It was only the third day of on-site training, and Zumba sat next to 10-year-old Max Switala.

“All of a sudden, Zumba snapped to attention, got up and started walking around Max, tracking a scent in the room full of other dogs and their families,” says Max’s father, Kevin. “She came back to Max and started licking his hands and ears. Four hours later, almost to the minute, Max had a seizure.”

When the same thing happened again the next day, the frightening problem the Switalas had been unable to manage with countless doctors became manageable with the help of one gentle dog.

“We knew right away – she was completely zoned in on Max,” Switala says. “I understand the science behind it, but the only word I can use to describe it is ‘magic.’”

Since 2009, Wittenberg students have helped that magic happen. Through a groundbreaking co-curricular opportunity with Xenia-based 4 Paws for Ability, students prepare puppies for their life-changing work as service dogs. Students have helped socialize nearly 120 dogs on campus, 53 of which have been placed with a family and actively work as service dogs in 24 states from Alaska to Florida. One dog, Pip, a wide-eyed Papillion fostered at Wittenberg, even made the cover of USA Weekend a few years ago.

“Wittenberg was the founding college for our campus program, with just three dogs the first year, explains 4 Paws Trainer Jessa Kensworthy. “For the dogs, being comfortable and confident in public – wherever they go and whoever they meet – is vital for their success.”

The students who foster 4 Paws dogs on campus find that the experience helps them focus as well.

“It really made my college experience what it was,” says Emily Goodman, who fostered Zumba with co-trainers Sarah Funderburg and Lorena McConnel, all class of 2014. Now a Children’s Services social worker, Goodman says the foster experience “helped me to decide that I wanted to work with kids every day and to at least try to help improve one thing in their lives.”

The three co-trainers fostered six service dogs total, five of which are serving families of children with special needs, doing seizure detection, diabetic alert, search-and-rescue tracking and behavioral distraction.

“This program changed my life from the moment we got our first dog, and it gave me a new perspective on families with children who have special needs,” recalls Funderburg, who is working toward becoming a pediatric physical therapist. “It’s such a humbling experience to be able to help families by working with the dog that changes their lives.”