NEADS

Jun 19, 2009

Places You Should Know: NEADS “Canines for Combat Veterans”

Al , , , Service Dogs

I explained the logic behind the Places You Should Know series a while ago in this introductory post (“Places You Should Know: Assistance Dogs International (ADI) Accredited Service Dog Organizations”) – please review it, but here’s the short version.

There’s a lotta confusion or just plain lack of knowledge about service dog organizations, what they offer, and which are the best ones, especially those that focus on serving returning OEF/OIF veterans. To top it off, there’s also a seemingly ever-increasing number of service dog places out there vying for your attention and help, some with some big name celebrity endorsements.

Before you dive in with your time, effort, and maybe even money, you need to know where your contributions will do the most good and what organizations you can be very comfortable in supporting. And if you’re someone who’s actually considering getting an assistance dog – a life-changing and lifelong relationship – that knowledge is absolutely critical.

It’s not so much that I’m down on some of the places I see getting so much press lately; I just think you can do better.

Now, the reality is that a little guy like me can’t do much about those places that aren’t so great or that I have questions about, especially when they have mega-celebrity endorsements. What I CAN do, though, is talk about the places that I’m comfortable recommending, and try to aim as many people as possible at those organizations.  Maybe they can’t serve you, but why wouldn’t you want to start with the very best first?

As I always say, you need to check things out for yourself, and I’ve given you the tools to do that (see Key Posts in the sidebar to the right), but I’m gonna start “naming names” and tell you places that I would look at if it were me.

No secret that I’m a big CCI supporter, but I think it’s only appropriate to lead off with NEADS because they can rightfully claim to have placed the first service dog with a returning OEF/OIF veteran back in Oct 2006, when Roland Paquette and Rainbow, the first team from the Canines for Combat Veterans program, graduated:

You can read tons about NEADS if you look around, but here’s the key points. NEADS is in Princeton, MA, has been around since 1976, and they’ve graduated over 1300 assistance dog teams. Sheila O’Brien is the Executive Director and the person behind NEADS – she’s been with them since 1978, has been very involved with ADI for many years to include occupying key leadership positions and performing accreditations, and has been responsible for starting many initiatives like the Prison Pup program. You name it, Sheila’s pretty much done it.

Sheila started Canines for Combat Veterans because, as she said, “The Iraq war is going to change the whole demographics of the disabled population in this country.” I don’t know if she was the first person to say that, but I do know she was saying it long before most seemed to have pegged it, and I give her big points for that. The program was also involved at Walter Reed very early on, and that involvement continues to this day – see this outstanding article for details: “Veterans Helped by Healing Paws”

NEADS just held their most recent graduation on Jun 14th at the Officers Club on Hanscom Air Force Base (which, of course, I thought was very cool) – you can read about it here on the blog of the wife of a NEADS graduate, and there are over 100 pictures at the NEADS site as well:

http://homeschoolgardener.blogspot.com/2009/06/hanscom-airforce-base-graduation.html

http://www.neads.org/graduation/photos/index.php?folder=/977-2009-Summer-Graduation/

Bottom line – NEADS is one of the “real deal” places, and someplace you should definitely check out if you’re looking for a service dog, especially if you’re an OEF/OIF vet.

Veterans Helped by Healing Paws

May 1, 2009

Places You Should Know: Assistance Dogs International (ADI) Accredited Members

Al , , , , Service Dogs

It’s no big secret that I’m actively involved as a volunteer with Canine Companions for Independence, but, as I’ve said, they aren’t the only game in town, and I think this is a good time to start writing about some of the other great service dog organizations that I’m aware of.  I will likely intersperse these “Places You Should Know” posts with others on different subjects or I could just do them all in a row – don’t know yet.

Lotta reasons to do that, but the main one is because I see inaccurate information or just plain ol’ misinformation about CCI and other service dog organizations – daily. Mostly it’s objections or concerns in a specific area that are being used to rule out an entire group of organizations and, consequently, as a reason for someone looking for a dog to “go it alone” when that may not be necessary.

Said it before, say it again – the place to start is the list of Assistance Dogs International accredited members on the ADI website:

“ADI Accredited Service & Hearing Dog Providers”

There are a wide variety of organizations on that list, and chances are pretty good you can find what you want, in spite of what some might tell you.

For example, some people might not like organizations that breed the dogs they train (like CCI does) and would prefer a place that uses rescues – there are a number on the ADI accredited list (NEADS and Texas Hearing and Service Dogs come to mind right off).

Or there might be a specific type of dog someone’s looking for that all or most organizations don’t train. Seizure alert dogs, for example – CCI doesn’t train them, but at least one ADI accredited organization does – Canine Partners for Life.

Of course, there are many reasons why one place might be a fit for you when another isn’t – availability of a dog, geographic location, type of dogs they train, and so on.  And even after a hard look, maybe none of them are a fit. But give them the hard look first – don’t just rule them all out based on one thing that someone tells you, especially when it’s not accurate.  There are a lotta things a good organization will provide you, not the least of which is ongoing follow-up for the entire time you and the dog are together (at least here on Earth).

One other important thing while we’re talking about this…

I’ve never talked about money at all, i.e., whether an organization charges some kind of fee for a dog. CCI does not – the dogs are provided free of charge to the recipients – but that doesn’t mean that because an organization charges a fee that they are crooks, or it’s a bad thing, or they are profiteering from someone’s needs.

Oh, I don’t doubt there are crooks out there – I’ve heard the stories and seen a few in the news (including at least one where a state attorney general is suing an organization – not an ADI one, BTW), both in the service dog area and in the canine detection dog world, too.  And no question the cost is a factor for someone who wants a dog.  I don’t have qualms about the places on the ADI accredited list, though.  What I usually see there is that even the ones who charge fees charge a lot less than what you normally see (e.g., $1-3000 vs $12,000 and up), and work with the person getting a dog to help them get that money.

All the more reason to have a place like ADI, and to start your search for a dog with ADI accredited organizations.