Collar Scholars: Raising Service Dogs as College Students

On first impression, Nicole Kirk looks like your typical college student: backpack at hand, tennis shoes on and long hair in a ponytail. What makes Kirk stand out in a crowd is a dog steady at her side, listening to her every word, following her commands with ease. Kirk is a puppy raiser for Canine Companions, a nonprofit that provides service dogs free of charge for people with disabilities. If everything goes according to plan, Kirk will care for her dog for about two years before Daryn ships off to advanced training. From there, Daryn will learn all the skills it takes to be a fully-fledged service dog and assist a person with disabilities.

Before Daryn arrived, Kirk laid out four rules for her roommates: no human food, no getting on the furniture, no jumping when saying “Hi” and no going outside without a leash. Although two-month-old Daryn was adorable, she wasn’t a regular pet—Daryn and Kirk had work to do. 

Before Kirk would have to worry about her work, she worried about picking up her new pooch at the airport.

Driving to Denver International Airport, Kirk and her sister Megan are looking for one building in particular, the United cargo hold, that is proving to be difficult to find. Kirk wants to get there early, so that she’ll be prepared for Daryn by the time she arrives (Canine Companions puppies travel as unaccompanied minors and meet their puppy raisers at the airport).

Finally at the cargo hold, an employee greets Kirk and her sister. She asks them if they are here for a dog and has the sisters follow her. The excitement builds as they get closer and closer to the kennel and it’s a chihuahua? 

“This is not my dog,” Kirk says. “Mine’s a golden retriever.”

“Oh!” says the employee. “You’re the other one.”

 A quick reroute and Kirk spots her tiny little fluff ball in a kennel. Upon letting Daryn out of the confined space, Kirk spills coffee all over her puppy’s kennel as she reaches for her new pal. Daryn’s breeder told Kirk to watch out because Daryn’s the spunky one of the litter, but those concerns dissipate as little Daryn runs into Kirk’s arms and licks all over her face.

Kirk takes Daryn to a turf area at the cargo hold meant for dogs to stretch their legs and go to the bathroom after long flights. The three play with Daryn’s new toys before heading out.

Back in the car, Daryn curls up in Kirk’s sister’s lap in the passenger seat and falls asleep. 

Daryn isn’t the first puppy to be trained by a college student as campuses are a great place to socialize a puppy—new things happen every day! Knowing this, collegiate Canine Companions puppy raisers started a club called Collar Scholars. The goal of the club is to encourage students to volunteer with Canine Companions and become puppy raisers. Colorado State University’s Collar Scholars was founded in fall of 2016 by Emily Oltmanns, who is now a professional dog trainer with Canine Companions. Since then, 34 dogs have been trained by CSU Collar Scholars.

Kirk first found out about Canine Companions from a CSU member. Although Kirk’s love of dogs pushed her to become a puppy raiser, she didn’t feel qualified to bring Collar Scholars to campus. However, after becoming comfortable with Daryn, some coaxing from other puppy raisers and light guidance from Oltmanns, Kirk finally registered Collar Scholars as an official club at the University of Colorado Boulder. “I wouldn’t want people missing out on [raising a service dog] because they didn’t know they could,” said Kirk. Now, thanks to her, dog lovers across CU’s campus have a club to join.

For a short while, Kirk was the only member of CU Collar Scholars. She spent spring of 2020 figuring out the logistics before recruiting new members that fall. One person she convinced to join was her roommate, Hailey Voss. Voss didn’t originally think she’d have the financial stability or the attention needed to care for a puppy. Her thoughts changed when the pandemic hit. “I needed to get out of my intellectual head,” Voss remembered. A puppy could be a great outdoor buddy.

