MAIN LINE DEPUTY DOG

Main Line Deputy Dog is a Pennsylvania 501(c)(3) corporation establieshed in 2011. We help people with physical challenges or psychiatric concerns train their own dogs for service work. Their Deputy Dogs will perform tasks that make their lives easier, and bring greater confidence and independence.

As we continue adding new students at Main Line Deputy Dog, it is with gratitude to the people in our local communities for sustaining our efforts so far. We are committed to serving people right here in our area who have physical challenges by helping them train their own service dogs. Their Deputy Dogs will perform tasks that bring them greater confidence and independence.

Tanya was born with Spina Bifida and has spent her entire life in a wheelchair. But that wheelchair has traveled a lot of miles. Tanya has completed school and holds down a parttime job. Gracie, a Lab/Border Collie mix that MLDD rescued, will help her go even further, by pulling her wheel-chair, opening and closing doors and most importantly according to Tanya “reaching things too far or too high, and to help me get dressed.”

Liam is partnered with Virgil, a Golden Retriever mix, also saved through rescue. Liam was born with Friedriech’s Ataxia, a rare congenital condition. FA didn’t manifest itself until Liam was 16, but is a progressive disease which causes severe walking difficulty, and often total paralysis later in life. Liam recently graduated from college and is training his Deputy Dog first, then will hit the job interview circuit with Virgil by his side. Liam says he will “fight off the paralysis for as long as possible.”

Tim is 30 years old and in the last 10 years has been deployed to Iraq three times. He suffers from severe, crippling Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Just trying to assimilate into society is very difficult for Tim and he becomes overwhelmed easily. His Deputy Dog Monte (a Great Dane) is being trained to “block”, “post” and “clear” for Tim - blocking people from getting too close in front of him, posting behind him when he is doing somehting like withdrawing m .oney from an ATM and concerned about what might be behind him, and clearing for when a person is passing by and you want them to maintain a certain distance. Monte will also wake Tim from nightmares and then comfort him back to sleep, and help with anxiety attackes and other emotional crises.

Jerry adopted Hendrix, a Labradoodle, from a local rescue with the intention of training him as a service dog. Jerry has Multiple Sclerosis and is wheelchair bound. Hendrix has been brilliant at retrieving the most important thing - the TV remote for Jerry, as well as medicine and other essentials.

Deputy Dog has a secondary mission of rescuing dogs to be rehabilitated and trained to be fully accredited service dogs. There are many homeless dogs out there that are capable of doing this work. We search area shelters and rescues and have a network of dog people who are constantly keeping an eye out for apprproprriate dos. We are also partnered with New Leash on Life, a program that trains resscue dogs in the Philadelphia Prison System. The come out very disciplined and are
that much further along when we start training with them.

When you donate to Main Line Deputy Dog, your dollars go directly toward helping Tanya, Liam, Tim and Jerry and other local residents - like our injured Air Force veteran and an elderly woman intent on staying in her own home. As we are without access to national or regional funding, they are counting on the local community for support. As we continue adding new students at Main Line Deputy Dog, it is with gratitude to the people in our local communities for sustaining our efforts so far.