FETCH program combines service dog training with hands-on learning

It’s a brisk autumn afternoon, and like thousands of other students on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus, Olly Hoagland and Harlow McPherson are off to class.

But along with the typical laptop and backpack, Hoagland and McPherson are accompanied by Jolene, a four-legged friend that Hoagland and two others are helping train to be a service dog. 

Jolene sits next to them in class, and then the three head right back to the residence hall—where Jolene is their roommate.

Hoagland and McPherson are part of the Fostering Education Through Campus Hosting (FETCH) living learning community. It’s a unique program where students—often animal science and veterinary medicine majors—volunteer for a semester to live with a dog they will help train, care for, and prepare for its future role as a service animal.

The program is a partnership between the University and Can Do Canines, a local nonprofit that has placed more than 900 assistance dogs with clients since 1989. Ultimately, Can Do Canines’ goal is to provide a free, fully trained assistance dog to a person in need.

While the program started small in 2016 with only eight students, it has since expanded to accommodate roughly 20 students each year. 

While FETCH is one of the more unique living learning communities at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, the University offers more than 30 such communities organized by Housing and Residential Life and supported by partnerships across campus. These communities group students with similar interests, academic goals, lived experiences (such as first-generation students), or cultural backgrounds.

‘Practice makes permanent’

On this Monday evening in the basement of Bailey Hall on the University of Minnesota Twin Cities’ campus in St. Paul, a group of about 10 students, along with five soon-to-be service dogs, participate in their bi-weekly training led by staff from Can Do Canines.

The students start by swapping success stories about taking their pups to various places around the Twin Cities, such as the Weisman Art Museum, Target, and PetSmart, without incident. Next, the training begins. 

They begin by teaching their dogs how to heel from one side to the other while the students are seated. This mimics the mechanics a dog may need if they are assigned to someone with limited mobility or in a wheelchair. 

After that, the dogs are walked in a circle around the room and are encouraged to avoid distractions, whether that’s other dogs, loud noises, or the food tossed on the floor by the instructors to try to disrupt the dogs. They close the session by walking the dogs through the underground Gopher Way campus tunnel system to the nearest dining hall, another training opportunity for the pups to avoid new distractions and smells they encounter.

“We think of this like practicing for sports or a dance recital,” says Lindsay Le Kinney, a puppy program instructor at Can Do Canines. “You want them rehearsing and doing the behavior in the way we want it to look in its final performance, which is not with a whole bunch of mistakes. We say ‘practice makes permanent.’”

The work done here, and every day around campus, is key to setting the dogs up for success when the pups eventually graduate the program and are paired with someone in need. While many of Can Do Canines’ volunteer trainers live in suburban areas, the dogs in the FETCH program are trained in the metro environment of the Twin Cities, where they must cross busy streets, use public transportation, and navigate a dynamic and vibrant space.

“Many of the people who need service animals and use our services live in urban environments,” Le Kinney says. “ So for these dogs to get this hands-on experience is crucial. We love the partnership and the opportunity that this provides.”

A success on campus

McPherson, a first-year animal science major, has volunteered with Can Do Canines previously and saw the opportunity to join the living learning community as a no-brainer. 

“It gives you something else to focus on outside of your classes,” McPherson says. “Dogs are a great social bridge, and they’re fun to come home to after a long day.”

Some students even attend the University of Minnesota specifically for this opportunity, says Kristie Feist, assistant director of housing and residential life.

“I’ve had students tell me, ‘I came to the University of Minnesota for this program,’” Feist says. “I could have gone anywhere, but I knew I could come here and have a service animal and train them, which was important for my veterinary career.”

This semester, McPherson is training Jolene along with Hoagland and Basil Brierton. The three students rotate taking care of Jolene in their residence hall and training her throughout the day.

“[This program] is a great balance between human success and animal success,” McPherson says. 

The benefits of the program are far-reaching. Not only does it offer students valuable hands-on experience, but it also serves the larger community. Over the course of nearly a decade, 164 dogs have participated in the program, with many going on to provide critical service to individuals in need. 

“If even half of those dogs go on to live with clients, that’s a lot of people’s lives that were enriched,” Feist says.

Finding a community

While FETCH is one of the most unique living learning communities at the University of Minnesota, the University offers more than 30 such communities organized by Housing and Residential Life. These communities group students with similar interests, academic goals, lived experiences (such as first-generation students), or cultural backgrounds.

“Living learning communities help make this big university feel smaller,” Feist says. “Students know that the people around them have something in common, whether it’s their major or passion. It’s a great way to build a sense of community.”