Since she could remember, Ashley Crotty has always had an interest in animals, especially dogs.
“I just love how unconditional a dog’s love is,” the Dublin Coffman graduate says. Crotty’s family, however, couldn’t have a dog of her own because her dad is allergic to them. So, she found the next best thing through 4 Paws for Ability, an organization that provides service dogs to children and veterans.
“I thought this would be a great way to not only have dog time, but do something good,” Crotty says.
She joined the organization through its collegiate chapter at The Ohio State University, where Crotty was taking college coursework while she was still a student at Coffman.
Through the organization, she volunteers as a secondary handler, providing support to the main handlers who help train service dogs before they are paired with individuals with a disability.
While the in-training service dogs have public access rights to places people typically can’t take pets, there are some situations when it’s not a good idea to bring the dogs.
At OSU’s chapter, for instance, some student handlers may have laboratories and exams where bringing the dog isn’t ideal and, therefore, may need a secondary handler to watch the dog for a few hours. It’s also not ideal to have dogs spend a lot of time with their handlers.
“We don’t want the dogs to get too attached to their primary handlers,” Crotty says.
On average, Crotty spends about 20 hours a week with an in-training service dog, but she’s gone up to as many as 40 hours. She spends time doing 15-minute obedience training sessions with the dogs, teaching them skills such as heel, sit and stay.
Crotty also takes the dogs to public places such as museums, arcades and hospitals where many of 4 Paws’ clients may go for appointments.
“I spend a lot of time playing outside,” Crotty says. “The main thing we’re supposed to do is socialize them with anything.”
At her parents’ house, Crotty normally has her service dogs in the back yard during day visits, but if an overnight stay is required, she’ll spend the night at her grandparents’ house in Cincinnati.
Among her favorite experiences with 4 Paws’ service dogs, Crotty recalls bringing a dog, Al, to an elementary school for an art show.
“It was fun to see him interact with the kids because they usually don’t see dogs in school,” she says.
She also enjoyed working with Lena, a snuggly dog, and Bewley, a well-mannered puppy that knew his commands and was great to play with.
Crotty hopes to continue working with 4 Paws dogs by fostering them in her college dorm.
“I’m hoping to become a primary handler within the next year,” she says.
During her high school years, Crotty played varsity field hockey, volunteered at the Canine Collective; a no-kill animal shelter in Plain City, and completed an internship at Riverside Methodist Hospital.
Crotty is now studying nursing at West Virginia University, where she hopes to start a 4 Paws for Ability chapter.
“They’re a great organization and they do great things and they really help these dogs become the best service dogs they can be,” she says.
Brandon Klein is an associate editor. Feedback welcome at bklein@cityscenemediagroup.com.
