Students walking on the IU campus, riding buses, er taking classes, often see some student volunteers and their dogs dressed in ICAN shirts. ICAN matches specially trained service dogs with students and others who need them. “We strive to use these service dogs in order to unleash abilities on both ends of the leash,” said Sally Irvin, Indiana Canine Assistant Network Founder.

ICAN came to  IU  in 2017. ICAN leaders Julie Mathias and Ashton Asbury support the Indiana Canine Assistant Network (ICAN) by educating, fundraising, and volunteering. They organize a number of activities on campus to recruit volunteers who can help train dogs to assist people who are struggling with physical or developmental disabilities. The mission of ICAN is to help those with disabilities to live enriched and independent lives. They train dogs by using positive reward mechanisms. ” We only use positive reinforcement for their training,”  trainer Mallory Melchi said. “He only gets rewarded when he does things and he never gets punished for anything.”

If you are a student at IU and you want to be a volunteer for ICAN at IU you can click their website to get the information. However, ICAN at IU is a student organization to support the Indiana Canine Assistant Network (ICAN).  ICAN, which founded by Dr. Sally Irvin in December 2001, is the only accredited service dog training program based in Indiana by Assistance Dogs International (ADI). Service dogs can be catalysts for positive change in peoples’ lives. ICAN dogs are trained specifically to serve our clients’ needs in their every day lives. ICAN has a young client from Greenwood, Nicholas Morgan, who suffers from some anxiety and mental illness that prevents him from forming relationships.

Morgan was adopted from Russia where, his adoptive mother says, he experienced neglectful care. After Carla Morgan adopted him, she noted he still had problems with getting along with people. His diagnoses includes Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Reactive Attachment Disorder, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Thus, his mother, Carla Morgan, contacted ICAN to get him  a service dog, Purdue, in June of 2015. Purdue offered Nicholas a safe situation to learn how to trust people. “Purdue has helped me to trust people and love them a little better,” Nicholas said.

Dogs are magical creatures. They can often do a lot of things that humans are not good at such as they can heal much mental pain that humans can’t just use their simple companionship. “They present themselves in relationships as a wonderful combination of old soul and perpetual dependent,” Carla said. “Soliciting care behaviors required for survival while offering us the wisdom of pure, relational forgiveness and vulnerability that we often cannot access or even offer in our human relationships.” Purdue meets a number of Nicholas’ needs in his home, and they experience Purdue as a “comfort dog” to help support Nicholas’ healing process.

Dogs are amazing creatures. Their gifts to humanity are loyalty, love, and service. After three years, Purdue stills remembered its trainer, Deb DeLong.When she came to Nicholas’s home, Purdue turned around and showered  DeLong in excitement.  Delong said it was a thrill  “to be able to give back and to see him change someone’s life.”

If you want to get more information about ICAN, please click.