Local service dog school Muskoseepi Service Dogs is looking to localize and smooth out the process for Grande Prairie residents to receive service animals in the city.
Michaela Stuart, a service dog trainer and Volunteer Coordinator for Muskoseepi Service Dogs says right now, many residents are forced to look for service animal training in cities like Edmonton or Calgary, which can be expensive and time-consuming for those in need.
As a result, Muskoseepi Service Dogs opened up in 2023, making the service the first and only government-accredited service dog training school in northern Alberta.
“Being accredited, it means we can provide clients with fully-trained service dogs,” she says. “Right now, people are having to either go to Edmonton once a week, or pay for a trainer to come out to Grande Prairie, in order to do a fully trained program, but now that we’re here it’s a huge cost saver for them, not having to travel to Edmonton.”
The organization prides itself on having a variety of options for residents in need. Stuart says her organization provides service animals for residents experiencing everything from PTSD to depression, and even low blood sugar.
“We like to say we don’t discriminate when it comes to your disability, if your doctor says that you need a service dog, we are happy to do that,” she says. “We work with everything from PTSD, whether that be with a veteran or maybe someone who’s had an unfortunate incident happen when they were younger or kids with autism we work with a lot, any sort of psychological need like depression, anxiety.”
Stuart spoke on some of the impacts her organization has had on Grande Prairie clients, saying several patients have described feeling like their lives have changed.
“We have people that are anxious to go to stores, and people that want to stay inside, we have people now going to the mall and they were like- oh my gosh this is the first time I’ve been to the mall in five years,” she says. “We are working with a lady who has a child who’s diabetic, and she says things like- oh my gosh I don’t have to wake up in the middle of the night to check on my son’s blood sugar, it’s just… I get shivers whenever I talk about it, it’s amazing to see people have a sigh of relief.”
Additionally, Stuart says those who might be interested in registering their pet as a service animal have the option with her organization. She says pet owners can ask about the two-year training program for their animals, and upon completion, their pet can be certified as a service dog.
