Jennifer Cattet trained dogs for years before she realized her calling went beyond “sit” and “stay.” “Researchers had just started to understand that dogs could use scent to detect diseases and alert us to a medical crisis,” she says. “I wanted to explore that avenue a lot more.” To do so, she co-founded Medical Mutts, a nonprofit that trains canines to assist people living with chronic disorders such as epilepsy, diabetes, and POTS, a blood circulation syndrome that causes dizziness.
Using positive reinforcement techniques first established at aquariums—“You can’t push an orca through a hoop; you have to show them a reward”—Cattet, husband Jack Topham, and a team of employees and volunteers work exclusively with rescue dogs, unusual in the field. “Many programs use breeders,” Cattet says. “But millions of dogs are surrendered to shelters every year. Jack and I figured that it was a numbers game, and if we looked hard enough, we could find qualified dogs.” (Pups that wash out of the program are offered for adoption as pets.)
Some of the unlikeliest students have become the greatest success stories. Cattet cites a canine who initially balked at any sort of training. “But I saw potential in him, even though he was on the sensitive side,” Cattet says, so she persisted. The pup was eventually placed with a person with autism who named him Tizzy, a nod to their neurological condition. “After they got Tizzy, they really thrived,” Cattet says. “They built the confidence to leave home and to do more and more. People don’t realize what an impact no independence has on your health.” Tizzy’s relationship with his new human was so affirming that the duo started attending advanced training classes together. “Tizzy won all sorts of awards,” Cattet says, “and Tizzy’s guardian gained a social life and support system.”
Now Tizzy’s parent-partner has joined the Medical Mutts team as a trainer in a lovely full circle. “Being a service dog is the best life in the world for a dog,” Cattet says. “And they help their people live their best lives, too.”
