Nancy Dove, Regional Administrator for the Athens Office of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs. In her own words..

I am the Regional Administrator of the Athens Office of the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA). I have been with the Agency for 22 years. A couple of years ago I wanted to locate a volunteer activity, since all I ever seemed to do was work. Due to my past experience and love of animals, I applied for, and was accepted as a Home Schooler with Canine Assistants in Alpharetta, Georgia. Canine Assistants (http://www.canineassistants.org) is a non-profit organization, founded in 1991, which trains and provides service dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs. Canine Assistants dogs are Golden retrievers, Labrador retrievers, or Golden / Lab mix.

I have been a volunteer for the past 2 years and have assisted with the training of 3 dogs - Sport, Lilly and Truitt. Each dog has lived with me for approximately 6 months. During their training, the dogs often accompany me to work, DCA conferences and meetings, doctor and dentist appointments, shopping trips and family vacations. Sport flew on the plane with me - at my feet - to Montana and Canada, Lilly to Pittsburgh, and Truitt to Chicago. My responsibility is to expose the dogs to everyday noises and situations, to work with them each day on basic commands as well as advanced commands such as retrieving various items, tugging open doors and refrigerators, turning on and off lights, and retrieving and paying for items at stores. Following their time with me, each dog is returned to the Canine Assistance facility in Alpharetta where they undergo advanced training and placement.