Student-Led Service Dog Training Program Continues to Grow at Elizabethtown College

There were times during an extensive planning process when Elizabethtown College Occupational Therapy major Samantha Machmer ’25 was unsure if her dream of raising a service dog on campus would come to fruition. Now, only one year after officially creating “Dogs in the Dell,” a program designed to allow residential students to raise service dogs on campus, the program has grown more than she ever envisioned with three student puppy raisers now on campus.

“I am so proud of how far this program has come,” Machmer said. “It felt like a dream to imagine one dog in training on campus – let alone three – to go along with a large group of students who support our mission. We truly have a village behind us helping these dogs be the best they can be for future partners.”

Machmer developed the program in 2023 during her junior year by working with Etown’s Residence Life staff and Susquehanna Service Dogs (SSD), a non-profit organization based in Grantville, Pa. that uses volunteers to raise and train service dogs for people with disabilities. The program allows Etown students to have a puppy with them in their residence hall and around campus, teaching the dog basic behavior and skills over two years. After the dog graduates, they move on to advanced training and then to their forever home and life of service.

The service dogs are then matched into careers that best suit their skills and interests. This can include mobility assistance, autism support, psychiatric service, seizure response, or hearing support. Dogs also can become facility dogs, detection dogs, in-home service dogs, or skilled companions.

With the wide range of possibilities, service dogs have to be trained in as many situations as possible, which makes college campuses such as Etown a perfect fit.

“Our campus offers a huge range of unique situations, from living in residence halls with lots of neighbors to classrooms with desks for dogs to practice settling under, to dining halls with delicious smells for the dogs to learn to ignore,” Machmer said. “Dogs raised on college campuses see so many different people in a day that they would not see living in a typical residential situation, and this teaches them neutrality and calm behavior in big crowds, a vital skill for service dogs to have.”

Machmer and her service dog in training SSD Farmer, or Farmer for short, received overwhelmingly positive feedback from both the campus community and coverage from area media outlets since teaming up together on campus in the fall of 2023.

Since then, Farmer has attended several of Machmer’s Occupational Therapy classes to demonstrate his skills that could help a future partner. Farmer will soon be moving on to his next journey when he will head to advanced training at SSD on Nov. 10 to work with professional staff members and discover what service work will be the best fit for his career.

“There are no words to describe how incredibly proud I am of Farmer,” Machmer said. “No matter where he chooses to go from here, a piece of my heart will always be with him. He is going to change lives, and there is truly no greater reward than watching the dog you’ve raised grow into exactly who they are meant to be.”

Psychology and Criminal Justice major Leandra McMahon ’26 and Social Work major Kaitlyn Wickenheiser ’26 have joined Machmer in the program and are now raising SSD Cannoli and SSD Naiomi, respectively, on campus.

“After I saw Sam [Machmer] with Farmer, I knew this was something I wanted to be a part of,” Wickenheiser said. “Our community of Etown service dog raisers is growing, and we are always looking for more raisers. I hope students see how much fun training a service dog at college can be.”

McMahon, Wickenheiser, and Machmer are actively recruiting more students to get involved in the program. Although Machmer is a senior, she hopes to support student raisers at Etown after her time at the College comes to an end.

“After graduation, I hope to be able to continue to incorporate my passion for raising service dogs into my professional life as an occupational therapist,” Machmer said. “I’m sure I will end up raising another pup-in-training sooner rather than later!”