Puppies like this one are trained to sniff out potentially life-threatening allergies for children.
/ FOX21: Mike Duran
MONUMENT, COLO. -- Life-threatening allergies affect millions of children in the U.S. and send countless people to the emergency room.
Angel Service Dogs in Monument is trying to help those people through its puppy raisers.
These folks don't just teach their four-legged students the basic commands. They teach them how to sniff out danger. And they're trained on just about anything with an odor.
One of the most popular allergies among children, is peanuts. In training, the nuts are placed in a container and hidden. The puppy raiser's job is to get their dog to sniff out the peanuts by saying "check" and alert the owner by sitting next to the container.
It's not easy. It takes at least a year. During that time, these dogs live with their trainers until they're ready to graduate and save lives.
So far, nearly 30 dogs have been placed with children suffering from a life-threatening allergy. Another 20 will be placed this year.
The graduation rate for Angel Service Dogs is about one in every four to six animals. It's something founder Sherry Mers takes very seriously. She said some dogs just aren't cut out for the job. Those dogs are easily placed with other families. They're still very bright, wonderful pets, but not all can become allergy alert dogs.
Mers said puppy raising is also a great way to teach your child responsibility. She said many parents do it as a test for their child to see if they can one day be responsible for a permanent pet of their own.
Others become puppy raisers because of the instant gratification it brings to families with children suffering from life-threatening allergies.
Anna Salas, a puppy raiser for Angel Service Dogs, has graduated multiple allergy alert dogs. One of her dogs went to a family with a young girl who suffers from peanut allergies. One day the little girl was playing in the yard, and her dog started to circle a pile of leaves the little girl's mom was raking. Turns out, there were peanut shells in the pile of leaves. In this case, it saved the little girl from suffering an anaphylactic reaction that would have sent her to the hospital.
It's stories like that which make it easier for puppy raisers to give up their dogs once training is complete.
These dogs can be very pricey. They usually start out around $20,000. But, it's a price many families are willing to pay so their child can live a normal life.
Angel service dogs is always looking for volunteer puppy raisers. To get involved, click here.
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