Trainer prepares pets for Naperville therapy dog program

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Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM

The patient was obviously in a lot of pain, but that changed once she put her arm around a golden retriever named Spud.

“She was crying really hysterically and was so distraught,” said Spud’s owner, Wendy Yellin. “Spud went on the bed with her. You could just feel how the tension left her.”

As a volunteer for nine years with the Animal-Assisted Therapy program at Edward Hospital, Yellin has seen how dogs can provide comfort and relief to hurting people. Although dogs may be ideal companions by nature, working in a hospital setting requires a level of obedience and focus that only comes with proper training. To prepare their canines, owners such as Yellin turn to longtime dog trainer Frank Brader.

Lessons in discipline

Brader, who lost half his left arm in a mortar attack during the Vietnam War, has been training dogs for more than 30 years. He runs Haus von Brader Dog Obedience Training, and teaches courses in Naperville at the VFW post on West Jackson Avenue and in North Riverside.

The discipline dogs learn makes them good candidates for the therapy program as well as the American Kennel Club’s Canine Good Citizen program, Brader said. Among several skills, dogs learn to stay, sit on command and to become desensitized to distractions.

“In our classes, we set the bar real high,” Brader said. “There is no such thing as you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

He recommends putting puppies in obedience training at 4 months. But his program is as much about the owners as the dogs. As he put it, “I’m not training dogs; I’m training people to train dogs.” That means owners must have the patience and commitment to work with their pets.

Training therapy dogs

According to Patty Kaplan, director of Animal-Assisted Therapy at Edward Hospital, dogs provide patients with a diversion from their illness. “We also find it’s a huge stress reliever for families,” she said.

The program started in 2002 with 15 dog/owner teams and now has almost 100. They visit patients every day of the week.

Many of the dogs completed Brader’s training.

“I think he’s a top-notch trainer,” Kaplan said. “I think he understands dogs and dog behaviors, and he’s been a very good partner for us.”

Yellin credits Brader with taming her “wild” year-old golden retriever, Jackie-O. After just one year training with Brader, Jackie-O passed the rigorous temperament testing necessary to participate in the therapy program.

Brader’s talent was on display during a recent advanced class in Naperville. With 19 dogs standing in two lines, he tossed a ball down the center. None of them chased after it. He also put a live rabbit in front of each dog. Some gazed intently and sniffed the rabbit, but not a single dog pounced.

That self-restraint is important for therapy dogs because they have to resist food and other distractions in the hospital.

Heart in right place

Brader said his love for dogs goes back to childhood. He spent 42 years caring for animals at Brookfield Zoo, primarily in the children’s zoo.

The zoo is also where he met Mary, his wife of 35 years. The couple lives in Downers Grove with two golden retrievers.

Although he is strict, Brader’s affection for animals and their owners is apparent during class. He said a longtime client recently told him, “‘I’ve never seen your heart for dogs and love for people dwindle.”

The same could be said of dog owners in the therapy program.

Patients often tell Yellin, “It’s so nice of you to do this.” But really, Yellin said, “It’s a privilege for me. I can’t imagine not doing it.”