FISHERS — Medical Mutts celebrated their newest group of trained service dogs in a graduation ceremony on Tuesday.
The Indianapolis based nonprofit is dedicated to training rescue dogs to be service dogs through science, education and ethical training, according to their website.
They train dogs to be diabetic alert dogs, seizure alert dogs, psychiatric service dogs and more.
"It's a lot of work to get to this point," Director of Development at Medical Mutts Kelsey Burton said. "6-9 months of extensive of training with our dogs for them to learn up to thirty different tasks and skills."
Burton says the dogs are then paired up with their person where they do a ten day training before taking a final test to graduate.
The event also welcomed a special guest, Chai. Chai is a shelter dog from Indianapolis Animal Care Services who has been serving as a service dog to his handler Kathleen since 2020.
Chai was found chained outside during a harsh winter as a puppy. Due to the cold, Chai lost his ears to frostbite. He now helps Kathleen manage her diabetes.
"Chai puts my family at ease as they know I now have a teammate who is helping me. In fact, he is faster than my glucose monitor and let's me know about a blood sugar low about 20 minutes earlier than the monitor. Not only does he help me manage my blood sugar levels," Kathleen said.
All seven of the dogs today passed with flying colors and are now true service dogs.
"We're firm believers that dogs that are in the shelters are wonderful dogs," Burton said. "There's proof in that room tonight that these dogs that have been discarded are able to do great things. So we want to remind people to go to rescue, go to shelters, adopt from us. Just because they're at a shelter, dont give up on them."
To learn more about Medical Mutts, visit the organization’s website at www.medicalmutts.org.
