Our dogs are rescued
We save lives
Unlike most service dog organizations, our dogs come from shelters and rescues. We partner with local rescues and shelters to find the best dogs that have the qualities to become service dogs. Our service dogs look friendly, are very social and highly trainable.
Science-based curriculum
Our training is effective
Once in our program, the dogs go through our science-based curriculum before being placed with our clients. For 6-8 months, they are trained full-time by our dedicated staff. Under the supervision of Jennifer Cattet, Ph.D., internationally renowned trainer, behaviorist and scientist, the dogs learn over 30 different behaviors, from alerting to changes in the handler’s condition, to pressing buttons to call for help, picking up objects, getting glucose tablets or a phone, helping with mobility, providing deep pressure, interrupting repetitive behaviors, etc.
Ethical training
Our methods are kind
Our training methods are ethical, kind to the animals and promote confidence, trust and a strong motivation to work. We don’t use choke chains, prong collars or shock collars and consider such devices to be unnecessary and harmful to the dog and to the relationship. Instead, we apply positive reinforcement methods that encourage the dog to make decisions and take initiatives in times of crisis.
If you’re in need of a service dog, we’ll make sure that you get the dog that best fits your needs. We have placed many different dogs, from 8-lb chihuahuas up to 70-lb labradors. Every person and situation is different and every dog is different, so we do our best to match the right dog with each one of our clients.
Our training facility is centrally based in Indianapolis IN, but we place service dogs nationwide. Once the service dog is trained according to your needs, we’ll ask you to come to our facility for 10 days to learn how to work with your service dog before taking them home. In this way you and the service dog get to know each other in his/her environment, minimizing the stress of the transition on the dog.
To facilitate a successful partnership between you and your dog, we’ll teach you how to get your service dog to work for you, how to best provide for your service dog and how to maintain the behaviors he/she has been trained for. We’ll follow up with you after you take the service dog home to make sure that everything is going well and we’ll help you troubleshoot if you run into any hiccups.