Linda and Bill Hartmann moved to Carriage Hill back in 2017. Since the move, it’s been an engaging community with fabulous people. It wasn’t until 2023 that they got involved with Circle Tail, a volunteer-based organization whose mission is to help dogs help people. 

Since its establishment in 1997, CircleTail has relied on the services, talents and generosity of volunteers to partner quality service dogs with people in need. 

“Their mission is to empower, educate, and inspire individuals and communities through professional training and partnerships of highly skilled service-oriented dogs,” Linda shares. CircleTail’s campus is located 30 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati. 

Bill and Linda have always been dog people. In 2023, they lost their family poodle, Athena, and wanted to fill their home again with a four-legged friend. Soon after Athena’s passing, they learned about CircleTail and about their Canine Educators program — also known as their foster program. It has been a great way for them to give back to the community and fill their home with puppy love. The dogs that come into their care can be with them for only a weekend or up to two months. 

CircleTail trains dogs for people with physical disabilities, seizure disorders, diabetes, and veterans, as well as hearing dogs for people with hearing impairments. These dogs are provided to these individuals at no cost. The facility dogs are trained to provide physical, social, cognitive, or emotional assistance to community members in schools/classrooms, courthouses, sober living homes, funeral homes, hospice centers, and more. The dogs are trained until they are around 2.5 to 3 years old and then are placed with their humans to help them as they were trained to do. 

For the Hartmanns, this experience has been rewarding and joyful. Their involvement keeps them physically active and emotionally in touch with what’s going on around them. The organizations are always in need of volunteers and donations to help maintain the facilities and keep up the dogs’ training. 

For ways you can support CircleTail, connect with them through their website, www.circletail.org. You can also find more information on their social media pages (listed below). 

CircleTail — Helping Dogs Help People

W: CircleTail.org

T: (513) 877-3325

FB: Circle Tail, Inc