Meet Brewer, our newest staff member at Disability Network Southwest Michigan. Brewer will be working in our Kalamazoo office with Leatrice, as he is her new service dog. Many of you know Leatrice, our Information & Referral Program Manager. Leatrice is blind, and up until now, she has not had a service dog but she decided it was time. Leatrice is Brewer’s first assignment, so they are both new at this.
Brewer is a yellow Labrador Retriever who grew up in Battle Creek and Jackson, Michigan where he was in training to become a service dog from the time he was a puppy. He is almost two years old now and is fully trained. Leatrice spent three weeks at Leader Dog in Rochester, Michigan learning how to handle a service dog and being matched specifically with Brewer. Leatrice said when they did a training session at a shopping mall and Brewer was very skilled in this environment – she knew then that he was the right dog for her!
If you meet with Leatrice or see her at our office, please remember that service dogs are not pets; when they are on their harness with their owner they are “on duty.” Please do not pet, feed or attempt to play with Brewer when he’s working; this can cause a distraction to the dog and creates an unsafe situation for Leatrice. We know it will be hard to resist him, he is such a cutie!
Follow this link for some guidelines on how to interact with a service dog.