I first met YaYa last June at a masquerade ball at the Oheka Castle. She sat quietly in the corner looking up at me with her soft brown eyes, wearing a bright yellow vest around her blonde fur, which said Canine Companions for Independence.

Curious, I approached the puppy and was introduced to Yvonne Dagger, an artist known for painting shelter animals. She is raising YaYa for the next 14 months. In August she will hand over YaYa to Canine Companions where they train her to be service dog, if she passes. Sixty percent of the dogs fail.

I checked on YaYa’s progress this spring and learned that there are five extraordinary people in Massapequa who are raising these dogs which they all received as puppies. These adorable bundles of fur, a mixed breed of Labrador and Golden Retrievers are bred in Santa Rosa, California at the group's headquarters and are given names and a tattoo on the inside of their ears for identification.

After an extensive screening the puppy trainers are selected and receive their puppies at 7 weeks old. The trainers assume all of the costs in raising the dogs, go to the center twice a month for class, teach approximately 30 commands to the dogs, and socialize them which is critical to the success of the dog if they are to be successfully matched, with a handicapped child, adult or a wounded veteran.

It takes two years to train a canine companion and costs $45,000 and is given to the recipient free of charge. Canine Companions is funded strictly through donations. Started in 1975 it has placed 3500 assistance dogs.

I met four of The Massapequa Miracles, the nickname given to the dogs, on a rainy day a few weeks ago at the Sunrise Mall with their trainers, Donald Houser and Packer III, Judy Carey and Sergio II, Dyan Latini and Slick and Yvonne Dagger and YaYa. Each person had a unique introduction to Canine Companions. 

Donald Houser has had Packer for ten months. As a child he had two dogs and when they died he never had another pet because it broke his heart when they passed.

His wife, a navy veteran and nurse at the burn center along with his granddaughter suggested he get involved. “They ambushed me,” he laughs. He attended a graduation at the Canine Companion Center, at a brand new state of the art training and dormitory facility in Medford, Long Island. “What did it for me was watching children in wheelchairs and on crutches who were getting their puppies and to see the puppies light up and to see the children light up with getting their companion. What went through my mind is most people tend to see the crutches or the wheelchair with a child, instead of looking at the child. With a puppy, people now see a child with their dog, and that made all the difference to me that it gave the child a chance to be independent.”

Judy Carey is raising Sergio, her second CCI dog. She started out as a volunteer answering phones at CCI when they were in a trailer on a pig farm in Farmingdale. She went to a graduation and decided she had to do this. Her first dog, Tyack was successfully matched with a 9-year-old boy named Brian who has cerebral palsy and autism. “When I saw them get paired up it was an emotional time for me and connected all the dots that this is why I did it, to help this boy. His mom sends me pictures and I saw how it made a difference in his life so I got another dog.  His mom tells me that often in his room at night she hears him say,” Tyack, you’re my best friend.”

Tyack breaks that social barrier. He also picks up things off the floor, gets Brian a bottle of water, takes off his socks, carriers his leg braces to him and emotionally he keeps him calm.” On a recent visit to the dentist Brian became agitated, so Tyack was brought in and laid his head on his lap and Brian calmed down. The dentist was amazed.

Dyan Latini has been raising Slick since July when he was ten weeks old. She became involved with CCI through Judy Carey her tennis partner and heard the success of Tyack, but didn’t know if it would be a good thing for her family, because she has two children Alli 15 and her son Jack 12.

"My daughter was always afraid of big dogs; we have a Shitsu, named Cricket so it took us 8 months before we decided to do this," she said.

"I wanted to make sure everyone was on board, and knew what was involved, that Slick is not our dog. The kids really wanted to do it. I saw Slick’s face on facebook and said, this is the one. All four of us signed the contract to raise him knowing that we will have him for a year and a half. We love him. My daughter is the first to lay down with him and my son recently wrote an essay for school about how the family is raising Slick to help someone in need.”

Come November they will have to turn him in to CCI. When asked about how they will feel she responded, “I know we are all going to be sad but we are hoping he will pass and that he will change someone’s life and we are blessed to be a part of his journey. His purpose is so much bigger than being our pet.” 

Yvonne Dagger will turn in YaYa in August.  She recently toured the new facility one day and felt the walls needed art work. She painted a 60 by 40 inches oil painting and donated it to CCI. It went up for auction to raise money; fetched $14,500 and the winner donated it back to the facility where it hangs in the entrance. Yvonne, a grandmother, has three rescue beagles at home that she refers to as “houligans” who have become better behaved since YaYa has entered their world. She and her husband decided to raise YaYa as a present to each other last Christmas.

Although their dogs have  been asked to leave several area businesses most are very welcoming . YaYa religiously goes to 8 a.m. mass at St. Rose of Lima. All of the trainers raved about the wonderful treatment they received by the managers at King Kullen Mike Pesce and Jeff Burns who know all the dogs by name.

 “In the four years I’ve been here I have not had any complaints," Pesce said." The customers like the dogs which are always well maintained. It’s a great experience and it’s helping the community.”

These dedicated volunteers, The Massapequa Miracles, are helping the community one paw at a time. We wish them a successful journey.

To learn more about Canine Companions for Independence a 501 (c) 3  organization go to www.cci.org/northeast or call (631) 561-0207.