Service Dogs, Inc. recruits dogs from shelters and trains them to be service dogs for wounded veterans and other Texans who are living with disabilities.
HOUSTON — Sienna is a sweet stray dog that recently gave birth to seven puppies in a hot, rundown park in Houston.
Surviving only on scraps she found in the trash, Sienna grew thinner but never stopped nursing her new pups.
Two weeks after they were born, a kindhearted Houstonian came across the mama dog and her babies and took them to Harris County Pets in north Houston. Sienna continued to mother her pups, now surrounded by more than 500 other dogs.
Their luck changed when a trainer with Service Dogs, Inc. visited the shelter in search of recruits for its program.
The non-profit based in Dripping Springs rescues unwanted dogs and transforms them into lifelines for wounded veterans and other Texans living with challenges. Other dogs are trained to provide comfort to first responders and children or other victims of trauma during court proceedings.
Service Dogs, Inc. invests approximately $50,000 to train each dog and then provides them to clients free of charge.
Since they were founded in 1988, they’ve rescued over 1,000 dogs from animal shelters around Texas, according to their website.
COO and Director of Training Tailer O’Neill recently came up with the idea of a Pilot Puppy Program.
“If we could nurture the puppies during their developmental stages, we might be able to train better without having to undo all the past traumas adult street dogs, even young ones, had suffered,” founder and CEO Sheri Stoles explained.
On Tailer’s first trip to Harris County Pets, he was impressed with Sienna but passed on her because he wanted a smaller litter.
A week later, he went back.
“I can’t quit thinking about that dog,” he said. “She was one of the best evaluations I’ve ever done!”
Stoles said they made room at the training center and in their hearts for the mama dog and her offspring.
The training begins with tactile stimulation to socialize the little dogs.
“Touch their front paws,” Tailer instructs. “Touch between each toe, touch their paw pads. Now pet them gently from their ears to the tips of their tails.”
Simple commands and learning to answer to their name come next.
In between training sessions, the puppies snooze beside a warm toy dog with a “beating heart.”
Sienna, who is heartworm positive, is kept in a brand new quarantine kennel where she’s pampered by the staff.
Service Dogs, Inc. tripled its training staff in 2024 and adopted the largest number of dogs in their history, all progressing six weeks ahead of schedule. Click here to learn more or donate.