Life-changing hearing service dog inspires North Texas owner to help others
IRVING — Graduating from high school and going off to college is how a lot of young adults find their independence. But, for one young woman, it wasn't as simple as packing up her boxes in Alabama to travel to school.
Mackenzie McGuire is deaf. She has worn hearing implants her whole life. While the devices do help with everyday life she realized she needed more.
"Back in 2017, when I was going off into college, I needed to find a way to have my independence," she shared.
That's where Canine Companions comes in.
"I found out about Canine Companions and the hearing dog program they had ... I got matched with my hearing dog, Hanalei," McGuire recounted. "She has absolutely changed my life."
She says Hanalei has absolutely changed her life for the better and has even saved her life.
"When I was, in the dorms and the fire alarm was going off at night - and I have to take off my implants at night, so I can't hear anything at all when that happens - And so Hanalei will wake me up," she said. "She's the reason I get out of the dorms if the fire alarm is going off. She is my lifeline in those situations and that's definitely been a really big impact on my life."
But McGuire, who used to train horses, took that a step further.
"I realized, 'Oh, it would be really cool to take my skills I have with training animals and be able to give other people the same independence I got with Hanalei," she continued.
She's been helping others find that sense of normalcy at Canine Companion's training facility in Irving for the last two years.
The Kinkeade Campus' namesake, Judge Kinkeade, had a big part in raising funds for the facility. He, along with Baylor Scott & White's CEO at the time, visited the Canine Companions headquarters in California.
Fast forward and nearly $10 million donated later, Irving became home to the first of its kind partnership between a healthcare organization and a service dog program.
"It's nice to have a therapy dog program, but to take it beyond that and to be able to donate dogs that can perform tasks for fold and not charge them," he pointed out.
Kinkeade says having a location in the center, southern part of the U.S. makes it easier for some people who live closer to match with a dog who can help them.
"I don't want to over glamorize things, or under glamorize, but these dogs can make such a difference in people's lives," Kinkeade continued. "The trainers and all these other folks that stay a part of this - each of us have a little piece in helping someone and we're what we should be here on earth, which is service."
Part of Canine Companions' mission is spending intentional time on matching a client with a service dog based on specific needs and personalities to find the best fit.
"We spend a lot of time getting to know [the dogs], getting to know some of the different personalities they have, the energy level they have, the management they need, all that type of stuff," McGuire shared. "And we're able to use that to help us kind of understand what a good match would be. So we have a list of, the clients on our waitlist - We're able to look at their lifestyles and kind of get an idea of, 'Okay, these dogs might be an ideal match for this client.'"
McGuire has a genuine passion for training Canine Companion dogs and ensuring those matches with clients because she knows just how much of a difference a service dog can make.
"It's very fulfilling to be able to give back and help other people discover that same independence," she said.
