Meet Rica
Steve Crowder, a.k.a. Nick Danger, was matched up with Canine Companions for Independence Golden Rica after a two to three year wait. He says, "Rica is, without a doubt, the best thing that ever happened to me. When I was selected by the group to give the graduation address to more than 1000 people at our March graduation, I spoke from the heart. I knew from the crowd response that I had reached them."

Steve's 4-year-old (2/03) Rica goes everywhere with him, even flying on a plane with her beloved human companion. Of course, Steve says this beautiful girl is the "most unbelievable chick magnet around." And, tells other newly disabled persons that "nothing will lift your spirits like a companion dog!"


Man's Best Friend: Canine Companions Matches Quadriplegic with Loyal Helper
By Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune Community News Writer, October 18, 2003

Oceanside – Steve Crowder, a.k.a. Nick Danger, remembers the best phone call of his life. It was from Canine Companions for Independence, a group that trains dogs to assist people with disabilities. Crowder, 40, was being invited to team training with a service dog.
    
The call came about five years after the worst day of his life, the day he became paralyzed after a diving accident trying to get away from a drunken guest at a pool party. The former skier, nicknamed during his college days for his daring feats on the slopes, left behind his job running a night club in Mammoth.
    
Now a quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair, Crowder is the announcer for many wheelchair sports events throughout the county and runs the Web site www.survivingparalysis.com. Last year he received Sharp HealthCare's Eagle Spirit Award for his triumph in the face of unimaginable adversity.
    
He gives a lot of credit to Rica. She is the golden retriever he received from Canine Companions. "I don't know what I'd do without her," Crowder said. Rica is always at his side. "I went through many operations this year, and she'd always come up to my bed and check on me," Crowder said.
    
When he drops something, she picks it up. When he needs a door opened, she does it. Crowder's praise for his companion is filled with gratitude. "She's beautiful," he said. "People stop in their tracks. I could be wearing a dress, and they wouldn't notice me."

She gets conversations started. "She is an ice breaker. People want to stop and talk," said Chris Harrell, a volunteer puppy raiser for Canine Companions. "When they see the dog, they look past the disability of the person."
    
Harrell knows the good her puppies do. "This is all about the recipients," she said. She is raising her fourth puppy for the nonprofit group. "We make sure the dog is well socialized," Harrell said. She has taken her dog grocery shopping and on airplanes, everywhere their future owners might go. After learning 30 commands, and spending more than a year with their puppy raisers, the dogs continue their schooling and learn another 30 commands with professional trainers at the Southwest Regional Training Center in Oceanside.
    
The dogs complete their education with an intensive two-week team-training course with their new partners. "They are the Harvard Law grads of dogs," Crowder said. For information about Canine Companions, call (760) 901-4300.