Our dogs do so many things for us like helping us to recognize unconditional love, encouraging us to exercise, and filling our lives with purpose and fulfillment. For some, their dogs do even more and today is the day to celebrate assistance dogs everywhere because it’s National Assistance Dog Day.
With all of the drama lately with the airlines and people passing every animal they can find as an ‘emotional support animal,’ it’s easy to overlook these hard working canines that spend their days and nights bonding with and caring for their people.
Whether service dogs for the blind, dogs trained to help those with disabilities, and even dogs that assist with situations like PTSD, these dogs truly are the silent warriors of the animal world and they deserve much more than a day to celebrate their awesomeness.
We’d like to salute some of these amazing organizations and encourage you to do the same by donating to support their worthy causes. Training these dogs to be assistance dogs takes experience and costs money and often there are waiting lists to adopt one of these animals given the shortage of resources available. So open your hearts and support one of these organizations, or one of your own. We and they will thank you:
Assistance Dogs International, Inc. (ADI) is a worldwide coalition of non-profit programs that train and place Assistance Dogs. Founded in 1986 from a group of seven small programs, ADI has become the leading authority in the Assistance Dog industry.
Canine Companions for Independence is a non-profit organization that enhances the lives of people with disabilities by providing highly trained assistance dogs at no charge to the recipient.
Tender Loving Canine Assistance Dogs (TLCAD) began as a small non-profit, all volunteer organization in 1998 by the original founders, Steven Ross Fritsche, Heather Jo Fritsche & V. Lee Wells, with a goal to train service dogs for those seeking a fuller, more independent life. TLCAD became a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in August 1999. In 2007, TLCAD earned accreditation from Assistance Dogs International (ADI).
