LA Senior College is excited to present our next Zoom Food For Thought about heroes, dogs, and new kinds of life-long learning. On Thursday March 18, at 11 AM we’ll meet Christy Gardner, the founder and president of Mission Working Dogs, a Lewiston based non-profit that trains purpose-bred dogs to aid individuals with disabilities. Christy’s passion for dogs has deep, personal roots. Serving as a Sergeant in the United States Army Military Police in Asia, Christy survived an injury in 2006 which eventually led her to accept her golden retriever service dog named Moxie in 2010. The two became inseparable and Moxie has accompanied Christy on many “missions” of their own, including competing with Team USA as an athlete on the Women’s Para Ice Hockey Team and on the USA Para Surfing Team. Christy is a World ranked Para thrower and is currently aspiring to make the US Paralympic Team for Tokyo 2021. As a certified dog trainer with nine years experience training Service and Therapy Dogs and five years experience with breeding, Christy has brought her dream of empowering others to fruition with the creation of Mission Working Dogs. Christy lives in Maine with her dogs Moxie, Doug and Libby. They enjoy everything the outside has to offer, from kayaking and hiking to hanging out at their camp in Western Maine.
In this fascinating presentation for Food For Thought, Christy will introduce us to her dogs and teach us how service dogs can assist those with physical disabilities, individuals with PTSD, stroke patients, and others. These dogs and their trainers create an environment in which the handler can live a life to the fullest and more independently.
You can get a link to this presentation by emailing laseniorcollege@gmail.com. Sign up by noon March 17 and you will recieve a link through email. Be sure to mention your name and the name of the presenter you wish to see.