Changing the World
Changing the World
One Beagle at a time
One Beagle at a time
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Dodger, left. Little Bitty, right.
Lori Kurtz, LMHC (retired), worked in the inner city public schools for 28 years. She is the recipient of numerous educational grants for unique and innovative approaches to both counseling and creating curriculum in lower income school settings. She has been a guest speaker at educational conferences throughout the country and was considered a national expert on creating successful AP programming in the inner city prior to her retirement. Her model is still being used in numerous school districts.
Upon discovering her gift with dog training, Lori began to incorporate dogs in to her counseling work. With the support of an open minded Principal, the dogs became a part of most aspects of the school from discipline to curriculum. The dogs received over 1000+ letters each year from students sharing things about home or school related issues. Lori and the dogs were featured on PetPals TV, local news, school newsletters and in several national publications.
Lori's career ended abruptly when she was side lined with a life threatening illness. She beat all the odds and has long since surpassed the three day life expectancy she was given. Unfortunately, this did have some permanent side effects which had a surprise silver lining. Her dog, Dodger, was up to the task and he quickly trained to become her Service Dog. Lori learned quickly that it was impossible to go out without being stopped by people with questions about Dodger and dog training along with people who share their stories about their chidhood beagle. You can often find Lori at the mall giving an impromptu training lesson to someone who stopped her with a question. Frequently, these lessons end up with an audience of 10+ people.
This website is a biproduct of everyone who has stopped her to share stories, ask questions or just wanted to tell her how cute the dogs are. Having lost a sense of purpose after retiring, every encounter involving the dogs has helped her find her way. If you ask her, she will tell you that she wants to help change the world, One Beagle at a Time.
Welcome!!!!
Dodger, Little Bitty and I have created this site with the hopes of sharing our adventures, providing training tips and pointers, and helping educate about all things Service Dog.
Who we are-
Dodger is a Blue Beagle. He is my Service Dog.
Little Bitty is a Beagle currently in training with Dodger to become a Service Dog.
I am a retired School Counselor/Therapist. About 20 years ago I discovered that I was gifted with a natural ability to train dogs and have been doing so ever since.*
Living with the need for a Service Dog has lead to the discovery that there is a need for educating the public and businesses regarding Service Dogs laws. We are hoping this website will help spread that knowledge.
Please feel free to email us with training questions, rescue dog assistance, dog tales or any and all things related to Service Dogs
*I work with most breeds.
Brooklyn was the first dog to work in the schools with me. She was a Greater Swiss Mountain Dog and a local superstar.
Blog Spot
We are hoping to change the world one Beagle Tale at a time.
My name is Dodger. I am a Blue Beagle. I am also a working Service Dog. I live with a Standard Beagle named Little Bitty. She is 2 and training with me to become a Service Dog. I also live with my mom who is usually called The Woman at the Other End of the Leash, Dodger's Mother, Little Bitty's Mother or The Lady With the Beagle Service Dogs. It has been quite a while since anyone has called her by name. I am not sure that even she remembers what her given name is at this point. She seems to be fine with it so feel free to call her whichever one you choose.
We are creating the blogs featured on this site in the hopes of spreading knowledge about Service Dogs, Dog Training and all things related to loving your dogs as much as humanly possible. Mom is a bit computer illiterate and she never taught me to read so please be patient with us as we get things up and running. We are hoping to post a few times a week and set things up so that you can send us your questions. Until then, please feel free to follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
Peace, love and dog treats! -Dodger
Training Tips
My name is Little Bitty. I am a 2 year old beagle. My brother is teaching me everything he knows about being a Service Dog. The lady on the other end of the leash admits that as dogs, we often learn best from other dogs. I've been working really hard to be as smart as my brother but I have a whole lot of energy that sometimes makes me a little bit distracted. Mom may step in here sometimes and share some pointers about how to deal with that excess energy. I think the solution is making the zoomies an Olympic event.
Mom says you should always remember that dogs are just furry toddlers. What works for them often works for us too. What is cute when we are little is often not so cute when we get older.
For our first post we shared some potty training pointers.
Hugs and Slurps - Bitty
All Things Service Dog
When I suffered a life altering illness, I had no idea how much my life was about to change, neither did my dog Dodger. He was special from the day he arrived. My Greater Swiss Mountain Dog took charge of him like he was her own and my two rescue beagles stepped in when she was tired. I have never seen anything quite like it. It was an easy decision to choose to train him when a Service Dog became a necessity. He was a quick learner and his instincts were flawless. Being able to use him rather than bringing in a new dog, made all of the changes that took over my life so much easier.
In this section, I will be sharing about moving through life with a Service Dog, the laws that apply to Service Dogs and Service Dogs in Training along with the challenges that come with needing a Service Dog.
Please feel free to reach out. Whether you are new to needing a Service Dog, in need of assistance with training or a business who needs to learn more about the laws that protect Service Dogs, we are available to help. Please don't hesitate to reach out.
Happy trails and tails-The Lady at the Other End of the Leash
Dogs in Education
Every School Should Have A Dog
I was lucky enough to work with a Principal who was willing to think outside the box and said "yes" when I asked about bringing my Greater Swiss Mountain Dog, Brooklyn, to school once a week to work with the children. My initial plan was to use her to assist with the students that came to me for counseling. Little did I know that she would eventually work her way in to every aspect of the school from curriculum to discipline. Our incidents on the playground were non existant when she came to school. Our weekly Brooklyn driven writing prompts had 100% participation. The entire climate of the school was different on the days she was present. As the Counselor, I was especially pleased to discover that students were regularly placing notes in her mailbox sharing more with her than they shared with the staff of the building, myself and the principal included. Her reach extended in to the community, with visitors and students' family members coming to us to help them get over their fear of dogs. That is exceptionally impressive since she was 135lb giant.
Things with Brooklyn were so successful, that when Dodger turned 6 months, he also joined us at school once a week. His introduction to the students was a lot of fun. Brooklyn was in charge of the building's writing prompt that week. It went something like -"We are getting a new student on Friday. He is very small for his age. He looks a little bit different than most of you. He is scared to get started at a new school. What advice would you give him?" I slipped in with Dodger on Friday. We snuck around the building introducing him to each of the classes that day. The students were thrilled.
I am a retired Licensed Mental Health Counselor and School Counselor. I have presented at conferences throughout the United States. If you are interested in learning more about dogs in schools or developing curriculum, please feel free to contact me.
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