TulsaPets Magazine January 2022

January/February 2022 • TulsaPets 35 Knowing the positive impact a ther- apy dog could have in her line of work, Goldstein approached Friedl about getting a dog for the fire department. Anthem’s focus has been on placing service dogs with individuals, and the partnership with Goldstein and the Owasso Fire Depart- ment is a test case. “Arami has introduced an opportunity to add therapy to our types of working dogs we can provide. We are partnered with her as a test phase of assisting businesses in training their own facility therapy dogs,” Friedl explained. “We have had dozens of requests the past few years for office dogs at different types of facilities to provide a calm, happy presence to a workforce of employees.” After multiple litters and almost 20 dogs were tested, Fahren was the lucky one selected by the breeder to be donated to Anthem. “The fire department doesn’t technical- ly own him, Anthem does, and Anthem donates all of the training for Fahren — or mainly for me. I’m the one that gets trained,” laughed Goldstein. At just over six months old, Fahren is still in the early stages of his training. It will take about two years to get him fully trained, according to Friedl. “Fahren is going through basic obedience right now, learning things like walking on a loose leash, not barking, basic commands like sit, down, stay, recall, and socializing in public spaces. He will work his way up the ladder, and the goal will be to pass a Canine Good Citizen exam, public access exam, and Alliance of Therapy Dogs exam,” Friedl explained. “It is a tedious training process that takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months to master. A maturing puppy is probably the hardest phase!” Goldstein said trying to get Fahren acclimated to the fire department has been a lot of work but is critical because of the dangers posed by fire trucks. “It’s been a little bit of a roller-coaster; I’m not going to lie. The first month, it was superfun (because he is a puppy) for every- one but me. I’m the one running after the pees and poos. I’m trying to focus on my Owasso firefighters Jeff Cox and Alissa Loftin are ready to take a spin with Fahren in the golf cart. Fahren loves to ride around the training grounds in the golf cart. He often hops up onto it and patiently waits for someone to take him for a ride. Owasso Fire Department Assistant Chief Arami Goldstein holds Fahren, the department’s therapy dog, in the early days of his training.

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