Knowing she wanted to raise a puppy to help her through the pandemic, Voss asked Kirk to help ease her worries about finances. Canine Companions puppy raisers, even college students, are expected to pay for all their dog’s needs: food, toys, vet bills. Kirk and Voss planned what Voss would need to make over the summer to pay for a puppy. Collar Scholars’ partners, including Pawsible, also help the club’s puppy raisers with finances as well as select vets offering pro bono work for service dogs. Convinced, Voss joined Collar Scholars with her new pup, Valentino.

Six-month-old Valentino, who Voss describes as the “hot boy that has all the looks but is actually sweet,” has pushed Voss to feel comfortable in uncertainty. The girl who used to endlessly study now dedicates her free time to puppy raising. She says people call her a “single, working mom” because of the time she dedicates to Valentino. In true mom fashion, Voss rarely buys things for herself, but can’t stop buying dog toys—it’s her favorite thing to do.

Even with all those toys lying around, the job of Collar Scholars isn’t all play. In Colorado, service dogs-in-training are granted the same access as professional service dogs. For these campus dogs, that means going to their raiser’s classes for training.

On her first day of human college, Daryn follows Kirk across campus for their second class of the day. After a long nap in microbiology, Daryn heads for a small class of about 15 people. Kirk leads Daryn to her usual front, middle seat. Following her commands, Daryn sits under Kirk’s chair. That day, the film class is watching Godzilla. In a special surround-sound classroom, the professor asks Kirk if Daryn, who is already asleep, will be okay with the loud noises. Kirk thinks she will be, and sure enough, she is. Daryn even wakes up to watch Godzilla terrorize New York City.

Since bringing a dog to class can be intimidating, not all Collar Scholars members are puppy raisers. There are general members who can serve on the executive board, plan events and raise money. There are also puppy sitters who take care of the in-training dogs when the raisers are away, but don’t have a dog of their own. Abby Bens joined Collar Scholars her first year at CU as a puppy sitter to familiarize herself with Canine Companions before she’s comfortable being a raiser like Kirk.

“There’s a certain freedom in college where you’re not responsible for anything but your grades and your health,” Bens said. She believes raising a service dog is the perfect way to learn about responsibility while working towards a good cause. 

That responsibility of caring for a living creature can come with unexpected issues.

 Mid-February 2021, Kirk takes Daryn around their neighborhood and up a dirt path between houses. Kirk likes Daryn to have some “regular” dog time to sniff around the dirt. Down the hill, Kirk notices that Daryn, the dog who’s always at Kirk’s side, lags behind. Kirk tries to usher Daryn along, only to notice that she’s limping. Kirk figures it’s a sticker from the dirt path, so she takes a moment to check each of Daryn’s paws. Nothing. So close to home, they continue back as Daryn switches between limping and walking normally. At home, Kirk consults Dr. Google; her search leads her to believe it’s just a sprained ankle.

Later that day, getting her nightly brush, Daryn’s back, right leg had swollen to three times its usual size. Immediately, Kirk calls a family-friend who is a vet and makes Daryn an appointment for three days later. Could a hurt leg end Daryn’s career as a service dog? 

“This is bad,” comes from the vet’s mouth after seeing Daryn’s swollen leg for the first time. Thinking Daryn had torn a tendon, he orders an X-ray. Her tendon luckily isn’t torn, but Daryn does have superficial digital tendon (SDF) luxation, meaning her SDF tendon is popping in and out of the hock joint (a joint above the foot on a dog’s back legs). Until surgery, Daryn’s on house arrest: no walks, baby gates blocking doors, pain meds and a splint

Daryn’s surgery was onMay 8, 2021, two days after Kirk graduated from CU. Until Daryn turns in for Advanced training in August of 2021, the pair will continue to train together. After building the foundation for CU’s Collar Scholars, Kirk feels comfortable leaving it in the hands of the new executive board. Kirk dreams the club will expand into the size of CSU’s: more dogs, more puppy raisers, weekly training sessions on campus and monthly doggy field trips.

 Kirk’s advice for those hesitant to raise a dog as a student is simple: “If you’re willing to put time in and willing to put in the effort, anyone can do it.”