Testimonials

The Ionno Family

When you visit the Ionno family, you know immediately that you’re in the right place. The Fidelco decal on the front door gives it away but as if that is not enough, upon entering their living room, beautiful portraits of Fidelco dogs stare down at you.

 The Ionnos, Mark, Joan, Luke, Peter and Mary, are very much like other families with one exception. They all have experience raising Fidelco foster pups, including “Luca,” their fifth and current dog. “We live in Bloomfield, so it’s hard not to know about Fidelco,” Joan said. “And I still have a soft spot in my heart for guide dogs. When I see one on the street, I have to pull over and watch it work.” 

The other family members echo Joan’s passion for Fidelco guide dogs. Nearly every Saturday, you can find Peter at Fidelco working with other fosters and giving them valuable feedback about raising their pups. Robbie Kaman, Fidelco’s co-founder, has high words of praise for the entire Ionno family and says of Peter, “He’s involved in our organization and very focused. He’s a real asset to our foster program.”  

Luke, as a foster puppy veteran, shares the family’s enthusiasm for Fidelco dogs. “It’s a group effort,” he said. “We all know the basic routine; what they need, what their schedule is. We’re used to it, so it’s easy for us to fill in for one another.” Like the rest of the family, Luke gets satisfaction from helping prepare a puppy for life as a working dog. “You get this goofy, gangling little puppy and it turns into this big, 70-lb guide dog. That’s quite an accomplishment. It's very fulfilling.” Pups are normally placed with foster families at around eight weeks of age. But Sue Holt, director of Fidelco’s foster program, kept Luca until he was 10 weeks old and as Joan jokingly says, “I think we’ll have Sue start them all for us.”

Luca is Mary’s primary responsibility but she gets help from the rest of the family in socializing her active and inquisitive pup and making certain he has what he needs to grow and prosper. Mary is quick to tell you that it’s not all work. “I do the hugging,” she says. “He’s the best and giving him up will be very hard.” 

When asked if Joan has advice for prospective foster parents, she’s quick to say, “Love your dog. Don’t worry, you’ll catch on to what’s needed. Just enjoy.”

 

Pam Bock and "Ida"

If there was a Fidelco Foster Hall of Fame, then Pam Bock would be a charter member. Currently fostering “Ida,” puppy number 27, she is as enthusiastic about her volunteerism as she was with puppy number one.

“Every dog is different,” she says. “Every dog has its own personality. It’s just a joy.” As a long-term foster, Pam has seen changes in the pups that have come her way. “The breeding has changed in some ways,” she says. “The dogs are somewhat smaller. They’re also more sensitive and more intelligent; they’re able to think and reason more now.” 

As a professional trainer (Pam owns and operates Pet Companion in Granby, Massachusetts,) she has seen training techniques change to meet the needs of this “new breed” of Fidelco dog. “Positive reinforcement is what we now use,” she said. “In the old days, it was ‘Do it now because I said so.’ Today, it’s giving the dogs the chance to think things through and once they learn a particular skill, it sticks with them. It’s also better for the trainer. You can just go out and have fun doing it.”   

During her long career fostering Fidelco pups, Pam has had help from a variety of sources, including her own dogs. In the past, it was “Jess,” her beloved Sheltie. Now, it’s “Aspen,” a Fidelco breed dog, who shows the pups proper behavior and puts them in their place when they misbehave. “Dimitri,” Aspen’s son, who is a stud and carrying on Aspen’s breed line, also takes part in the socialization of the pups but as Pam says, Aspen doesn’t take her son too seriously and always takes the lead in working with the new fosters.

 When it comes to advising new foster families about caring for their pups, Pam simply says, “Relax and enjoy it. It’s a great experience and you get more from it than you give.” 

Pam also handles placements of “career change” dogs for Fidelco. These dogs typically go to private homes as pets, law enforcement and search and

rescue.

 

Suzanne Butryman and “Ingrid”

“Being a foster is not what I do anymore, it’s who I am.”  Those heartfelt words come from Suzanne Butryman, who is currently fostering “Ingrid,” her seventh Fidelco pup. “It’s something I believe in more than I can tell you,” she says. “It astounds me every time I see one of my dogs in the Walk for Fidelco. I think to myself, ‘I fostered this pup, I brought it back to Fidelco for training and now it is getting someone on an escalator or through traffic. It’s simply amazing.’”

Prior to getting her first puppy in 2003, Suzanne took a methodical approach to learning more about Fidelco and its foster program. “I took the foster puppy class for four months,” she remembers. “I talked to the trainers, I talked to the fosters and I saw the puppies, all of whom I fell in love with. And I thought, ‘Do I really want to take on a 75-pound dog when I only weigh 90?’ The answer was a resounding ‘Yes!’”

For Suzanne, one of the great rewards of being a foster comes from living and working with puppies like six-month-old Ingrid. “I am so in love with this dog. She is gentle, she is kind and she is smart. The minute I put that red foster jacket on her, she knows exactly what’s happening; that it’s time to go to work. They just know.”

But a more important reward is the freedom and independence that the pups eventually bring to people who have visual disabilities. “The person who has “Lilly,” my first dog, says that he thanks me every day for what I did for her and for him. You can’t get any better than that. That’s why being a foster is something I hope I can do until I can’t do it anymore.”