![\"\"](\"http:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/Aspen-with-Koebel-and-Shockley-photo-by-Natalie-Watson.jpg\")
<\/a>Aspen, center, was happy to pose for a photo Courtney Koebel, left, and Alana Shockley of Rocket Service Dogs in Ottawa House West.<\/p><\/div>The 1-year-old dog definitely turned heads and made a lot of friends.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people ask, \u2018How did you get a dog in a residence hall?\u2019 And we explain she\u2019s a service dog in training,\u201d Courtney Koebel, a sophomore majoring in education, said. \u201cSome ask if they can pet her, and we have to calm her down first.\u201d<\/p>\n
Settling down is just one thing Shockley and Koebel worked on with Aspen. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to teach her commands \u2014 sit, stay, kennel \u2014 and to get her to focus,\u201d Koebel said. \u201cIt\u2019s going well. She has a good work ethic, but she gets distracted sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Koebel and Shockley welcomed their four-legged roommate last fall. They are members of Rocket Service Dogs, a University organization partnering with Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence and the Ability Center of Greater Toledo to encourage students to foster and train dogs. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe were trying to figure out how to get more involved on campus and were looking at all the organizations,\u201d Shockley said. \u201cAnd once we saw Rocket Service Dogs, we fell in love because we\u2019re really crazy animal lovers, it\u2019s dogs, and we\u2019re helping people.\u201d<\/p>\n
Students in the organization take an orientation and policy class through Rocket Service Dogs, and then a handling course taught by Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence.<\/p>\n
Aspen is the first canine to live and train in a residence hall through Rocket Service Dogs.<\/p>\n
It took a year of planning between the University, Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence and the Ability Center of Greater Toledo to make the placement possible, according to Josephine Biltz, a third-year student majoring in biology and president of the Rocket Service Dogs. <\/p>\n
\u201cAspen seemed to really like the residence hall from the second she walked in, and I think it was a really great atmosphere for her to be exposed to a lot of different people,\u201d Biltz said. <\/p>\n
While Aspen wasn\u2019t ready to attend class on campus with Shockley and Koebel, she did go to school once a week. Every Friday, the trio headed to Flower Hospital for class with Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe practice attention, loose-leash walking. Sometimes they teach us new commands, and then we\u2019ll practice old commands,\u201d Koebel said. \u201cWe work on Aspen\u2019s attention, get her to focus for long periods of time, so she\u2019ll be able to come to University classes with us. And sometimes instead of class, we\u2019ll have outings. We\u2019ll go out with [Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence] to a public place to see how she reacts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Praise and rewards bolster Aspen\u2019s desire to please \u2014 and learn.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe usually give her small treats to motivate her; sometimes we just use her kibble,\u201d Shockley said. \u201cWe bought her some little Milk-Bones, and she really likes those.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019ve been working with her for a while and she finally understands what we\u2019re trying to do, it\u2019s rewarding to see her get excited,\u201d Koebel said. \u201cShe really likes treats, so she\u2019s kind of always excited.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aspen recently moved on to continue training through Assistance Dogs for Achieving Independence\u2019s prison program, where she was paired with an inmate.<\/p>\n
While their time working with the Lab was brief, Koebel and Shockley will remember Aspen and her goal. <\/p>\n
\u201cDepending on how well Aspen does and if her attention span gets longer, she could be paired with someone with a disability,\u201d Shockley said. \u201cBut if not, she\u2019ll be a therapy and emotional support animal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me feel good that I\u2019m able to help someone who has a disability and can\u2019t help themselves, so it\u2019s cool to know I\u2019m part of the process to help make their life a little bit easier,\u201d Shockley said.<\/p>\n
Learn more about Rocket Service Dogs at facebook.com\/rocketservicedogs<\/a>, or email rocketservicedogs@gmail.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meet Aspen, a Labrador retriever, the first canine to train with Rocket Service Dogs in a residence hall at the University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,6,53,39,7],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54059"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54059"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54237,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54059\/revisions\/54237"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.utoledo.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}