By Ann Zaniewski
The Oakland Press of Pontiac
PONTIAC (AP) -- A bright smile spread across the 17-year-old girl's face when she spotted a friend in a courthouse hallway.
"Amos! I missed you!" she called out. The girl scratched the dog's ears, and his tail whipped happily back and forth.
Amos, a 2 1/2-year-old chocolate Labrador, has been trained to sit with children who have to testify at court proceedings. He also attends support group meetings for teenage girls who are survivors of sexual abuse and serves people in other ways.
Amos is one of a number of canines working locally who provide comfort, support, companionship and sometimes even a boost in confidence to people who are going through difficult times in their lives or have a disability.
"He's an amazing dog. He helps out so much," said the teenager with Amos. "He's definitely a miracle worker."
Amos' handler, Dan Cojanu, got the idea to bring a service dog to Oakland County's courts after hearing about a similar program in another state that has been very successful.
Cojanu, who worked for Oakland County's juvenile court and then spent more than 10 years as the supervisor of Victims' Services at the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office before retiring, launched the Canine Advocacy Program in spring 2010.
Amos visits courthouses after receiving referrals from judges, law enforcement officers or agencies that deal with young victims. The program is the first of its kind in Michigan.
Cojanu said the presence of a dog can help relieve the anxiety that children may feel while waiting to testify or while they're on the witness stand.
"He is trained to be with kids as a support, trained to lay down in the courtroom and be very quiet and unobtrusive," Cojanu said, adding that the program is set up to ensure that no legal issues arise from Amos' presence in court. For instance, he's not used during jury trials.
At 52-1 District Court in Novi, Amos is popular with court staff and spends much of his time with people in witness rooms.
"He's got an instinctual grasp of people's emotional state," 52-1 District Court Judge Brian MacKenzie said. "Everything I can see suggests that he really makes the wait less traumatic for the witnesses."
Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Joan Young, Family Division, recently welcomed Amos into her courtroom when children were asked to testify during a child protective proceeding.
"Amos was very well-behaved," she said. "He only sat up once, because it was time to take a potty break."
Amos became "career-changed" and was donated to the program by Leader Dogs for the Blind after it was discovered that he pulled too much on his leash. Cojanu and Amos' owner pay for the costs of running the Canine Advocacy Program, which recently became a nonprofit. Some donations have come in from local Optimist clubs and a casual day sponsored by the Oakland County Clerk's Office.
Cojanu is looking for grants to fund the program, which he expects to grow.
"I see a huge expansion coming," Cojanu said. "I've had inquiries from all over the state."
Amos already has more than 300 Facebook friends.
Amos isn't the only dog in Oakland County serving young people who come in contact with the court system.
Groups of teenagers from Oakland County Children's Village, a county-run facility for young people who are placed there by the courts, train shelter dogs through a program called Teacher's Pet.
Participants spend the first part of each session discussing a variety of topics, including proper animal care, how to read a dog's body language, responsible pet ownership and dog fighting. They make fliers about the dogs that hang on their cages at Oakland County's animal shelter.
The second half of each session is spent teaching the often behaviorally challenged dogs basic obedience skills, using positive training methods.
Since the Teacher's Pet started in 2005, more than 350 children and teens have gone through the program, which is also held at other locations.
Teacher's Pet creator Amy Johnson sees a multitude of benefits for the dogs and their young trainers.
"We try to build empathy with the kids. We try to help them with an opportunity to give back to the community," Johnson said. "We work on anger management, and impulse control."
Johnson, who has master's degrees in teaching and counseling, said dogs are great because they can mimic and mirror human emotions. She said she's watched teenagers' pride and self-confidence swell when the dogs start following their commands.
"When there's kids who don't have a lot of opportunities to feel that love and positive attention, the dog responding to them is huge," she said. "The dog loves them all the time no matter what. It doesn't matter that the kids had acne. It doesn't matter that the kid broke the law."
Service dogs can also create a boost in confidence for people who need a different kind of assistance.
More than 14,000 dogs have been trained and placed with people through Leader Dogs for the Blind in Rochester Hills.
Rachelle Kniffen, the organization's communications specialist, said recipients of Leader Dogs often report feeling safer with a canine companion at their side.
"It really helps with safety, which leads them to become more independent," she said. "Some people say their self-confidence has returned since losing their sight. It helps bring them out of their shell, helps them become social again.
"(The dogs) make a significant impact in a person's life," she said.
The 17-year-old girl at the courthouse, who had gotten in trouble for possessing alcohol as a minor, school truancy and other issues, had requested Amos' presence at a juvenile court hearing. He laid quietly at her feet as she sat in a small room in front of Referee David Barnes.
Children's Village officials happily told the referee that the girl has made a lot of progress and has gained insight into her past negative behavior. At the conclusion of the hearing, Barnes told the girl he's confident she has been rehabilitated. He released her to her parents and closed the case.
The girl's first meeting with Amos was at a Girls Survivor Group program, which offers support to teen girls who have experienced past victimization.
Patricia Wright, a case coordinator at Children's Village who leads the group along with a clinician, said Amos has a calming effect on the girls.
"We've seen a benefit to having Amos there," she said.
The 17-year-old agrees.
"He really helps out a lot," she said. "He makes it more comfortable for us to talk about what happened to us, and the problems that are going on in life."
She said Amos seems to pay special attention to girls who are sad or crying.
"He doesn't like tears," the girl said. "He comes and licks them up."
Published: Thu, Feb 3, 2011
