our pets: RESCUE
East Meets West
By KRISTINA REILLY
The Hero Has Four Paws
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t took Lisa Merhoff, Victims Assistance Coordinator for the Parker
County Attorney’s Office, almost three years before she would intro-
duce the new courthouse facility dog, East, in Parker County. There
were a couple of hurdles she would have to overcome, like the $20,000
price tag most service dogs cost. They were also looking for a special
dog, one that could do more than just console witnesses during court.
Merhoff was diligent in making this happen.
Merhoff applied with Service Dogs Inc. (SDI), an organization that
adopts dogs from shelters and rescue groups, then trains them to be
assistance dogs. They then donate their dogs to agencies that cannot
afford the high cost of a service dog.
Of course, there are several rigorous tasks the receiving party is
required to accomplish before SDI will hand over their highly-trained,
highly-skilled dog. One of those tasks up to Merhoff to complete
because she is the designated handler, all are several one-week handler
training classes, which she did.
They still didn’t have a dog for Merhoff, but soon all of her efforts
would materialize in the form of a two-and-a-half-year-old black
Labrador retriever named East. East was initially trained to become a
blind service dog, but fate had other plans.
“She had an amazing disposition and was very social, which did
not play out well as a blind service dog,” Merhoff explained. “She was,
however, very smart and fully trained as a service animal, so Service
Dogs Inc. analyzed her and her personality and felt she would be a great
fit for our needs.”
To be certain that Merhoff and East were a good fit, she met East in
September 2018. Merhoff had one more three-day training left before
they would deliver East to her.
“For her, it was her first home situation, other than a few overnight
sleepovers with volunteers through Service Dogs Inc. For my family, we
had never had an indoor dog and had not even had a pet for several
years. We moved into our new farm home and she came immediately
after. She hit the ground running and I simply cannot remember a time
without her,” Merhoff explained.
East came to Parker County in December 2018 and in the words of
Merhoff, “We hit the lottery jackpot with East.” SDI did an amazing job
getting East ready with additional skills she would use in accompanying
people in court and other functions. Merhoff says that East’s repertoire is
endless.
“She remains calm for hours on end as required to make things
easier for victims either going to court, or coming to me for services
after extremely traumatizing events, or helping victims remain calm
and comforted in protective order hearings. She receives only positive
reinforcement – does not even recognize the word ‘no’. Although she
has been trained as a service dog, she is actually a Facility dog under
the Americans with Disabilities Act because she does not provide 3-plus
tasks to alleviate a disability,” Merhoff explained.
Merhoff considers East a gift to Parker County. “She comes to work
County Attorney John Forrest Jr.
with me every day, goes everywhere I go
during the week and on weekends, and
is the sweetest, most loving creature you
could ever meet. She has been to the Child
Advocacy Center and is available to them
any time they have a need for her. She is
[also] available to Child Protective Services
as needed, and she assists family violence
victims daily, as well as works with protec-
tive order victims,” Merhoff said.
East is also a big deal to our elected offi-
cials. She was requested at a round table
introduction of legislation, the DAWG (Dogs
As Witness Guardians) to allow dogs like
her to be present at hearings when witnesses
have to testify and are experiencing angst
and anxiety. For County Attorney, John
Forrest, Jr., she is in his office every day