| My very first service dog, LEVI, taughtme "how to hear". He was a Certified Hearing Dog for the deaf. Levi gave me the freedom of living independently and gave back the confidence that deafness stole from me. It is in his memory that I began The Kennels of Levi." ~Sue Thomas BLOG
The Story Behind The Kennels As my second Hearing Dog, Amazing Grace, was reaching the end of her hearing career; I was just starting a new leg in my own journey. Newly diagnosed with the life-changing disease of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) I knew my next Service Dog would need to be not only my ears but also be able to help me with various activities of daily life. Katie, my current dog, is specially trained for multi-disabilities, meeting both the challenges of my deafness and Multiple Sclerosis.
A vision was born. Today Kennels of Levi EPEC, a nonprofit organization, is dedicated to training these extraordinary dogs. The training is intense and costly; it costs more than $20,000 to breed, raise, train, and place each dog to do this job. Only the best of the best that have spent months in specialized training can be paired with that person facing extraordinary challenges. I welcome you to become part of our extraordinary team. ~ Sue Thomas
To Thank You! You can now receive this quality mug with your specific gift of $20.00 Free Shipping We can only ship this item within the USA Temporarily Out of Stock
Front of mug | | ExtraordinaryPeopleExtraordinaryCanines
E.P.E.C. Service Dogs Hearing Dogs for the Deaf alert their owners through physical contact and lead their owners to various sounds such as the doorbell, microwave, smoke-alarm, and many other everyday sounds.
 Mobility Assistance Dogs
also known as Special Skills Dogs, provide services such as opening doors, retrieving dropped items, assistance with balance, etc.
 Guide Dogs for the Blind also known as Seeing Eye Dogs, give confidence and direction to their visually impaired owners enabling them to navigate safely around their homes and communities.
 Seizure Alert Dogs use their sensitivity to alert their owners prior to an epileptic attack which allows the person time to take protective action such as call for assistance, take their medication, or go to safety.
Kennels of Levi E.P.E.C Is a division of Sue Thomas Ministries a 501c3 registered non-profit organization. All donations are USA tax-deductible Support the Kennels 
Back of mug | | SERVICE DOG TV SHOW HELPS U.S. DISABILITY DOGS by Nancy Houser "Service dogs for people with multi-disabilities have never come to the forefront as much as they have when the television series, “Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye” aired on PAX TV. Becoming increasingly popular with over 28 million deaf and hard-of-hearing people in the United States, the story is based on the life of a 52-year-old deaf woman from Ohio named Sue Thomas who had moved to Washington, D.C. at the age of 30 when she heard of a position open at the F.B.I. Her first full-time F.B.I. job began with analyzing the lines of fingerprints but within two months she was reading the lips of suspect for their agents. She did so well that in the 1980s she became an F.B.I special agent for about 3 ½ years until her health forced her to retire. The television story itself is how a deaf woman by the name of Sue Thomas and a service dog named Levi work at the F.B.I. as special agents, even though in reality Levi did not come to live with the real Sue Thomas until after she had returned home from her F.B.I. job. Once Levi passed away of old age, her next service dog was a golden retriever named Gracie who now is dying of cancer. True to the freedom of television writers, in the television series the service dog is named Levi but looks like the golden retriever Gracie. Today, Sue Thomas not only is deaf but losing her sight, in addition to being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (M.S.). Her next dog will need to be a special service dog, one that has been trained to work with individuals with multiple disabilities. Uncommon in the United States, the training of service dogs for people with multi-disabilities is where the real Sue Thomas comes in. AVAILABILITY OF SERVICE DOGS FOR PEOPLE WITH MULTI-DISABILITIES The United States is full of organizations that train service dogs, but only to meet one specific disability. When Sue Thomas began her search for a dog to replace Gracie, it needed to not only address her deafness but also Multiple Sclerosis. She ended up going to Canada to an organization by the name of Dog Guides to get Katie, her current dog, who is trained as a special dual-service dog who meets both the challenges of Certified Hearing Dog and Special Skills Dog for Multiple Sclerosis. ...through her organization, the Levi Foundation, Sue Thomas is planning on starting a traning center for dogs to assist people with multiple-disabilities in the United States." Nancy Houser is a dog lover and blogger at www.waycooldogs.com | |