The Indiana Canine Assistant Network (ICAN) has been “unleashing abilities” since 2002. In that time, the organization has proudly placed close to 300 dogs with Indiana adults, children and veterans living with disabilities.
“We’re a small-but-mighty organization,” said Samantha Thompson, ICAN’s communications manager since 2023 and member since 2016. “We have 10 full-time people right now, and almost all of us started as volunteers.”
ICAN boasts two locations: one in Zionsville and another in Fort Wayne. At its Fort Wayne site, the organization partners with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of Allen County.
“Our psychiatric service dogs are trained to support military veterans living with some sort of service-related trauma,” Thompson said. “Because of [our] partnership [with Allen County’s VA], we can provide those service dogs to veterans free of cost. That’s our way of saying thank you to them for the service they provided our country.”
According to Thompson, the cost to train one service dog is about $32,000, which includes two years of training and a lifetime partnership with ICAN.
“Once the dog is paired with the client, we are with them for the lifetime of the partnership,” Thompson said. “Until that dog passes away, the client has access to ICAN—our trainers and resources—to make sure they are successful throughout that entire partnership.”
ICAN hopes to eventually expand psychiatric service dog placement to veterans statewide, but Thompson said increased funding is essential to making that goal a reality.
“ICAN offers a few different types of service dogs, and the other one [in addition to psychiatric service dogs] that we see a lot of veterans in need of is a mobility assistance dog,” she said. “This is a public access dog that has the legal rights to go anywhere with you in public. These dogs are great for veterans who may be struggling to walk or live a more independent life.”
Thomas Hutchings of Fort Wayne, a Vietnam veteran, was matched with Billy, a service dog trained in both psychiatric and mobility assistance.
“I felt invisible before Billy. No one would talk to me. No one knew I was there. Now that I have Billy, some people want to start talking to me. Mostly asking questions about Billy,” Hutchings said. “Pre-Billy, life was sucky. Post-Billy, not so sucky. He’s changed my life. He’s afforded me the opportunity to get out and do things. I get a lot more socialization with Billy.”
Hutchings said the matching process was smooth and uplifting.
“There were a couple of back-and-forth emails after I contacted the ICAN office, and then I went through some interviews, both over the phone and in person,” Hutchings said. “One day, ICAN brought Billy up to see me, and to see if we would get along: an introverted Vietnam veteran and a little bouncy two-year-old dog. They determined we were a good match. The process was very painless. And it was soul-searching. I had to bear some of my soul [to those at ICAN].”
Since their pairing, Hutchings and Billy have rarely been apart for more than eight hours.
“Billy provides me with comfort and camaraderie. He can read my moods,” Hutchings said. “If I’m feeling down, Billy will get up, look at me, rest his chin on my knee and start nudging me. I think he senses the stress and the changing mood inside of me. He lifts my spirits. Sometimes he will put his front paws and upper body on my lap, kind of like deep pressure therapy or a hug. He’s very attentive to me, especially when I’m feeling low or depressed. He provides the measure of comfort that I need.”
Hutchings said Billy has helped him feel more confident navigating the community.
“I used to feel like a hermit or recluse, but Billy has drawn me out of that shell,” he said. “He helps with my socialization.”
In addition to serving in Vietnam, Hutchings is a retired California law enforcement officer.
“I had a lot of violent confrontations,” he said. “With trauma-induced arthritis in my back, arms, knees and shoulders, my mobility has been minimized.”
Billy has helped compensate for that.
“He picks up things I might drop, like my keys, glasses or even my cane. He even pushes doors open for me. He kind of just watches out for me all the time.”
ICAN will host its “Salute to Service: 5K and Family Walk” on Nov. 2 in Fort Wayne, beginning at 2 p.m. All proceeds will support ICAN’s military clients. A virtual option is also available.
For more information, visit their website at icandog.org.
