Service Dogs, Inc., a nonprofit, has been transforming the lives of individuals with disabilities since its inception in 1988. Founded by attorney Sheri Soltes, the organization is dedicated to enhancing independence and quality of life through partnerships with custom-trained assistance dogs, provided free of charge to Texas clients. Unlike many service dog programs that rely on breeding, Service Dogs, Inc. adopts young adult dogs from shelters and rescue organizations, focusing on those with temperaments suited for service work. The organization is based in Dripping Springs but serves the entire state, including San Marcos. They have also adopted several dogs from the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter, and Soltes said they made history this year by adopting two brothers from SMRAS for their training program. This approach not only provides a second chance for these animals but also addresses the needs of clients requiring assistance. The organization employs
SEE TEXAS DOGS PAGE 9A positive reinforcement training methodologies, ensuring that the dogs are well-prepared to support their future partners.
“We get our dogs from animal shelters throughout Texas,” Soltes said. “On average, we pull one dog from every third shelter we go to. Sometimes we’ll get multiple dogs. The process starts with just a general walkthrough. We see dogs that are kind of more composed amongst the rambunctious ones. And then we take those dogs if they match our age requirements and health requirements, and then we’ll cross reference behavior reports with the shelter staff. So we usually look at anywhere from one to about five dogs in a yard itself, where we then go into what their instincts are and see if it’s something we can mold into service. Service dog training is a lengthy process. So the dogs that come here are very special.”
The range of services offered by Service Dogs, Inc. includes training hearing dogs for individuals with hearing loss, service dogs for those with mobility challenges, and facility dogs that assist professionals in settings such as court- houses and trauma response units. Each dog undergoes extensive training to perform tasks tailored to the specific needs of their handler, such as alerting to sounds, retrieving items or providing physical support.
Prospective clients must be Texas residents and are required to attend training sessions at the organization’s Dripping Springs campus. While Service Dogs, Inc. covers the cost of the dogs and lifetime followup services, clients are responsible for travel and lodging expenses during the training period, as well as ongoing care costs for their service dog.
The organization is changing lives — both canine and human.
After losing his beloved wife, Betty, to cancer four years ago, U.S. Marine veteran Rhea Hambright found life on his family farm to be challenging. Daily tasks were nearly impossible to do on his own. He was lonely, frustrated and for the first time in his life, didn’t know how to fix things. A friend suggested Hambright get a Service Dog. Then everything changed.
Hambright got in touch with SDI and applied for a dog. SDI accepted him. A few months later, he traveled to the SDI campus to meet several potential dog matches. The first dog he met was Beatrice. The connection was intense and instantaneous. Hambright calls it one of the greatest moments of his life.
Now, with Beatrice at his side, Hambright is back in the driver’s seat in life. Beatrice fetches bottled water from the fridge, helps with laundry, opens doors, picks up dropped items, retrieves medication and helps him tug off clothing at night.
But the biggest thing Hambright has found with Beatrice is the company. Beatrice is his best friend, a constant presence and provides joy when things are tough. She has motivated him to start traveling again, visiting new places and seeing old friends as well as making new ones when strangers approach to compliment his beautiful Service Dog.
Although Hambright and Beatrice have been inseparable for a year, one of the most amazing parts of their story happened at the very beginning.
“When I first got Beatrice, I mentioned to one of the trainers that Beatrice is a long name for a dog,” Hambright said. “She replied, ‘We don’t call her Beatrice, we call her Bea.’ My eyes welled up and I was moved very deeply. My wife had just passed and her name was Betty. Three guesses as to what I used to call her? That’s right, Bea.”
Service Dogs, Inc. is accredited by Assistance Dogs International, adhering to high standards in training and client services. The organization’s commitment to excellence has garnered recognition, including awards for its founder, Soltes, who has been instrumental in advancing the field of assistance dog training and advocacy.
The training process involves basic commands and specific tasks based on the dog’s role, such as hearing alerts or mobility assistance. Dogs are sourced from shelters, with a selective process to ensure suitability. The organization employs positive reinforcement and has a team of four trainers and 11 support staff. They currently have 16 dogs in training, with plans to expand to 23. The dogs are trained to work in various public settings and are matched with clients based on compatibility. The organization also supports first responders and veterans with facility dogs.
Tailer O’Neill is SDI’s Director of Training.
“It typically takes about a year for us to start the matching process with the dog,” O’Neill said. “With the way that we’re going, we’re looking to shorten that over time. But as of right now, the average age time on campus is a year once the dog is matched, and we do the kind of interface of the client’s training with the dog. The dog will then move in with the client. We visit them weekly for three to four months, and then we still see them yearly after that. So we keep up with not only the dog campus [but] all of our graduates still are in that transition.”
Even when all the ingredients come together to find a dog with the right temperament, intelligence and trainability, followed by hours, days and months of training, life can sometimes throw the perfect plan a curve ball.
That is what happened to Jeep. After making tremendous progress in SDI’s training program, Jeep was diagnosed in December 2023 with kidney disease as a result of an untreated infection from his former life as a stray. With a prognosis of just 2 to 3 more years, rather than place Jeep for a short time with a client, Tailer adopted him. Now, he lives a comfortable and purposeful life, working as a demonstration training dog with SDI.
O’Neill joined the nonprofit in 2023 and describes it as his “dream job,” and his body language lights up when he talks about the work SDI does. His love of training dogs inspired him to apprentice with an animal behaviorist, and he strongly adheres to the positive reinforcement approach to training. His passion for animal advocacy and helping people is why he does this work, overseeing the campus training program, shelter dog evaluations and associate trainer development.
SDI also provides trained dogs to help first responders.
“Our first responder dogs have gone to work alongside a peer counselor with an organization called Bluebonnet Trails Community Services,” Soltes said. “They do services for veterans and law enforcement in eight underserved counties in Texas. So they will either speak to a class of police officers or have one-onone counseling with a vet who’s having a really tough time, whether it’s two in the morning or meeting for coffee on a park bench. And the dog has really helped folks open up. A lot of these stories they don’t tell because they’re very personal to the patient in themselves. But the dogs that are with some of these folks have also gone when another community has had a catastrophic event, like a mass shooting. Our dogs and those teams have gone to El Paso, Uvalde, Allen [and] Texas, where there have been a lot of first responders from different organizations working together. The dogs have helped facilitate that too, and it’s very rewarding to see that.”
When asked how the public can help, Soltes said, “For one, donations. Two, we really welcome people that would like to be a foster family for a dog. It helps if they don’t currently have a dog, but … they love dogs. So they could just dip their toe in and take a dog home for a weekend, be the fun uncle or aunt and then bring the dog back on Monday morning. You can fill out that foster application on our website under the volunteer tab.”
Volunteers can assist at the training center or serve as weekend fosters for service dogs in training, providing essential socialization and care. Additionally, Service Dogs, Inc. hosts events such as the annual Mighty Texas Dog Walk, the organization’s key fundraiser that brings together dog enthusiasts to support the organization’s mission.
Two of the dogs adopted from the SMRAS are Broadway, who will be a facility dog for a first responder agency, and Steinway, who will be a service dog for someone with a mobility related disability. Learn more about Broadway at this link servicedogs.org/dogs/ broadway and Steinway at this link servicedogs.org/ dogs/steinway.
