Marcie Davis
Marcie Davis is an experienced dog handler having been the human member of an assistance dog team for over 16 years. She founded Working Like Dogs, an organization designed to celebrate assistance dogs throughout the world and established National Assistance Dog Week which is recognized the second week of August.
Marcie is an award winning writer and national speaker. She is the co-author of Working Like Dogs: The Service Dog Guidebook. She has also authored numerous articles on various topics in a number of assistance dog and disability publications, including Paws With A Cause Dogs for Dignity, International Association of Assistance Dog’s Partners Partner Forum, PN, Special Living Magazine, and Sports and Spokes magazine. Marcie created an informational guide for service dogs and emergency preparedness for the New Mexico Department of Health. In addition to her publications, she created an innovative line of greeting cards specifically designed to capture the sentiment between an individual with a disability and their assistance dog.
Marcie is the Chief Executive Officer of Davis Innovations, an organizational development consulting firm, specializing in program development, policy, research, and evaluation. She holds a Masters Degree in Library Science from the University of Southern Mississippi and has received numerous awards and accolades for her tireless advocacy on behalf of individuals who can not advocate for themselves. Marcie has been a paraplegic for over 35 years. She lives with her husband, Franz and current service dog, Lovey, in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Whistle
Whistle is the co-host of Working Like Dogs on PetLifeRadio.com.. He is a Labrador/Golden Retriever mix who was born in Michigan on April 1, 2005 and raised as a puppy by Cindy Charnley in Kalamazoo, Michigan. Whistle continued his training at the Belmont Correctional Facility’s Paws With A Cause Community Service program in St. Clairsville, Ohio, and he completed his advanced training with Gus Buesser at the Paws With A Cause training facility in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He was placed as a service dog with Marcie Davis in Santa Fe, New Mexico in April 2007.
Although Whistle knows over 100 commands, including opening doors and picking up objects as small as a dime, he is continually updating his skills and learning more. Whistle feels that continuing education is a lifelong process. When he’s not assisting Marcie or working on the radio show, Whistle enjoys traveling, gourmet dining, and running and digging in his backyard.