If you visit Cedarville University, you will likely see students with dogs around campus. These young dogs wearing small red vests are not pets — they are service dogs in training from 4 Paws for Ability, and they have a very important task ahead of them.
What Is 4 Paws for Ability and K9s at the Ville?
4 Paws for Ability is an organization based in Xenia, Ohio, that breeds, raises, and trains service dogs for children and veterans with disabilities. Due to their nonprofit status, they rely heavily on volunteers to help care for the facility, socialize puppies, and raise dogs from eight weeks old until the time they begin advanced training.
These volunteers can be individuals, families, groups, or even college students. Cedarville has had a partnership with 4 Paws for over 13 years through a student organization, K9s at the Ville.
K9s at the Ville is composed of dog-loving students who dedicate a portion of their time to engaging with and caring for service dogs in training.
This can look like participating in on-site volunteering with puppies at the 4 Paws facility, attending socialization events where the dogs are faced with challenging real-world situations, or even raising and training a dog from puppyhood to graduation.
Another option is to become a secondary handler, or sitter, where a student can help train a dog during the day and return the pup in the evening to their primary handler.
How Do Students Help Train 4 Paws Dogs?
One pup in training was Rocket, a young goldendoodle brought onto campus weekly from October 2024 to February 2025. His main student handler was Anna Jender, a sophomore (now junior) student majoring in music performance. And like all dogs, Rocket was not perfect by nature.
Rocket was a whiner. Anna said that during her first day with Rocket, she was “eagerly awaiting driving him back, because it would be the first moment of quiet” she would get all day.
As it turned out, Rocket was experiencing separation anxiety. He had rarely been apart from his primary handlers for an extended period of time, and entering a strange environment without his people was upsetting for him at first.
However, service dogs have to be comfortable in strange environments, so Anna continued working patiently with Rocket.
“It was really good for him to be at college and to be away from people that he’s normally around, because eventually, he stopped whining from separation anxiety,” she explained.
Fortunately, Rocket quickly learned he could have fun with Anna.
“He started to remember that I would come every week,” said Anna. “He would wait by the door, and his primary handler would send me pictures of him eagerly waiting.”
This desire to be close to his people ended up being invaluable when Rocket was placed with Shelby, a University of Cincinnati student.
How Do 4 Paws Dogs Help People in Need?
Shelby has a rare condition called Non-24-Hour Sleep-Wake Disorder, or N24. This disorder means that she is unable to maintain a consistent circadian rhythm. Shelby has a rolling sleep pattern, which means that she is only able to go to sleep an hour later each day.
“I spend half of my life alone,” said Shelby in our interview. “I’m awake at night and asleep during the day.”
At age 16, Shelby’s disorder worsened.
“In 2022, I started having syncope episodes and non-epileptic seizures,” recounted Shelby. “They were incredibly unpredictable, and it was dangerous for me to be alone.”
She was later diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, a connective tissue disorder causing joint problems. This caused Shelby mobility issues, putting her at even greater risk of falling and being unable to get up. That year, Shelby’s parents started looking for a service dog to help her.
4 Paws for Ability soon became the clear choice, as the facility was located only an hour away from their home in Montgomery, Ohio. It also was one of the very few organizations that allowed them to keep their existing pet dog. And in August 2024, Shelby was paired with Doolin.
Unfortunately, the match was not meant to be. After only six weeks together, Doolin had to retire due to extended medical issues identified after placement.
Shelby was on her own again.
The period after Doolin retired was the darkest of Shelby’s life. Even so, Shelby held onto the hope that God had a plan.
“It was the Lord sustaining me when I couldn’t see the way out of it,” she said.
Eight months after Doolin retired, Shelby met Rocket. During four of the months Shelby spent waiting, Rocket was in advanced training. And the other four? That was when he was spending time with Anna.
As it turns out, it was Rocket’s desire to be close to his people that made the biggest impact in his work with Shelby.
“Rocket will not leave me for a long period of time,” Shelby said. “When I am awake during the night and asleep during the day, he will go outside and go downstairs to eat, but he will come right back up to my room no matter what time of day it is. He won’t be without me for long.”
It has been four months since Rocket went home with Shelby, and Shelby already cannot imagine life without him.
“He is a perfect match.”
Forever Changing Lives Through Service Ministries
When asked about her time with K9s at the Ville, Anna talked about the importance of the organization as a ministry.
“It’s not a ministry that anyone would think of. People think we just like to have dogs because it’s like having a pet. But it’s nothing like having a pet. We have to hold them to much higher standards, and we won’t have them forever.”
This separation, Anna says, is the most difficult part of training service dogs.
“Once you graduate a few dogs that you’ve loved, you’re happy for them, but you’re really sad. You love the dogs that you work with regularly, and then, all of a sudden, you never see them again. It takes an emotional toll.”
However, Anna says that it is all worth it because of what these dogs do for their people.
“It offers safety for autistic kids who may have the tendency to run away. It offers support for people who have mobility issues, such as Shelby. And it offers emotional support because they connect with the dog. Eventually, that service dog and their owner are inseparable, and so they get a friend along with an aide.”
Training a service dog for someone else is a sacrifice that Cedarville students like Anna are glad to make. It’s one of the many ways they serve their community even before graduation. And what makes it worth every day is the knowledge that they are changing lives for the better because of the work they have done.
K9s at the Ville is a student organization at Cedarville University that partners with 4 Paws for Ability for the purpose of dog socialization, training, and fundraising. More information can be found on their Instagram or Facebook pages.
Class: 2027
Hometown: Wheaton, IL
Major: Psychology
Favorite Bible Verse: “Deep calls to deep at the roar of Your waterfalls; all Your breakers and Your waves have gone over me. By day the LORD commands His steadfast life, and at night His song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.” – Psalm 42:7-8
Go to Coffee Shop Drink: I love trying all kinds of smoothies!
Fun Fact: I go hiking with my family in a different National Park each year!
Favorite Thing about being a Cedarville Student: I love how there is a place for everyone to enjoy at Cedarville, so long as you are willing to look for it.
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