Canine Assistants is a non-profit organization that trains service dogs to enhance and improve the lives of children and adults who have physical disabilities, seizure disorders or other special needs.


History of Organization

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Jennifer Arnold, Canine Assistants founder and Executive Director, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis as a teenager, and spent two years using a wheelchair. It was an incredibly difficult time. Her father, a physician in Atlanta, heard about an organization in California that trained service dogs to help people in wheelchairs. The California program had a very long waiting list and worked mainly with those on the West Coast, so she and her dad decided to start such a program in Georgia. Three weeks after the first planning meeting for Canine Assistants, her father was hit and killed by a drunk driver while he was walking on the sidewalk around a park. It took she and her mother ten years to open the program. Canine Assistants began training and placing service dogs in 1991.


Service Dogs

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Canine Assistants service dogs assist children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs in a variety of ways. Some of the tasks the dogs perform include turning lights on and off, opening and closing doors, pulling wheelchairs, retrieving dropped objects, summoning help, and providing secure companionship. The dogs eliminate feelings of fear, isolation, and loneliness felt by their companions. Most Canine Assistants service dogs are born, raised, and trained at the facility in Alpharetta, Georgia, while some are occasionally adopted from local organizations or breeders. The majority of Canine Assistants service dogs are retrievers, including both goldens and labradors.


Seizure Response Dogs

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Canine Assistants also trains and provides seizure response dogs for certain recipients. 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.


Companion Dogs

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Like service dogs, companion dogs also serve to assist children and adults with physical disabilities or other special needs. Companion dogs work primarily in a recipient's home, assisting with tasks around the house and more importantly, contributing to the emotional well being of the person.


Hearing Dogs

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Hearing dogs are trained to respond or alert to everyday noises, such as a doorbell or alarm, which will enable the recipient to respond accordingly.


<ref>People Weekly Magazine ISSN 0093-7673 "Where There's A Will"</ref>
<ref>http://www.canineassistants.org/learn_about_our_dogs.html</ref>
<ref>Trust The Leader Magazine Winter 2002 Issue 2 "Special Needs Trusts"<ref>
<ref>Atlanta Woman Magazine "Pain to Passion"</ref>
<ref>Good Housekeeping Magazine March 1997 "The Pet Project that Changes Lives"</ref>
<ref>In Motion Magazine January 2000 Volume 10 Issue 1 "Canine Caregivers"</ref>

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