Moms on a Mission

Who we Are and Why We're Doing What We're Doing

Summer Harrison, Linda Nuland-Ames and Susan Luehrs are three moms who each brought their separate perspective on the world of children with disabilities to a joint quest for the perfect service dog.

In 2003, Summer was mom to a medically fragile 3 year old with multiple severe disabilities. Linda was the Kauai representative for the Hawaii Disabilities Rights Center, and an expert in using chelation and the GCFC diet to treat autism. She and Summer had met through the latter's advocacy on behalf of her daughter's educational and therapy services. Susan was a Special Education Resource Teacher for the Department of Education on Oahu.

Summer had come across the idea of getting a therapy dog for Hannah, but soon discovered no established training program would provide a dog for a child as young and as disabled as Hannah. She finally found someone willing to sell her a golden retriever that had gone through training for therapy dog certification, but hadn't made the final cut. Bred in Hawaii, where quarantine laws had led to chronic medical problems from years of inbreeding, at 18 months of age the dog already had hip dysplasia, arthritis in his elbows, and when he came down with pancreatitis, Summer had to give him back to the trainer.

The quarantine-related health issues were also having an impact on Susan. After x years as a special ed teacher, Susan was certified as a service dog trainer in y, and started Hawaii Fi-Do. The fledgling non-profit depended on donations of puppies to train, and medical problems kept knocking them out of the program.

Linda, also a dog-lover, was researching allergy friendly dogs and told Summer about the Australian Labradoodle. At that point in time, pet puppies from Australia cost $2500 and up, while breeding dogs from Australia cost anywhere between $10,000 and $40,000 depending on age. The two moms realized at that price, the likelihood of anyone starting a labradoodle breeding program in Hawaii aimed at donating service dogs to the disability community was about nil, while the cost of puppies from Australia was beyond the budgets of most families with special needs members.

In August of 2003, Rutlands Coco Pops, a 13 month old pregnant female, and Rutlands Redd Rex, a two month old male, took up residence on Kauai and Paradise Labradoodles had its start.

In early 2004, Summer and Susan got in touch with each other. They had to wait until December of that year, however, to find out what the actual service dog potential was of the Paradise doodles.

By the end of 2007, x puppies from 7 different Paradise litters have entered Hawaii Fi-Do's training programs. a have been certified as assistance dogs, b as therapy dogs, and c as companion dogs for individuals with disabilities, while d remain in training. In December of 2007, based on the growing reputation of the Hawaii Fi-Do service doodles, a service dog organization in Florida purchased three Paradise puppies for their own training program.

In early 2007, Susan and Summer decided to split the breeding responsibilities. Summer was building a new home on Kauai and between that and caring for Hannah, she couldn't handle all three of the Paradise breeding girls. Summer had purchased Annie from Sierra Vista Labradoodles in California, and been responsible for all the bills during the 13 month period before Annie could pass through Hawaii quarantine without incarceration. Susan and Summer decided to leave Annie on Oahu with Susan, where she was soon joined by Stella. With the increase in puppies to train, Hawaii Fi-Do needed funds to expand their facilities, so Summer promised Susan that Hawaii Fi-Do could keep all the proceeds from any puppies bred by the Oahu girls.

Today, Susan and Summer continue to develop the Paradise breeding program as well as the early socialization and imprinting techniques needed to produce the perfect service dog. Linda has donated Rex to Hawaii Fi-Do, and he has taken up residence on Oahu where we expect him to father Annie's next litter in the summer of 2008.