FLORIDA TODAY
FIVE THINGS
LEARN MORE
National Cancer
Survivors Day
Foundation: ncsd.org;
American Cancer
Society: cancer.org
Christina LaFortune
celebrates
National Cancer
Survivors Day on
the first Sunday in
June. FLORIDA TODAY,
Canine Commandos
save and socialize
dogs, teach kids
Elementary students program has grown
to reach 18 schools, hundreds of volunteers
By Maria Sonnenberg
For FLORIDA TODAY
F
ew programs can beat the
success of Canine Com-
mandos, the program
started by Virginia Hamilton
and her gifted students at In-
dialantic Elementary School.
With the goal of socializing
and training shelter animals to
make them more adoptable,
Canine Commandos help bring
the goal of no more homeless
pets closer to reality. Addition-
ally, Canine Commandos is
helping prepare the next gen-
eration of pet owners to be
humane and responsible
adults.
South Brevard Commandos
weekly train the dogs housed
the South Animal Care Center
in Melbourne, while Comman-
dos who live in the north end of
the county focus on the ani-
mals at Central Brevard Hu-
mane Society. The goal is to
improve the dogs behaviors to
help them find forever homes.
Hamilton and the Comman-
dos have been recognized by
Good Morning, America as
one of the top 18 volunteer
programs in the nation. Disney
Adventures All-Stars magazine
also awarded the Commandos
kudos as a top school volunteer
program.
In 2002, the first year for
the Commandos, community
service was a requirement for
teaching gifted students.
I wanted to find a project
that would be memorable and
sustainable and something the
kids couldnt wait to do each
month, said Hamilton, who
calls herself a teacher of gift-
ed students and K9s.
Question: How was the program
created?
Hamilton: Everything is kid-
created. Everything! The pro-
gram grew because I realized
that only one class once a
month could not make a
change with the dogs behav-
iors, so I wrote a grant which
allowed seven schools to join to
provide daily, consistent train-
ing.
Q:How many schools have Ca-
nine Commandos these days?
Hamilton: Were in 18 schools
with about 250 students and 18
teachers and tons of parent
chaperones.
Q: Training a dog requires a lot
of repetitive work. How do the
Commandos achieve a training
regimen for the dogs?
Hamilton: The Commandos
are in small groups each with a
dog. They teach five basic
commands, watch me, sit,
down, stay and come.
A comment card is used to
track the dogs progress. When
another school goes to the
shelter the next day, they refer
to the card and review the
commands already taught
them and continue where the
previous school left off. They
also go inside and clicker train
by standing in front of the dog
runs to get them to stop bark-
ing and jumping. This makes
the shelter quieter and the
dogs more desirable for adop-
tion. When the dog settles
down, the Commando gives a
single click and a Cheerio.
The Commandos are always
sad to leave because after
training with these sweet dogs
they get attached to them, but
they feel much better knowing
that they may have saved a
dogs life. It is very exciting to
have a dog taken directly from
the Commandos during train-
ing. We invite the public to go
outside to watch the dogs in
training. This often ensures an
adoption.
Q: Have some of the animals
been adopted into a Commando
family?
Hamilton: Oh, yes, someone
always falls in love, and Ive
seen parents call a friend to
tell them the perfect dog is
waiting for them.
Q: How many dogs and cats
were helped by the program this
Dealing with
cancer diagnosis
Each survivor navigates ordeal in uniquely personal way
By Christina LaFortune
FLORIDA TODAY
I
am a cancer survivor.
This may come as
news for some of my
friends and colleagues.
While my cancer wasnt
a secret, I chose not to
make a big deal about it
at the time. And I
havent shared it pub-
licly before today.
In 2012, I was diag-
nosed with cervical
cancer, one of the
most terrifying
things Ive ever expe-
rienced. Because I
had an early diagno-
sis, I was able to take
immediate action. I
am happy to say Im
now cancer-free.
These days, more
and more people are
surviving cancer, bene-
fiting from early diag-
noses and advanced
treatments. The first
Sunday in June is National
Cancer Survivors Day, an
annual celebration of life for
those estimated 14 million
Americans who have sur-
vived the disease. Accord-
ing to the National Cancer
Survivors Day Foundation,
a survivor refers to any-
one living with a history of
cancer, from the moment of
diagnosis throughout the rest
of their life.
So why, you may ask, didnt
I tell people what I was going
through? Well, its complicated.
