By Dan Stark – Southampton Press
A Westhampton Beach resident was recently appointed as a new board member for the Northeast region of Canine Companions, a nonprofit organization that trains service dogs to help people with disabilities.
Heidi Petschauer, 63, has owned a home in Westhampton Beach since 2017 and made it her full-time residence last year after living in Nassau County. She currently owns and runs Petschauer Insurance, an insurance company based in Garden City.
Petschauer got involved in Canine Companions 20 years ago while she was looking for an organization to volunteer with and give back to the community. After attending one of the organization’s graduation ceremonies, where the service dogs leave with their new owners, she was inspired to learn more about the organization and its cause.
“I loved it because it’s not just about raising dogs,” she said. “They raise dogs and train them to benefit and improve the lives of people with disabilities, which I thought was great.”
Soon after, Petschauer began volunteering for the organization. She attended and helped out at events like DogFest, the group’s main fundraising event. She also began donating to the organization and encouraging her friends, family and co-workers to donate.
To raise money for the organization, she started the Community Cause Program, where she got her staff and clients involved in the donation process by donating $20 to Canine Companions for every referral that her insurance agency gets.
Petschauer was invited to join the organization’s board for its Northeast Region in April. Debra Dougherty, the executive director of the Northeast Training Center, said that Petschauer was invited to join because “she has been such an engaged volunteer and thought that she would make a great board member.”
Petschauer said that she has greatly enjoyed her short time on the board thus far, getting to collaborate with her fellow board members and learning the different strengths they bring.
“It’s been a really great experience, very welcoming,” she said. “Everybody comes with different strengths and skill sets, and I’m really learning from them all how they get out there and spread the word [about Canine Companions].”
The training center for the Northeast Region is located in Medford, one of seven main locations across the United States. These training centers specialize in training dogs to help adults, children and veterans with disabilities live more independent lives and not be limited by their disabilities. This mission of providing service dogs is what drew Petschauer to the organization and is still a powerful one to her.
“I’ve found that the mission is contagious, watching how these dogs help the lives of these people and veterans that have disabilities,” she said. “And when you see their smile, I can’t even put it into words.”
At the training center in Medford, the future service dogs are taught over 40 basic commands, including opening doors, turning lights on and off and picking up items. The dogs are also taught to get used to equipment like wheelchairs that their owners may be in.
Some dogs are taught to recognize certain sounds to be hearing dogs for deaf patients.
On average, the center trains 60-75 dogs per year, mostly golden retrievers and Labradors.
Anybody is allowed to apply to get a service dog, though they have to go through an extensive interviewing process and are usually on a waitlist for up to a year and a half. Once accepted, they are invited to the training center for a two week-long training session at the center, where they get to work with their future service dogs.
The owners and service dogs spend their time doing command practice and applying them in real life situations with field trips outside of the training center. During this time, the owners are provided housing, as the center features 11 handicap-accessible dorm rooms.
In addition to her work with Canine Companions, Petschauer also supports and donates to TriState Collie Rescue in Ohio and PetsAlive in upstate New York.
To learn more about Canine Companions and the Northeast Training Facility, visit canine.org/location/northeast.
