Henry and Chris Bredenkamp of Granbury waited anxiously at the Dallas-Fort Worth American Airlines terminal in March for the arrival of their temporary charge.
After years of paperwork and waiting, they had finally received word that they would become foster Parents. So, there they stood, not knowing anything about their foster "child" other than the fact his name was Comet, he's 8 weeks old, and he's yellow with lots of hair. In fact, he's covered with it.
Comet is a very special puppy and the Bredenkamps are very special foster parents.
Comet is a Canine Companions for Independence (CCI) dog and the Bredenkamps were chosen for their experience in dog obedience and training for Comet's first year of life.
CCI was founded in 1975 for the purpose of training dogs to assist people with physical disabilities. In 1980, the program expanded to include hearing dogs trained to alert the deaf or hearing-impaired to sounds they cannot hear, as well as social dogs for children with developmental disabilities.
The assistance these dogs give their owner/partners is as varied as the disabilities the partners have. Dogs such as Comet are trained to turn on lights, bring the telephone to the partner, retrieve dropped items, pull a wheelchair or alert the partner to an alarm.
During his stay with the Bredenkamps, Comet will be obedience trained and socialized.
"It's important for the community to know what we're doing," explained Chris, "because we will be taking Comet everywhere with us. He will be learning how to ignore people when he's 'working.'"
After being with the Bredenkamps for little over a month, Comet is already learning to "work." When out in public, Comet wears a special CCI vest to indicate he is working.
"People are very tempted to approach Comet and pet him," said Henry, "but that practice could be detrimental to his future partner."
Henry explained that if Comet's partner was to be wheelchair-bound and people distracted Comet, the result could mean an accident to either the partner or Comet. "His master needs to say it's okay for people to approach Comet and his master would then "release" Comet from duty," Henry explained.
In addition to his vest, Comet will ultimately wear a special head collar called a Haiti. "People confuse the head collar with a muzzle, but it's really beneficial for his future work," stated Henry. "Using the head
collar instead of just a regular neck collar, the partner will be assisted by the movement of the whole head
of the dog, not just the neck."
Chris was born and reared in Fort Worth and has had a life long love for dogs. "I wanted a Great Dane when I was in high school, but my parents wouldn't let me have one," says Chris. "So I worked and saved and bought one myself! My parents accepted it, but told me I would have to train it, so I became involved in obedience training." Chris, an inspector for Lockheed, has been married to Henry for nine years. They joke that his love of dogs was a prerequisite for any future commitment on Chris' part. "Our first date was a camping date," laughs Chris, "because that's the only thing we could do that I could include the dogs!" Luckily, Henry, a Bell Textron engineer, and the dogs hit it off, allowing Chris and Henry's romance to continue.
Both of the Bredenkamps have years of dog obedience training. Chris is a member of the National Association of Dog Obedience Instructors and both are members of the Metro All-Breed Obedience Club, the Great Dane Club of Greater Dallas and the Great Dane Club of America. Together with their own dogs, they have earned 19 obedience titles and six championships in American Kennel Club, United Kennel Club, and IABKCA competitions.
Chris and Henry were loving "parents" to four Harlequin Great Danes-Meisel, Puppie, Amstel and Lier-until last year, when all but Meisel died. The void left in their lives was one reason the Bredenkamps wanted to participate in the program. Meisel is adjusting quite well to the new addition to the Bredenkamp household and tolerates the young pup like an old, but patient man might tolerate an overactive child.
Another factor in their decision was Henry's sister Kathy, who died last year after 30 years with rheumatoid arthritis. Kathy was confined to a wheelchair for the last five years of her life. "I know that Kathy's life would have been a little easier if she had had a dog like Comet," Henry says.
When CCI dogs are returned to the organization's headquarters in California after their obedience training, there is a 50-50 chance for failure or success. "For whatever reason," Henry explains, "the dog may not be able to continue-too many emotional changes, health reasons or not enough command training. So, it's important that we expose Comet to as many different circumstances as possible."
Comet attended church at St. Frances of Cabrini for the first time Saturday night. "We had alerted the church of our intention to bring him," Chris said, "and they agreed and were very excited." "A lot of the people wanted to pet him, though," said Henry, "but we had to tell them he was working." Comet has also made a trip to the square antique shopping. "We get a lot of questions about Comet and the program," said Henry. "In fact, a woman in the antique shop said she has a brother-in-law in a wheelchair who she believed would be perfect for the program. I told her not to wait too long to sign up as there is a two-year waiting list."
The Bredenkamps hope that Comet will become well known throughout the community and that people will understand what they're trying to accomplish. "We'll be taking him everywhere-the grocery store, department stores, banks-and we want him to be around people and different situations." But in turn, they stress that people should ask to "talk" to Comet when he's working so as to not disrupt his training. "We'll train him until February 2001," explains Henry. "Then, he will return to California for his more advanced training."
Comet's future and the benefit he will be to the life of the disabled keep the couple going. "What we're doing and the role Comet will play in someone's life, may make it possible for the disabled to go back into the working world," Henry says.
"And yes, we'll probably cry when we take him back to the airport."
May 10, 2000
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