Choosing with whom to share
the news is a difficult thing,
Virginia Hamilton, a teacher at Indialantic Elementary School, started
Canine Commandos in 2002. MALCOLM DENEMARK/FLORIDA TODAY
year?
Hamilton: 226 dogs and 334
cats. At the Central Brevard
Humane Society, the Comman-
dos also socialize cats.
Q:Its a sad fact that because of
pet overpopulation, many shel-
ter animals end up being euthan-
ized. How do you handle that
issue with the Commandos?
Hamilton: More and more, we
talk about the plight of our
shelters. The Commandos all
know about the killing for
space and now the high rate
due to behaviors, but at the
South Animal Care Center, we
do not know if a dog has been
killed if he is not there the next
time we visit.
Central Brevard Humane
Society is no-kill, so those kids
know their dog was adopted.
According to the Humane Soci-
etys comment cards, 61 per-
cent of all the dogs weve
trained were adopted.
Q: What are some of the success
stories?
Hamilton: My favorite ones
and everyone has a different
experience. For some it may be
best to share the news publicly
and connect with a wider pop-
ulation. I chose to share the
news only with an inner circle,
at least at first. Here are five
reasons it took me so long to
tell people I had cancer.
1. Its a personal thing. As a
generally private person,
I was anxious about going
public with my diagnosis.
There is no one etiquette for
this situation; it is an individual
choice that cancer patients
need to make for themselves.
While some people may feel
comfortable posting their news
via social media or other pub-
lic forums, for me it felt unnec-
essary at the time. I felt like I
needed to get through it myself
first, and until I did that, I
didnt want everyone to worry.
2. I couldnt comfort every-
one. There are few
things more scary than a can-
cer diagnosis. Those three
little words, I have cancer,
trigger such a deep emotional
response, and not just for the
patient. Its natural for friends
and loved ones to feel scared,
anxious and even helpless. It
was tough enough to handle
my own feelings without wor-
rying about how everyone else
was handling it. I needed that
boundary to focus on my own
emotional response and heal-
ing.
3. I didnt want to explain
it again. It is normal for
people to ask a lot of questions.
are of the Commandos who are
terrified of dogs and get over
their fear through the inter-
action. A touching story was of
the Commando who was at-
tacked by her friends dog two
years ago. After she healed,
she continued training with the
Commandos.
Q: Whats ahead for the Com-
mandos?
Hamilton: Growth. Wed like
to see the program go outside
this county. In order to run the
program, we write grants and
fundraise. We have a phenome-
nal trainer that some of the
funds pay for. We need her in
order to keep the safety and
integrity of the program, be-
cause the teachers are not
experienced trainers.
We do not train over the
summer, but I continue to vol-
unteer, plus Im the education
director for Brevard Aiding
Shelter Animals Project. I use
the summer to continue my
online classes through Hu-
mane Society of the United
States. Im working on my
K1 SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 2014 5E
At first, even basic questions
like How did you find out?
and Whats next for you?
were difficult for me. For each
person I told about my diagno-
sis, I had to rehash it all over
again, leaving me feeling re-
peatedly vulnerable to my own
fears. It was easier for me to
face the process with just a
few close loved ones in the
know.
4. I didnt want to hear
other peoples advice.
This may sound harsh, espe-
cially understanding that most
people just want to be helpful.
But stories about my neigh-
bors moms friends experi-
ence with cancer didnt give
me comfort, and werent al-
ways relevant to my condition
or helpful to my outlook.
5. It was my story to tell. I
wanted to share my story
in my own time, in my own
way. Two years later, it is still
hard to talk about it. Ive cho-
sen to make my story public
because I believe there is a
greater good in adding my
voice to the many. Undoubted-
ly, there are people who may
read this, who are struggling
through similar dynamics and
fears. The choice to make your
journey with cancer public is a
complex and personal one. I
am hopeful that I might help
others know theyre not alone.
I understand, Ive been there,
and Im still kicking.
Email your ideas for Five Things to
clafortune@floridatoday.com.
For more information on
Canine Commandos or to
donate to the program
through PayPal, visit canine-
commandos.com. Virginia
Hamilton can be reached at
Hamilton.Virginia@Brevard-
Schools.org.
certified humane education
specialist endorsement to pro-
vide teacher in-services on
humane education in their
classrooms.
Q:How many dogs own you,
Virginia?
Hamilton: I personally have
four dogs: JD, who is 12; Mavis,
also 12; Arlo, 5; and Mongo is 4.