper, got stuck behind the refrigerator, chewed an electrical cord and went behind the sofa, pulling lamps down.
Since then, the Brehenys have worked on teaching Kiowa such commands, as "sit," "down" and "stay." He knows his name and will wait for his food, until he is released to eat.
Until he was 6 months old, Kiowa wore a plain yellow training cape, to get him used it. Kiowa now wears the official yellow with blue trim CCI cape (fondly referred to as his "big boy cape"), which indicates he's an assistance dog in training.
His first public appearance came at the Schaumburg A.M. Rotary meeting, where Nick, Colleen and Kiowa were presented with a donation check for CCI. "Last year Arkoe was with us for the presentation, and many of the people present remembered him," Nick said.
On Father's Day, Kiowa was "the hit of the party" at Schaumburg Regional Airport's annual Father's Day pancake breakfast. The hundreds of people present were no problem for Kiowa. He stayed under the table during breakfast, right at the entrance. People came to look at him and ask questions.
"I was surprised as how well he did," beamed Nick. "There were more people gathered around Colleen and Kiowa than the airplanes."
The Brehenys plan to take Kiowa with them to the Schaumburg Farmers Market this summer, just like they did with Arkoe.
This month, Kiowa will begin attending Mass with them. As Nick is an usher, Kiowa will be with him as he greets parishioners.
Looks like another summa cum laude graduate is in the making.
For more information about CCI, visit the Web site caninecompanions.org.