Training Mel News Today

In the past 30 years, I’ve had three companion service dogs. First was Sam, a 9-month-old, male black Lab mix. Sam was professionally trained by Sam Maxwell, through a program in southern Ohio. We — my husband, Tom and I — named him after our trainer. We first met Sam Maxwell as part of a business trip. At her home, we found a house full of various dogs in training, kids and her husband, a person with quadriplegia. We loved her rapport with the dogs. Each animal’s personalit...