PebbleCreek resident Kathryn Villeneuve, her service dog Ember, and Certify Canine owner Blake Woody
Kathryn Villeneuve
Could you benefit if your dog became your service dog? Could others benefit if your dog became a therapy dog? I asked myself the first question based on a medical condition—commonly classified as a medical disability. I was confident my current dog, Ember, would be capable of alerting me to take action, and be able to ‘work’ wearing a service dog vest in the public domain. I researched “service dogs” to learn as much as I could about how it might work. Then I set about finding a company/individual in the greater Phoenix area to take me and Ember through a formal certification process. This led us to Certify Canine, Inc. and its owner, Blake Woody. From our first meeting, I knew we had made the right choice. The formal certification process involved 12 sessions—we did a session a week so we could practice and reinforce what we learned in between.
The entire process was definitely educational, fun, and at times, intense. Blake has a ‘way’ with dogs (and people!) and cares deeply about the human/dog connection, which is essential for service work. Once Ember and I had passed all the public access tests and demonstrated task training, I was able to register her and obtain a flight travel number so Ember can travel in the cabin with us. Certify Canine also has programs for therapy dogs (schools, hospitals, airports, etc.) and other forms of working dogs (scent detection, etc.) as well as overall dog training for pets. If you have ever considered whether you, or others, would benefit if your dog was service or therapy certified, please visit the Certify Canine website at certifycanine.com, and reach out to Blake Woody for consultation. If you want to know more about how the process worked from a client perspective, please text me, Kathryn Villeneuve, at 206–300-7137.
You will likely see me and Ember in the community, Goodyear area, and beyond. Sometimes she will have her working vest on for public access reasons and sometimes she will just be being a dog. She has been invaluable in helping me manage my medical condition, whether in her vest or not.