by T.W. Budig
ECM Capitol reporter

The chain between Ken Stenzel and his service dog Calvin is something more than metal. A Coast Guard veteran wheelchair bound by MS, Stenzel, of Stillwater, is buoyed by his two-year-old shorthaired collie Calvin.

“He knows my moods. He knows when I’m getting fatigued,” said Stenzel of service dog.

Ken Stenzel, a disabled Coast Guard veteran from Stillwater, his service dog Calvin at side, listens to the press conference at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Minneapolis today (Wednesday, Nov. 11) as Democratic U.S. Sen. Al Franken and others detail Franken's "Service Dogs for Veterans Act," the first piece of legislation Franken authored and one that would provide service dogs to disabled veterans. (Photo by T. W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)

Calvin opens and closes doors, pick things up, steadies the wheel chair when Stenzel gets in.

More than that, the collie is a companion and a kind of four-legged ombudsman.

“The best thing about Calvin he puts smiles on people faces,” said Stenzel..

The uneasiness people sometimes feel in meeting a disabled person is melted by the smiling dog.

More disabled will benefit

With the recent passage of legislation by U.S. Sen. Al Franken, more disabled veterans will be benefitting by the remarkable skills provided by service dogs.

Franken’s bill establishes a Department of Veterans Affairs’ pilot project — Franken will help design it — that should see some 200 service dogs going to deserving veterans.

The federal government will pay half the cost — about $5 million — with private donations covering the rest.

Franken views the service dog initiative as a win, win, win, win. Besides helping disabled veterans, service dog trainers sometimes find potential service dogs in dog pounds — many different breeds of dogs serve as service dogs. (Photo by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)

Training a service dog, a task of many months, can cost up to $30,000, said Stenzel.

“I’d like to see dogs all over the place. And really well trained dogs too,” said Franken, personally fond of dogs.

For one thing, service dogs relieve the stress wounded veterans often feel, Franken believes.

“Oh absolutely,” he said.

“There’s no doubt that these dogs do that,” said Franken.

Service dogs can do a lot more.

The dogs can be taught to nudge their owners to remind them of things, to alert them to the unheard ringing of an alarm clock or door bell, even to monitor their owner’s blood sugar levels by sniffing their breath, explained Al Peters, executive director of Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota

Service is free of charge

“We provide the service free of charge,” said Peters of providing service dogs to the disabled.

While Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota often trains labs or golden retrievers, it’s less the breed than the individual dog’s aptitude for learning that makes for a good service dog, Peters explained.

As part of its mission, Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota attempts to train dogs obtained from animal shelters.

Prison inmates are sometimes used as dog trainers — Calvin received some of his training at the correction facility in Faribault, said Peters.

Calvin demonstrated his agility by picking up a quarter off the floor. That's the easy part, said a service dog trainer. The tough thing is teaching them not to swallow. (Photo by T.W. Budig, ECM Capitol Reporter)

“They’re (the inmates) trying to pay back,” said Peters, adding some aren’t bad people but rather people who’ve made mistakes.

It’s win, win, win

Democrat Franken views the whole service dog idea as a win, win, win, win.

It was the first bill he introduced.

For Stenzel, Calvin has meant greater mobility, acceptance, companionship, a more positive outlook on life.

The collie will turn three-years-old in January.

“He’s really just a big puppy,” he Stenzel.

Calvin and Stenzel could be exploring pathways together for dozen more years.