Furry Tails: Pittsburgh-Area Dog Moves On To Extensive Training To Become Service Dog

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- Another Pittsburgh-raised pup is moving on to the next step of becoming a service dog.

If you watch Pittsburgh Today Live, then you know Penguin. He and his puppy raiser family, John, Jill and Jack Sabo, are visiting Columbus today to watch the graduation ceremony.

While Penguin still has several more months to go before he can graduate, his furry friend Ivana is having her big moment today.

(Photo Credit: Sabo Family)

Penguin and Ivana have loved to play, but now she is on to the next step of her training to become a service dog through Canine Companions for Independence.

She is matriculating today and will then enter several months of intensive training at Canine Companions for Independence's North Central region location in Ohio.

"At the ceremonies, the first part is the matriculating dogs. The second part of that is when the puppy sits with the puppy raiser and then they walk across the stage and hand the leash off," Jill Sabo," Coral and Penguin's puppy raiser, said.

After that, she will be ready to be matched.

If you would like to watch Ivana's matriculation ceremony, you can view it live here.

2020 February North Central Region Graduation by Canine Companions® on YouTube

Visit Canine Companions for Independence's website here to watch all of the graduation ceremonies.

As for Penguin, he's got several more months left with the Sabos, but the hope is he'll one day matriculate like Ivana, and then become a full-fledged service dog like his older sister, Coral.
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Stay tuned animal lovers for more Furry Tails! You can follow me on Twitter at @HeatherLang24

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