The Purrfect Nanny & Purrfect Pet Health Blog

The article about the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation got me thinking about services in our own area. A little poking around the internet revealed that we have a canine assistant program right here in our own backyard!

Alpharetta based Canine Assistants is a non-profit organization which trains and provides service dogs for children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs.

Their service dogs assist children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs in a variety of ways. Some of the tasks our dogs perform include turning lights on and off, opening and closing doors, pulling wheelchairs, retrieving dropped objects, summoning help, and providing secure companionship. While all of these functions are vitally important in helping a person obtain greater freedom, perhaps the most impressive gift our dogs provide is social, rather than physical, in nature. The dogs eliminate feelings of fear, isolation, and loneliness felt by their companions.

Their companion dogs are much like their service dogs except that a companion dog works primarily in a recipient’s home, assisting with tasks around the house and more importantly, contributing to the emotional well being of the person.

In addition to service dogs and companion dogs, Canine Assistants also trains and provides seizure response dogs for certain recipients. As with some of our service dogs, these dogs are adopted from various organizations and selectively screened for personality, temperament, and general health. Following general training, seizure response dogs are trained to perform one of the following behaviors, depending on the recipient’s need: remain next to the person during the course of a seizure, summon help in a controlled environment, or retrieve a phone prior to the seizure when indicated by the recipient. Certain dogs may even develop the ability to predict and react in advance to an oncoming seizure once they are placed with their recipient.

How can you help?
If you’d like to volunteer locally you’ll need to check back with them at the beginning of 2010. Their volunteer training begins in January.

You can donate online at any time:
http://www.canineassistants.org/giving_to_canine.html

You can also participate in charity events around the Atlanta area that benefit Canine Assistants. Like the 13th Annual Tee It Up For Kids.