Old News
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Danielle Skeeters is seen here with
one of the many service dogs she has
worked with over the years. Skeeters'
father was a dog breeder and her
discovering a passion for training the
animals to help humans was a natural
career choice.
In 'a career waiting to happen':
Belfair Herald 3/16/06
Skeeters trains dogs as a way of helping others
By Liz Case:
When Danielle Skeeters lived in Seabeck several years ago, she was leading a dog 4-H group. One of her 4-H members was a special needs girl who had a seizure disorder and needed a service dog to help her lead a more independent life.

The girl got her dog, but that in turn raised a lot of issues about where she could take the dog. Even though the dog was a professionally trained and uniformed service dog, and even though the girl had a well documented illness, the administrator at her school wouldn't let her bring her dog to class. Businesses, including a local branch of one large national chain, also wouldn't let the dog inside and the girl's hospital did the same.

Skeeters saw the immediate need to start advocating for the girl and eventually developed PowerPoint presentations about service-dog awareness.

SHE DID HELP rack up a few successes on the girl's behalf, but she also became much more aware of the differences that service dogs can make in the lives of the disabled and how few people are able to afford them.

Yes, afford them. A commercially available, trained and fully skilled service dog costs between $7,000 and $9,000, and none of that expense is picked up by conventional insurances or public assistance.

In hindsight, it was probably a career waiting to happen. Skeeters' father had been a dog breeder and dog training as a career "had just happened." She had also written several articles on training which were published in magazines such as Dog News and Front and Finish. So it wasn't too surprising when she was contacted by a service-dog training company to go to work for them.

She contracted with the company, went to their school and trained according to their program for a few years.

BUT BEFORE her contract was up, she came to the decision that their methods, which she was contractually required to use, were not the best ones for accomplishing good results.

Skeeters says that the state of Washington is very liberal about the background requirements for service-dog trainers, and so she decided to strike out on her own and establish her own training business.

Because her contract with the previous company is still in force, Skeeters does not choose to reveal the company's name or any details about her work with them.

But she wants very much to have everyone know about her new business, Stilvalley Service Dogs. She has worked out of her home in Allyn for two years now, finding customers through word-of-mouth and has just begun opening to the public.

She recently put up a seperate heated building for training, which includes an "apartment" in which the dogs can train for "at home" help such as answering the phone, opening doors and helping their masters dress and undress.

ANSWERING the phone? Does that mean that the dogs pick up and say, "Woof, Woof?"
"Oh no," Skeeters says with a laugh. "The dogs pick up the cordless receiver and BRING it to their owner!"

She obtains her dogs through rescue/recovery shelters and looks for breeds that will help ensure that the dogs are not only quick learners but solid learners, dogs that retain their skills and never need retraining.

The breeds that make the best service dogs are, in her experience, mixes of golden retrievers, Labradors, and poodles, with a preference to golden/lab mixes.

The ideal age to start training a dog, says Skeeters, is 8 months, and she can have them trained as "companion" dogs in another six months. She says that they can't be placed in a "forever home," however, until they reach 2 years of age.

IT TAKES that long, she says to fulfill mandates health clearances and certifications (such as for healthy hips, eyes and elbows) through the state.

Aside from the suitability of both the home and the prospective owner, Skeeters says that the most importnat thing is for the disabled person to have a doctor who agrees that they need a dog. Sometimes even a doctor doesn't realize the impact that a "companion" dog can have on a disabled person.

Once that need is professionally documented, though, then it becomes a matter of fund-raising. Only one client in Skeeters career has been able to pay for their dog up front while the rest have all had to apply for grants or raise the money privately.

The current commercial rate for such a companion dog is about $5,000, but Skeeters can provide them for $2,500. She also works with a grant writer and can, her-self help her customers with the process of raising the money for a dog.

SKEETERS has trained and placed nine dogs and presently has two in training. She doesn't train the highly skilled dogs needed for the blind, but instead trains mostly companion dogs which can carry bags, help guide a walker or wheelchair and assist their owners if they fall.

She also conducts seven-week obedience classes, including puppy, basic, advanced, rally, agility, handling (for dog shows) and Canine Good Citizen (CGC) dogs. The CGC test, required for service dogs, is offered as well.

She also says that discounts are available for military, seniors and return customers.

Her facility is located one mile south of Allyn and she can be reached by e-mail at www.stilvalley.com or by phone