BUTLERVILLE, Ohio — Living in silence can be a dangerous situation, but having a dog do the listening for you changes everything.
“Mostly at home she alerts me to all types of like sounds whether it be a knock at the door, the doorbell, different rings, tones, anything that beeps,” explained Cindy Widerholt.
She’s speaking about her dog Loki, who ensures her hearing disability, a direct result of her service in the Air Force working in bio environmental engineering, doesn’t prevent her from living her life.
“I was actually referred from the VA when I was going in for my hearing problems,” Widerholt said. “And my doctor referred me to Circle Tail.”
Circle Tail is a service dog training facility in Butlerville, Ohio. It’s celebrating its 25th year in operation. One of the many types of clients it serves are veterans.
One of the first types of service dogs they placed, according to Circle Tail’s founder Marlys Staley, was a hearing dog. It's something she admits wasn’t on her radar at the time until a client called inquiring about one.
“And she said, you know, 'I need a hearing dog.' And I says, 'we don't train hearing dogs, we train service dogs.' She says, 'well, why don't you train hearing dogs?' And I said, 'because I don't know how to train hearing dogs.' She says, 'well, why don't you learn?' And I'm like, 'good question,'” said Staley.
It was part of the learning curve she has continuously worked on throughout her journey into dog training. Once a physical therapist, she says a midlife crisis sent her searching for something different, and she discovered service dogs firsthand.
“I went and visited a service dog organization. And it's like, that's a little bit more up my alley, because it's dealing with people with physical disabilities, which is what I was dealing with and dogs are helping them, you can make a connection,” Staley said. “I had the medical background a little bit, so I kind of knew the person, having been a physical therapist for about 18 years. So, I felt very comfortable in the medical setting, knowing about people with disabilities, watching progress of somebody. I also saw the struggles. And I did work at Shriners for about 10 years. And I loved the model of that, we will take care of you, even if you can't pay.”
Operating from her home and basement with one lonely barn on her property when she began in 1997, she would slowly and methodically build and grow operations.
Jayla is one of the dogs trained at Circle Tail. She now serves Marine Corps veteran Ron Kohus who was left paralyzed after a car accident.
“The next thing I knew it was like 40 days later, and I was in the hospital, I woke up, and I had that big halo on my head. And then I was pretty much completely paralyzed then,” Kohus said.
While he’s bound to a wheelchair having Jayla gives him independence and the ability to garden, feed chickens and even work in his workshop.
“See my hands don't work. So, she's actually my hands, feet,” he said. “Anything I dropped she can pick up coins, credit card, pictures, money.”
He’s been teamed up with Jayla for almost three years. She’s helped him get unstuck in the garden and even got someone’s attention when he had fallen into his pond while out trimming grass.
“Without her no, I couldn't live.” Kohus said.
For Marlys Staley, the bond between the dogs they raise and train, and the potential handler, is key. She says it’s not as simple as just giving a dog to someone and off they go. She says when pooches are paired up perfectly you can genuinely see the change in independence for the client.
“That's why I do what I do, and why Circle Tail does, what they do, is you want the dog to be happy,” she said. “And you want the person to enjoy the relationship and become more independent because of the relationship.”
According to the VA's website, veterans who are approved by the VA for a service dog through an accredited agency will not be charged for the dog or associated training.
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