Jun 30, 2010
Jun 18, 2010
Great time for a reminder about this with the annual Assistance Dogs International conference taking place in Toronto next week.
Said it before, say it again: first thing you need to look for with a service dog organization is if they are ADI accredited, which you can find here: ADI Accredited Members
And don’t go by the ADI logo on their website, either, because that can be misleading. Like this one on a heavily promoted place’s site:
Note that it says Full Member underneath it – it’s nice that they at least joined, but, sorry, that’s very definitely NOT the same as being an Accredited Member.
Now, being accredited doesn’t tell you that a place is perfect – in fact, there are a coupla places on the ADI accredited list I’m not wild about. But NOT being accredited is a red flag and tells you that the organization must have some reason for not doing it.
To begin with, the accreditation process, while thorough, is not overly difficult or expensive and any top-notch organization should be able to complete it with no problem.
Beyond that, ADI was formed in 1987 to address the need for standards within the industry. That’s still an ongoing problem 23 years later and something service dog places still take flak about all the time – for example, that’s been one of the VA’s biggest concerns for years. ADI is the closest thing there is to a governing body for assistance dogs, and any place interested in seeing only the best dogs produced and the industry’s reputation strengthened needs to back that up by being accredited.
What it pretty much comes down to is, if an organization isn’t accredited, they either CAN’T or WON’T do it – either way is not good.
But, hey, as always, it’s your decision. If you decide to talk to a place that’s not accredited, you at least need to ask why they aren’t.
Who knows? Maybe they can give you a reason that’s acceptable to you, but I haven’t heard one yet.
Jun 11, 2010
NOTE: I previously incorrectly referred to the VA payments as a monthly stipend. I’ve made those corrections here and on other posts as well. There’s enough misinformation on the subject of service dogs out there already without me adding to it – my apologies.
My friend Christina Roof at AMVETS just posted a reminder about this a few days ago, which reminded ME that I shoulda put this up when it first happened in April, and didn’t (no good reason).
Veterans with service dogs are now eligible for the same VA benefits that veterans with guide dogs have been receiving for years.
Details here: “VA Clarifies Veterans’ Assistance Dog Policies, Offering Benefits For New and Previously-Denied Claims”
This is an absolute must-read for anyone with an interest in service dogs for veterans (i.e., EVERYBODY). It explains the VA policy on service dogs, the process to have one approved, and how to apply for the benefits VA provides for care of the dog. (BTW, the link in that article to the VA site is wrong – this is the correct one: http://www.prosthetics.va.gov/ServiceDogFAQ.asp )
I talked about this issue back in September of last year (“Finally, The Real Story About The Department Of Veterans Affairs And Service Dogs For Veterans”). As I said at the time, it seemed like, after 7 years of saying they weren’t gonna do it, the service dog change just ‘showed up’ on the VA website one day without any announcement. Plus it also appeared that veterans were still getting differing answers about that change depending on what office they talked to.
This clarification addresses those issues. And, as the AMVETS release says, you need to reapply for this benefit even if – in fact, ESPECIALLY if – you were turned down before.
The big issue here, and my concern all along, has been that there could’ve been many veterans who might’ve applied for a service dog, but haven’t because they’ve been concerned about handling the routine expenses, and they just didn’t want to say that.
We’re never gonna know how many we missed in the 7 years it took to make this change, but at least that’s not something we should have to worry about any more.
Assuming, of course, the process works as advertised. I’m VERY interested to see people’s experiences with it - please let me know what they are, good or bad.
ble for the same VA monthly stipend for expenses that veterans with guide dogs have been receiving for years.Jun 3, 2010
KDVR Channel 31 in Denver just did a great news story a coupla days ago with Canine Companions for Independence graduate Matt Keil and his wife Tracy promoting a wonderful organization, Homes For Our Troops, who built their beautiful house. Matt’s CCI Service Dog Gus, who was raised in the prison program at the Kit Carson Correctional Center in Burlington, Colorado, makes a brief working appearance in the video, too.
As Matt explains in the video, he’s a wounded warrior who was paralyzed with the exception of his left arm by a sniper’s bullet near Ramadi, Iraq on February 24, 2007. You can read more details about that in a number of places, including here: “After Surviving Sniper’s Bullet, Soldier Looks to Future”
Matt and Tracy have been super representatives for wounded warriors and their families in general and a number of organizations as well, including CCI, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Homes For Our Troops – pretty much anything they are involved with.
This is another placement that I’d describe exactly the same way I did Andrew Pike’s (Andrew and Matt are good friends, BTW) back late last year:
“Every Service Dog Placement With A Veteran Should Be As Great As This One”
I'm very active with Canine Companions for Independence as a volunteer, to include being a past member of the Veterans Task Force and puppy raiser. Retired US Air Force Chief Master Sergeant with my last assignments at the Air Force Academy as the Fourth Group Sergeant Major and Dean of Faculty Superintendent. More...
