Founder & CEO

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Laura Renz founded/created NorthWest Service Dog Alliance (NWSDA)

After a horrific motor vehicle incident left her with multiple life 

changing injuries causing her to become disabled in May 2012.

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These injuries left Laura immobilized for several months with many

broken bones, followed by months, then years, of physical therapy.

While recovering at home, Laura found her German Shepherd Lobo

became very useful at assisting her on stairs and getting to a standing

position. He became a service dog in the making. Not what she had in

mind when she acquired him, but his assistance met a need to a necessity.

 

After having several surgeries, as a gift Laura received a German

Shepherd puppy Vinny who was a handful but she began to train him.

As part of her mental recovery, Laura would soon train Lobo and the puppy side by side to be service dogs. Both of them were certified in all 3 Canine Good Citizen (CGC's) Tests and International Association of Assistance Dog Partners (IAADP) set of standards. Laura worked hard on training both Lobo and Vinny to assist her in mobility. Putting in many hours, being very patient, consistent and with the help from a local trainer. Lobo was being used as a service dog on a regular basis. This found Laura looking forward to being in the working world again, returning to her job as a licensed Optician.

 

Later on April of 2015 Laura acquired a Labrador puppy that she picked out at birth, naming her  Little One.  Laura and the puppy bonded immediately spending every waking hour together. Little One was an exceptional puppy learning fast and wanting to please. She would perform every task asked of her as well as a high-level of obedience. Little One met CGC & IAADP standards several months past her 1st birthday. Even though there are no requirements for this level of training Laura wanted to ensure all her dogs were public -ready.

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Laura found there to be an influx of unruly, untrained dogs posing a threat to service dogs

in places that were typically no pets are allowed. Because of this Laura had to pull her second German shepherd, Vinny, from service early because he was rushed too many times. Becoming reactive,

barking inappropriately, a behavior not fitting for a service dog, or any dog in a public setting.  The Labrador Little One far exceeded Laura's expectations - despite being attacked, rushed, lunged at, growled at, and grabbed by children on a regular basis.

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Laura wanted to do something, so she put her experience into action!  Laura wanted to see some empowerment in place to help the people who need their service dogs on a daily basis. She found that businesses don’t feel comfortable or authorized to ask the proper questions.

They can ask,

1. Is this a service animal required because of a disability?” If the answer is yes, they can follow up with,

2. “What tasks has this dog been trained to perform for you?” But the businesses won’t ask those questions, which would filter out a lot of the unruly, undertrained dogs in public. 

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Finding like minded people, the NorthWest Service Dog Alliance was born. 

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