On March 26, the Rye High School Adopt A Soldier Club, represented by seniors Ryan Anderson and Jim Palmer, presented a check for $500 to Lu Picard, co-founder of Educated Canines Assisting With Disabilities (ECAD), after a demonstration by Colby the Black Labrador Retriever and his soldier, Taz.

By Sarah Varney

On March 26, the Rye High School Adopt A Soldier Club, represented by seniors Ryan Anderson and Jim Palmer, presented a check for $500 to Lu Picard, co-founder of Educated Canines Assisting With Disabilities (ECAD), after a demonstration by Colby the Black Labrador Retriever and his soldier, Taz.

But first there was lots of snuggling and petting for Colby’s colleagues, Blip and Tuna, a pair of middle-aged Golden Labs who have made a career of just that kind of human attention. Blip and Tuna are therapy dogs, while youngster Colby is just about finished with his service dog training. Picard boasts that Blip has sired 49 puppies and has 15 grand-pups. “All of his kids are either out working or in school,” she said.

The organization, which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, breeds and trains therapy and service dogs and then gives them to soldiers, including many with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. The dogs are trained by teen-agers, under the supervision of Lu and Dale Picard.

Taz and Colby demonstrated the dog’s “pick up” skills, fetching a toothbrush and a can of soda for the soldier. “Service dogs are taught to sit under chairs. They know to ‘be small, be quiet until I need you’. They can go into airports, restaurants, malls and grocery stores, but they have to be able to stay out of the way,” said Lu. “They have to learn not to be distracted by ‘people food’. We put cupcakes all around the training area to teach them not to eat them.”

In addition to fetching items, Colby has helped Taz eliminate her need for medication and recover the ability to be out and about in the world, particularly in crowds. She was deployed twice in the Middle East and suffered a traumatic brain injury as well. The young woman described her ongoing battle with PTSD, which has included night terrors, sleep problems, flashbacks, and hypervigilance. She described how her dog has eliminated night terrors by waking her whenever it heard her thrashing around in her bed. She also demonstrated how Colby is trained to ‘block and cover’ in crowds. The dog is trained to provide a barrier in front of Taz when she feels threatened and to “cover’ the zone behind her in crowds.

Taz credits Colby with allowing her to live independently. “I wouldn’t be here speaking to you if it weren’t for Colby,” she said.