Assistance Dogs

Out of the grief over losing our beloved Pepe (see Pets page) came our new puppy Blau (picture on Pets page).  Blau is a purebred German Shepherd and is showing signs of being very intelligent.  At this point he's very good at getting into trouble.  However, as shepherds are working dogs we've known since day 1 that he will need to be trained for something or other.  Watching him, I began to get the idea that perhaps he could be trained as an assistance dog or companion for my daughter.   When I asked about info on self training assistance dogs on the mailing lists I'm on I got a ton of replies.  As assistance dogs are becoming more common even for the more severely "challenged" children I thought others might be interested in the info.  The following links are some that were sent to me.

Canine Companions National Web Site (this service provides you with a service dog-2 yr waiting list at this time)

Delta Society - Resources on Human-Animal Interactions Animal-Assisted ActivitiesTherapy and Service Dogs

Fidos For Freedom Inc.

International Association of Assistance Dog Partners Home Page (non profit group for people who have assistance dogs)

Assistance Dogs International

Service Dogs

RehabNET - Animal Facilitated Therapy Home Page

ASSOCIATION of PET DOG TRAINERS (this isn't specific to training an assistance dog but may be helpful)

Service Dogs

Paws With A Cause PAWS Service Dogs Working Dogs

Dog at top of page was purchased from Cute Colors Graphics